IT’S FOUR YEARS since Shamrock Rovers’ latest signing Paul Corry agreed to leave home and enter the ruthless world of professional football in England.
The move could have happened earlier as the Dubliner was offered contracts by Burnley and Nottingham Forest as a teenager but turned them down in order to sit his Leaving Certificate in Belvedere College before earning a soccer scholarship at UCD.
A gifted midfielder, Paul would go on to play over 100 games for the Students while balancing those commitments with academic studies. After completing his degree in Commerce, there were two job offers in accountancy firms on the table but Sheffield Wednesday had shown a strong interest and the pull of realising his dreams was too great.
Corry signed a three-year deal with the Championship club in August 2012 and didn’t have to wait long before making his league debut under Dave Jones.
He had played eight times for the Owls in the first half of his debut season but found himself shipped out on loan to League One side Tranmere Rovers when the January transfer window came around.
With half-a-dozen more senior appearances under his belt, Corry returned to Wednesday intent on cementing a place in the first team. Unfortunately, a difference of opinion with the management team saw him play just 30 minutes of senior football the following season.
They couldn’t agree on the right loan move and he was sent to train with the youth team for a period. There were a number of factors at play, as he explains.
“The first season there I was surprised as I actually played more games than I was expecting to,” Corry told The42 at Herbalife’s event in Dublin yesterday.
I was thrown into the deep end quite early on and I was chuffed with how I had done.
“Then it came to the second season and for one reason or another, they wanted to put me out on loan somewhere that I was being advised not to go. So I was a little bit isolated and was made train with the U18s.
“I got the feeling that things weren’t sitting right and the manager didn’t want me there. It’s a difficult situation to be in because loan moves are more difficult to come by than people think.
“Finances come into play and then it’s whether the manager wants you to go there or not. I had opportunities that came up and I wanted to take advantage of them but they were declined.
“The problem was that when Dave Jones was sacked, his number two (Stuart Gray) came in and took charge so that regime never changed and I never really got a fresh start.
“From the outside, I had people saying ‘Is he not ambitious? Does he not want to play?’ but I always wanted to play and I’ve not come across a footballer who doesn’t.
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“It was terribly frustrating that I wasn’t able to go out for one reason or another. By the end of the three years, I was down on the situation as it had started off so well and finished quite badly.”
Life at Sheffield Wednesday started brightly. EMPICS Sport
EMPICS Sport
Corry would eventually get a short-term loan spell to Carlisle United, before parting ways with Sheffield Wednesday and joining Northampton Town in the summer of 2015.
But horrible luck was to follow as he suffered cruciate ligament damage to his knee that September and required surgery that would end his season as it was just getting started.
Understandably, it was a frustrating time for the Castleknock man.
“To an extent, I felt as if I wasn’t utilised as well as I could have been at Sheffield Wednesday,” he says. ”Mentally, that was very challenging. To go from that to signing for Northampton and not be there long due to the knee injury, it just gets you down.
“As a footballer, you just want to play games and when that has been taken away from you it’s tough plus the rehabilitation process can be challenging.
“It’s behind me now and it’s an experience I can draw upon but if anything it has made me more hungry to get this season going.”
Released by Northampton last May while he was still recovering from the operation, Corry came back to Ireland to think long and hard about his next move.
“When I finished up with Northampton I was in two minds about coming home and staying in the UK. The more time I spent at home the more I felt that a year back in the League of Ireland would do me good.”
Thankfully, the phone rang with a couple of enticing offers from top SSE Airtricity League — although he took the mature decision to decline champions Dundalk as he wasn’t yet fully-fit.
“When I came back I hadn’t made a decision and once Dundalk had qualified for the Europa League group stages, I had a call from Stephen Kenny and a few other clubs,” he explains.
Stephen was wondering where I was with my fitness but I wasn’t quite there and it would have been silly of me to sign knowing that my knee wasn’t 100%. After putting a year’s rehabilitation in, it just wasn’t worth it.
“Then I had a call from (Rovers sporting director) Stephen McPhail, who would’ve been at Sheffield Wednesday with me. He asked me would I like to come in, finish my rehab and train with the team at the end of the season, which suited me.
“I probably could’ve done the same with the likes of Dundalk but with the fixture congestion they had it probably wouldn’t have made much sense.
“When the season finished, I sat down and looked at all my options before deciding Rovers was the right fit.
“I knew (head coach) Stephen Bradley from playing against him, I know Stephen McPhail from playing with him and I knew a couple of other lads there.
“I like the feel of the place, the vision that they have and how they like to play the game. It’s a style of play that I see myself fitting into.”
Corry facing new club Shamrock Rovers during his UCD days back in 2012. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
At 25, Corry believes his best football is ahead of him. Having trained with the Hoops at the tail-end of the 2016 campaign, he is already chomping at the bit for pre-season to begin in the New Year.
“I need to play,” he states. “I think it’s irrelevant whether it was in the UK or Ireland. It’s a fresh start for me because I’ve been out of the game for probably the guts of two years now.
“Between not playing and having a fairly bad knee injury, it’s been very frustrating so I guess for me it’s about getting ready for pre-season and when February comes around just going all guns blazing.”
Rovers were fourth in the Premier Division last season but finished 22 points adrift of top spot and they will be aiming to force their way be back among the title contenders.
“When I played against Shamrock Rovers while at UCD they were always the top team,” he adds. “They had the biggest crowds, the best stadium, they had the best team and were winning titles at the time.
“That’s what the club is about. For now, it’s about bridging that gap between ourselves and Dundalk and Cork. The ultimate aim is to be competing for titles and you’re being silly if you say otherwise.
“We need to be up around the top of the league and with the two Stephens in charge the right people are in place with the group of players that we have there and once we add a few more players I can’t see any reason why we won’t be there or thereabouts in most competitions.”
