Kieran Gavin at West Ham ...
Younger members may not be aware that Kieran Gavin was once a promising soccer goalkeeper - good enough to attract the attention of West Ham and was called over for a week's trial. Here in words is Kieran's story of the week (for more pictures check in to Mullingar Shamrocks Facebook page).
A week in Chadwell Heath….
I decided to play soccer with Mullingar Athletic for a winter as a lot of the lads on the Shamrocks team were playing (Alan Cashman, Simon Quinn, Stephen Early and a few more). I think I was also playing with Westmeath u16s at the time so I decided I would go for the goals as I wouldn’t have to do as much running in training! The Bush (Stephen) Early kept me on the bench for the 1st few games but when he missed a game due to Cullion u16 commitments I had my chance. The management team was Dave Coghlan and Luke Smith. Luke is from the UK and has ties to West Ham.
After playing 7 or 8 games the skills learned in Springfield were serving me well. Opposition corners were my bread an butter and I would often come out on top in ‘1 on 1’s’. I think we played Shelbourne in one of the early SFAI rounds and I had a particularly good game. Luke was particularly impressed and used his old contacts in West Ham to come and have a look at a game. A scout came to the next game and before I knew it I had a letter from Liam McGovern (Mullingar Athletic Secretary) saying West Ham United had invited me over for a week-long trial.
Dad and I hopped on the place a few weeks later and were greeted at the airport by a retired man (Peter was his name I think). Dad stayed at a local B & B and I was in the house with Peter, his wife and 2 other players (Kevin was one of the other lads names). The house was a lovely 3 storey residence in a gated community with 24-hour security. I was buzzing with excitement and nervousness. I was particularly nervous about my poor kick out – couldn’t reach half way on a soccer pitch (some of the lads would argue I still can’t). The youth training ground is in Chadwell Heath and we were all dropped there the next morning by Peter after his wife made us breakfast. All you had to bring were your boots – the rest of the gear was left out for you before every session. We went through a variety of goal keeping drills and I felt very much like a novice. I didn’t have the goalie lingo or the technical training the rest of the goalkeepers had but I naturally had a positional sense and my hands were better than the rest. Being honest I didn’t like the experience. There wasn’t much comradery or wishing the other person well.
We trained for a few days in Chadwell Heath twice per day (fresh gear each time – some of which found it’s way to Mullingar). It was a lovely way of life but I wasn’t overly enjoying it. I had only played about 10 games of soccer in my life and was probably only playing the game a few months.
The penultimate afternoon was spent training at the senior squad's ground (Rush Green I think). We were bussed up from Chadwell and dad followed behind in a car. He forgot to bring the camera here of all days! We got lunch here (beef burgers & mash with gravy!). Teddy Sheringham and Luke Chadwick were sitting at the table next to us. Alan Pardew was the 1st team manager and came over to introduce himself – seemed like a really nice fella. The afternoon was spent doing really specialised goalkeeping drills with Luděk Mikloško. I performed quite well here as the emphasis was on ball handling. Bag to the house then to relax with a game of pool.
The final day was an away game to Cardiff City. We bussed it down and I played the 2nd half. I think I let in a goal (or two!) but played decent. My kickouts were poor. The airport was on the way back on the bus so we were dropped off there. The trial finished and it was very much “play some more, we’ll keep monitoring you and we would love to have you back some time”. I think Teddy had a word in their ear though – I never got that invite back! I probably needed to grow a few inches too. I’d say I only played 5 or 6 more games after that. It was in with the county u16s and minors the following year. Overall it as a great experience to go through. And Teddy Sheringham or Luke Chadwick never got to play for Westmeath, never go t to play Sigerson and captain DCU to win the title and more importantly of all never got to captain Mullingar Shamrocks to win a county senior title or be part of a Shamrocks team to win the first all-Mullingar county final. Not getting that invite to come back had its compensations, compensations that money could never buy!
