AT THE end of 2021, Eamon Zayed was provided with a unique opportunity.
Zayed had finished a 20-year playing career in which he scored 127 goals in the League of Ireland, leaving him 23rd on the all-time scorers’ list.
Now 40, his playing career also encompassed stints in Iran, Norway, Libya (for their international team, qualifying through his grandfather), Malaysia and the US.
After finishing playing in America, he was appointed head coach and technical director of North Colorado Hailstorm and given a “blank canvas”.
In the nearly three years since, Zayed says his side have made good progress on the pitch, despite some financial issues behind the scenes.
One of the more unusual aspects of football in America is the lack of promotion or relegation.
But North Colorado compete in effectively the third tier of US football, USL (United Soccer League) League One, below Major League Soccer and USL Championship.
In recent seasons, the teams that finish in the top six have advanced to the playoffs, with the top two going straight to the semi-finals.
This year, the number of teams advancing increased to eight in the 12-team league — the top four are seeded and receive home advantage in these one-off ties.
In 2022, North Colorado narrowly missed the playoffs, but went on a good cup run, taking a considerable scalp by beating an MLS side in the process.
Last year, Zayed set his team a target of 57 points — the record in the league going into its fifth season of existence was 56. North Colorado finished on 62, but it turned out to only be enough for a third-place finish as they were three adrift of table-toppers Union Omaha.
They were then beaten in the semi-finals of the playoffs by eventual winners North Carolina FC.
Nonetheless, Zayed was recognised with a Coach of the Year nomination after helping the team reach these heights in year two.
At the time of writing, they are sixth in the 2024 table but only five points off second just over halfway through the campaign.
The new top-eight format means they will likely make the playoffs again, though Zayed is not a fan of this change.
“It’s too many teams,” he tells The 42. “It should be the top four and it should be a semi-final. But it’s trying to give everybody a chance because there’s no promotion-relegation in the States. There’s been talk of it, but I don’t know if it’ll ever happen. I hope it will.
“They’re trying to keep the season more competitive and have more meaningful games. Because what was happening, especially in the first couple of years, when it was just the top four, once you get to the last couple of months of the season, some teams have no chance of making the top four — they have nothing to play for.”
And whereas last year, the team were going “all out” to secure a first-place finish in the league, this season is all about “making sure that we’re ready for knockout football and one-off games, as opposed to just being that number one seed” and peaking around September-October time as the playoffs approach.
But later today, their league focus will be put aside as they compete in the USL Jägermeister Cup final match, which kicks off in the early hours of Sunday morning Irish time.
With victory, Zayed’s men would become the first professional soccer team from Colorado to win a trophy since 2010.
Some people might consider them slight favourites to achieve this feat — they have home advantage and have already beaten their opponents Madison, once this season and in the quarter-finals of the playoffs last year.
However, Zayed diplomatically describes their chance as “50-50″.
And Zayed is not the only Irishman making his presence felt in the US. His assistant is former Cobh Ramblers and Kilkenny City player Colin Falvey, who had a long career in America as a player before moving into coaching.
Roughly two hours away from Hailstorm, Championship club Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC are managed by former League of Ireland midfielder James Chambers. Like Zayed, the ex-St Pat’s man finished his playing career in the US. In addition, their general manager, Stephen Hogan, is from Skerries.
Meanwhile, down the road are MLS side Colorado Rapids, whose President Pádraig Smith is originally from Meath. In addition, Zayed’s former Sporting Fingal teammate Shane McFaul (who ended his career with a brief stint at North Colorado) works as a youth coach for the club.
Zayed met Smith for the first time in 2021. “He says: ‘Eamon, you might not know me, but I remember you, I used to watch you play for Drogheda United. I was there when you won the League of Ireland in 2007.’ And we’ve started a friendship ever since.
“Because I scored the winning goal to clinch the league title back in 2007, he says I have Colorado Rapids tickets for life, which is nice because I’ve been down there quite a few times and brought many people to the games.”
Zayed describes the high number of Irish football men based in Colorado as a “crazy coincidence”. A couple of other notable current/ex-League of Ireland players have also tried their hand Stateside in recent years, including Rob Cornwall, Richie Ryan and Paddy Barrett, while Aaron Molloy — son of ex-Ireland underage international Trevor — plays for Charleston Battery and is considered one of the top midfielders in the USL.
For Zayed, the Premier Division is “a market I always look at,” saying the standard is “similar” to the USL though the latter has superior facilities and stadiums. Nevertheless, the young coach has found it increasingly difficult to attract players in recent times with wages in the Irish top flight on an upward curve to the extent that a move to the US is no longer “a no-brainer” in financial terms.
“Now it seems like I can’t even compete against not just Shamrock Rovers or St Pat’s, but potentially top teams in First Division,” he adds.
Zayed himself has expressed ambivalence about the possibility of returning to coach in Ireland in the past and his feelings remain the same now. However, he adds: “I wouldn’t say ‘never’. It’s something that I’d be interested in because I watch it all the time. I’m still a fan. I played 10 years there. I have a house there, I even half-joked with Pat Devlin when I was there [at Christmas] about coming back to Bray and coaching them.
“My biggest thing with the League of Ireland is not even about going in there, because if you get the opportunity, great. It’s where you go from there.
“Look at Stephen Bradley, for example, he won the league four years in a row. Now, he’s qualified for the Conference League, which is great for him. But I look at Stephen Bradley, and think, where does he go?
“I just look at social media and a lot of the time it’s just a load of shit. But Shamrock Rovers fans were calling for his head and I’m thinking: ‘Hold on if Stephen Bradley can get sacked or even be under pressure after what he’s done…’
“Keith Long, in [nearly] eight years, took Bohemians from absolute nowhere to be challenging, and getting to cup finals and getting into Europe, and then he has one bad half-season, and he gets sacked.
“In America, there are loads of opportunities — USL League One, Championship, MLS,
“If I were to come back, I wouldn’t want to be a coach that moves from club to club. You want to go in and do what Stephen Kenny did with Dundalk or Stephen Bradley with Shamrock Rovers. So it’s just [about] the opportunities that come from it if you do well.”
