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Drogheda’s Shane Farrell celebrates after winning. Nick Elliott/INPHO

'I could be the first League of Ireland player to win the double and get relegated'

An FAI Cup winner with Drogheda, Shane Farrell reflects on a mad season.

ALL FOOTBALLERS tend to experience no shortage of highs and lows, but Shane Farrell seems to have packed a career’s worth of emotions into the last two years.

To appreciate what Sunday’s FAI Cup final success means to him on a personal level, it is necessary to go back to the 2022 final.

That day, Farrell had a poor game as he was part of a Shelbourne side beaten 4-0 by Derry City.

“The last time I was here [at the Aviva] I lost 4-0, I gave away two goals,” he tells reporters. “I let all the Shels players, fans, Damien [Duff] down.

“I had a little niggle. But look, I could play, so it’s down to me and not anybody else.”

The 24-year-old describes that game as his “lowest” moment.

“It’s probably why I got released at Shelbourne [earlier this season],” he says. “It’s a sad moment because I spent six and a half years there. But my confidence was shattered. I remember having a chat with Damien about my confidence. He said: ‘You just need to pick up again.’ But I just couldn’t get going.  

“I think we went back to the hotel [two years ago] and had a few drinks but I’m pretty sure I was the first home into bed.

“I knew I wasn’t the same player. Since Damien came in, my stats had been very good, but in the last year and a half, my stats have been awful. I was lucky that Kev [Doherty] reached out to me and signed me.

“I did have something to prove because Damien has let me go and everyone has seen that he’s let me go. People are probably saying: ‘He’s finished now, he’s gone from Shelbourne.’ But since I came in we were eight points behind Dundalk and I think we finished eight points above them. Now we have a cup medal.”

Farrell puts his improvement in form down to “confidence” while also paying tribute to the Drogheda manager’s role in this rejuvenation.

“Even before the game today we were in the hotel and he grabbed me to the side and said: ‘You just do what you do’. When I left the hotel I was a tiny bit nervous, but I’ve been here before.

“When Damien told me he was letting me go, Kev rang me, I’d say, 10 seconds later. I was actually out playing snooker. It was a bit crazy. He just told me he loves me as a player and he pulled me to the side and told me he absolutely loved me, to keep doing what I’m doing.

“I probably needed a fresh start and since I came into Drogheda my first game, we lost 4-2, it was very disappointing. But I played very well and I came off the pitch a bit happy, even though we lost. Then we played Dundalk at home the next week and I got to experience the Louth derby and it was unreal.”

Farrell exorcised the ghosts of 2022 by producing an influential performance. His inch-perfect free-kick set up the first goal, as Andrew Quinn volleyed home expertly as the far post.

While memories of his last big game at the Aviva were impossible to ignore, Farrell says he was “very calm” in the build-up to the weekend’s clash.

“There were no negatives in my mind. I just came in and did what I’ve been doing since I joined Drogheda. I played the ball in behind for the free kick, but the corner kicks were awful. I couldn’t beat the first man. But I’m just really happy.”

The enormity of the occasion and the joy of helping win Drogheda’s first FAI Cup since 2005 led to emotional scenes at full-time.

“I just started crying. It was just relief. From what happened two years ago to now, it’s just so different, it’s so good.

“Family comes into my mind. I must have had, I’d say, 40 or 50 family members all there, even my best friend in the league. I’m pretty sure I had 50% of Finglas there. It was a bit crazy. I knew I let them all down [two years ago]. As I went back to the hotel, everyone was like: ‘You’re man of the match,’ and all. That was the confidence they all had in me. But I knew I’d messed up.”

Farrell has also played enough games with Shelbourne this season to be entitled to a league winners’ medal.

If Drogheda beat Bray Wanderers in the promotion-relegation playoff on Saturday, he will look back on 2024 as a brilliant campaign.

“I think I could be the first [to do it], but I think it could be in a bad way if we lose next week. I could be the first League of Ireland player to win the double and get relegated, it’s a bit crazy.

“If we stay up and have Europe next year, it’s probably the best move I ever made.”

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