Evan McLaughlin: 'Cork City doesn’t belong in the First Division'

Cork City's Evan McLaughlin at the launch of Virgin Media's broadcast agreement for the League of Ireland. Pic: Laszlo Geczo, Inpho

Cork City’s Evan McLaughlin admits his six-and-a-half hour commute to his hometown in Derry caused the delay in extending his contract.

McLaughlin revelled for the First Division champions in his first year – scoring five goals over 34 league outings – but mulled over an approach from Sligo Rovers in the off-season.

Sligo’s proximity to home made their proposition tempting but, after mulling for a few weeks, the 22-year-old eventually committed for another year at City three weeks ago.

"The first consideration was the distance from where I'm from,” confessed the Foylesider who made the move to Tim Clancy’s Leesiders despite breaking into his home club’s first-team in 2023.

“It's a long journey from Cork to Derry, there’s no longer a flight between the cities, and it’s another three hours after reaching Dublin.

"Tim was very good with me in regards to going home. He would give me an extra day off here and there, if I needed it.

“Sure, It takes half a day to get there as it is! There were some times I was going and I was nearly coming back once I got there.

"So I just had to think of a few personal things before I made a decision."

Thinking of Turner’s Cross rocking for the Premier Division campaign – starting with the visit of Galway United on the opening night of February 14 – was central to settling his dilemma.

“I was happy where I was at after a great year, so there was no need to change,” McLaughlin explained.

“I was adjusted to everything. Having only been on loan to Coleraine, 30 minutes away from the house, living so far from Derry for the year without my home comforts really matured me.

"My Mam wasn’t folding my washing anymore.” 

A hamstring twinge prevented McLaughlin travelling to Scotland for the midweek friendly win over Motherwell but he’s expecting to be back for the league kick-off in a fortnight.

When it comes to targets, he’s more cautious than teammates Seáni Maguire and Alex Nolan, who’ve both predicted top-half finishes in the 10-team top tier.

“Staying up is the priority and whatever happens after that is a bonus,” said a pragmatic McLaughlin, referencing the last promotion in 2022.

“Last time the club got promoted they went straight back down so we’re not thinking of doing that again.

“Cork City doesn’t belong in the First Division. It’s one of the biggest in Ireland, if not the biggest in terms of fanbase. Nobody wants to be playing in the First Division.

“We know it will be a step up and everybody is tuned in. It’s a big help that we signed two goalscorers last summer in Seáni and Ruairi Keating. To win games, we’ve to score goals so it’s as simple as that.

“Last year, Turner’s Cross wasn’t as much of a fortress because we were expected to win every week. When Premier teams are coming down, we’ll need to make it hard for them to get results.

“Even last year when there wasn’t much of a buzz because of being in the First Division they were brilliant. And I know they’ll be even better this year.”