DUNDALK HAVE announced the signing of goalkeeper Nathan Shepperd on a permanent deal.
The Wales U21 stopper arrives from Premier League club Brentford, where he has been on the books since 2019.
Shepperd was a regular in the Bees’ B team — making 45 appearances, captaining the team and winning the Player of the Year award in 2019/20.
Before joining, he spoke to former Dundalk defender Val Adedokun, who moved in the opposite direction last summer.
“I really enjoyed my time at Brentford but I feel like the time is right now for me to move on and hopefully do really good things at Dundalk,” Sheppard told dundalkfc.com.
“A couple of my ex-team-mates at Brentford and Swansea have come over to the League of Ireland and I’ve always looked out for them and kept in touch with them. Everything I’ve heard is good so why not?
“I spoke to Val and he was telling me about the club. He spoke very highly of Dundalk and said it would be a good move for me, I didn’t really need much convincing after that. I’m buzzing and really happy to be here.”
🧤 Dundalk FC is delighted to announce the signing of Welsh U21 goalkeeper Nathan Shepperd from Brentford FC.
— Dundalk FC (@DundalkFC) January 7, 2022
🏁 Welcome to Oriel Park, @njshepps!
Lilywhites head coach Stephen O’Donnell said: “Nathan is at a good age and has a very good pedigree.
“He was named captain of Brentford’s B team shortly after he arrived there which shows his personality and he’s a player that will fit into the squad seamlessly.
“For goalkeepers, it can be hard getting a starting point as there’s only one position you can play and it can be hard to get onto the ladder so this is the next step for Nathan and we are delighted to have him.”
Brentford B head coach Neil MacFarlane added: “Nathan leaves with all of our best wishes. From the day that he came into the club he has been the captain of the B team because he is a real leader both on and off the pitch. He has great standards, drives training every day, and has put in some exceptional performances during his time here.
To see him develop with us on the pitch as well as off it as a human being has been great, he’s an amazing person who will be going to a team who have been involved in European football. It will be a really good challenge for him as he continues to push on with his career.
“Not all of the players are able to get through to the first team but Nathan has been able to benefit from many opportunities to train alongside them, and we know that Thomas (Frank) and the rest of the staff think highly of him because he is such a well-rounded individual and we hope he can go on to have a very good career.”
Really interesting insight, and it tallies with the outlook of some of the best coaches in world rugby. Graham Henry and Schmidt both focus on key skills and structure.
Is there a route in Ireland for a guy like this to get into top level coaching anymore? A lot of the top coaches from the last 15 or 20 years – Henry, Schmidt, Kidney – were teachers who didn’t actually play the game at the top level. Nowadays there seems to be more an emphasis on ex-players becoming coaches. What about giving people who actually know how to coach an opportunity?