Paul Corry was speaking in Dublin at Herbalife’s discussion on The Importance of Nutrition in Sport yesterday
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'It’s a fresh start for me because I’ve been out of the game for the guts of two years'
IT’S FOUR YEARS since Shamrock Rovers’ latest signing Paul Corry agreed to leave home and enter the ruthless world of professional football in England.
The move could have happened earlier as the Dubliner was offered contracts by Burnley and Nottingham Forest as a teenager but turned them down in order to sit his Leaving Certificate in Belvedere College before earning a soccer scholarship at UCD.
A gifted midfielder, Paul would go on to play over 100 games for the Students while balancing those commitments with academic studies. After completing his degree in Commerce, there were two job offers in accountancy firms on the table but Sheffield Wednesday had shown a strong interest and the pull of realising his dreams was too great.
Corry signed a three-year deal with the Championship club in August 2012 and didn’t have to wait long before making his league debut under Dave Jones.
He had played eight times for the Owls in the first half of his debut season but found himself shipped out on loan to League One side Tranmere Rovers when the January transfer window came around.
With half-a-dozen more senior appearances under his belt, Corry returned to Wednesday intent on cementing a place in the first team. Unfortunately, a difference of opinion with the management team saw him play just 30 minutes of senior football the following season.
They couldn’t agree on the right loan move and he was sent to train with the youth team for a period. There were a number of factors at play, as he explains.
“The first season there I was surprised as I actually played more games than I was expecting to,” Corry told The42 at Herbalife’s event in Dublin yesterday.
“Then it came to the second season and for one reason or another, they wanted to put me out on loan somewhere that I was being advised not to go. So I was a little bit isolated and was made train with the U18s.
“I got the feeling that things weren’t sitting right and the manager didn’t want me there. It’s a difficult situation to be in because loan moves are more difficult to come by than people think.
“Finances come into play and then it’s whether the manager wants you to go there or not. I had opportunities that came up and I wanted to take advantage of them but they were declined.
“The problem was that when Dave Jones was sacked, his number two (Stuart Gray) came in and took charge so that regime never changed and I never really got a fresh start.
“From the outside, I had people saying ‘Is he not ambitious? Does he not want to play?’ but I always wanted to play and I’ve not come across a footballer who doesn’t.
“It was terribly frustrating that I wasn’t able to go out for one reason or another. By the end of the three years, I was down on the situation as it had started off so well and finished quite badly.”
Corry would eventually get a short-term loan spell to Carlisle United, before parting ways with Sheffield Wednesday and joining Northampton Town in the summer of 2015.
But horrible luck was to follow as he suffered cruciate ligament damage to his knee that September and required surgery that would end his season as it was just getting started.
Understandably, it was a frustrating time for the Castleknock man.
“To an extent, I felt as if I wasn’t utilised as well as I could have been at Sheffield Wednesday,” he says. ”Mentally, that was very challenging. To go from that to signing for Northampton and not be there long due to the knee injury, it just gets you down.
“As a footballer, you just want to play games and when that has been taken away from you it’s tough plus the rehabilitation process can be challenging.
“It’s behind me now and it’s an experience I can draw upon but if anything it has made me more hungry to get this season going.”
Released by Northampton last May while he was still recovering from the operation, Corry came back to Ireland to think long and hard about his next move.
“When I finished up with Northampton I was in two minds about coming home and staying in the UK. The more time I spent at home the more I felt that a year back in the League of Ireland would do me good.”
Thankfully, the phone rang with a couple of enticing offers from top SSE Airtricity League — although he took the mature decision to decline champions Dundalk as he wasn’t yet fully-fit.
“When I came back I hadn’t made a decision and once Dundalk had qualified for the Europa League group stages, I had a call from Stephen Kenny and a few other clubs,” he explains.
“Then I had a call from (Rovers sporting director) Stephen McPhail, who would’ve been at Sheffield Wednesday with me. He asked me would I like to come in, finish my rehab and train with the team at the end of the season, which suited me.
“I probably could’ve done the same with the likes of Dundalk but with the fixture congestion they had it probably wouldn’t have made much sense.
“When the season finished, I sat down and looked at all my options before deciding Rovers was the right fit.
“I knew (head coach) Stephen Bradley from playing against him, I know Stephen McPhail from playing with him and I knew a couple of other lads there.
“I like the feel of the place, the vision that they have and how they like to play the game. It’s a style of play that I see myself fitting into.”
At 25, Corry believes his best football is ahead of him. Having trained with the Hoops at the tail-end of the 2016 campaign, he is already chomping at the bit for pre-season to begin in the New Year.
“I need to play,” he states. “I think it’s irrelevant whether it was in the UK or Ireland. It’s a fresh start for me because I’ve been out of the game for probably the guts of two years now.
“Between not playing and having a fairly bad knee injury, it’s been very frustrating so I guess for me it’s about getting ready for pre-season and when February comes around just going all guns blazing.”
Rovers were fourth in the Premier Division last season but finished 22 points adrift of top spot and they will be aiming to force their way be back among the title contenders.
“When I played against Shamrock Rovers while at UCD they were always the top team,” he adds. “They had the biggest crowds, the best stadium, they had the best team and were winning titles at the time.
“That’s what the club is about. For now, it’s about bridging that gap between ourselves and Dundalk and Cork. The ultimate aim is to be competing for titles and you’re being silly if you say otherwise.
“We need to be up around the top of the league and with the two Stephens in charge the right people are in place with the group of players that we have there and once we add a few more players I can’t see any reason why we won’t be there or thereabouts in most competitions.”
Paul Corry was speaking in Dublin at Herbalife’s discussion on The Importance of Nutrition in Sport yesterday
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