David Sneyd

IT MAKES PERFECT sense that Sean Gannon is the oldest player in the Shelbourne squad.

The right back turned 33 last month and made his debut in the League of Ireland for Shamrock Rovers on 12 September, 2011.

Twenty four hours earlier his current manager, Damien Duff, was part of a Fulham side that drew 1-1 with Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League.

An example of how careers and stories can come to intersect.

As that substitute appearance was Gannon’s only one of the campaign it meant he didn’t receive a medal when the Hoops were crowned champions.

But his is most certainly not a case of what might have been.

The haul of nine Premier Division title wins that followed is a domestic record.

It can become a perfect 10 with Shels this season.

So it is natural then that Gannon would be the most experienced member of Duff’s squad.

“This league is very important to me. It has given my family and I some of the best days of our lives,” he says.

“I’d do whatever I can to push and promote the league in any way I can. I think televised games are one of the easiest ways to reach the most people. It’s important for me, I have been in this league a long time, I’ve played my whole career here, I haven’t gone away [to another club abroad].

“I’ve been here since the days when crowds were down to barely anyone in the gate. Now I’m looking at a Dublin derby where I think there were 10,000 people at Tallaght [Stadium]. You see the crowds in Tolka every week, Dalymount too, everywhere seems to be full.”

Tonight’s derby with Bohemians is another example.

Sean Gannon during his first stint with Shamrock Rovers in 2011. Cathal Noonan Cathal Noonan

Tolka Park is sold out with the highest attendance in Drumcondra since 2006 expected.

That was the year of the club’s last top-tier title and the boom and bust nature of the period is summed up by the fact they were subsequently demoted to the First Division due to their financial problems.

It won’t feel like a blink of an eye for those at the club who have fought to maintain its survival, but seasons still pass with a pace that has no regard for sentiment.

That’s because the game doesn’t.

Duff has attempted to keep his players in the moment but also wants them to savour what they could potentially achieve.

They are top of the table with 10 games remaining and he has no problem telling his players that these are some of the best days of their professional lives.

Gannon knows this too.

When he left Rovers to join St Patrick’s Athletic a title followed quickly in 2013, although not a first-team regular he was more involved as Ger O’Brien’s understudy.

Stephen Kenny then brought Gannon to Dundalk and he won another five in the next seven. He returned to Rovers and won three-in-row although minutes in that last year were reduced.

No wonder, then, that when Duff bumped into Gannon by chance while the player was out walking his dog around East Wall – a boxer named Cleo – he soon got back in touch to bring him on board.

“In terms of improvements to my game, it’s small details he sees that he felt he could improve. It’s kind of everyday. No wasted days. Every day in training is a chance to improve. Definitely both sides of my game he’s helped improve. Defensively and as an attacking threat, timing of runs, positional play.

Gannon celebrates a goal for Dundalk in 2019. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

“Sometimes you might be in position when you get the ball and you think you’re alright. He sees something and makes you even better. Small details he notices, himself and Joey [O'Brien].’

Typically, it’s the titles that got away that provide lessons to adhere to over the final couple of months of the season.

“If you take your eye off it… looking at past games or putting certain games on a pedestal that they’re more important than others. It will most definitely come back to bite you,” Gannon reasons.

“This has been built in the last two and a half years. New players come in and buy into it. When staff came in it was about putting the club back to where it belongs.

“They did have that Cup final that didn’t go their way. It’s a measure of how far the group has come. Young players, you can see the development. I’ve just come in this year. Unbelievable place to be. It’s a brilliant group to be part of. It’s a measure of where the lads have come.”

As Gannon’s own career has shown, missing out on that first medal doesn’t mean the chance has gone.

But Shels must do all they can to seize their moment.