Under the skin - Eoin Bradley's journey from Kilrea United to Windsor Park
Eoin Bradley is no stranger to the big stage. Last season he helped Glenavon topple Linfield and this Saturday ‘Skinner’ aims for a second winner’s medal, this time in the colours of Coleraine. He spoke to Michael McMullan about his journey to Windsor Park.
IT’S a chilly Tuesday night down on the coast and Coleraine boss Oran Kearney oversees the final stages of Coleraine’s season. The Europa league beckons but that’s further down the track, something to really to get their teeth into later.
Now it is all about the cup and applying the finishing touches. The upcoming, final league game against Ballymena was irrelevant.
The U19 squad are in action at one end of Coleraine university’s 3G facility and at the other end, Michael Doherty puts the goalkeepers through a rigorous session, diving around in all directions.
In the middle of the pitch, the core of the first team are playing in possession grids. Twelve players engaging in three versus three. Kearney has it timed to a tee, time to work and time to banter. ‘Two minutes work lads, fifteen seconds and we are on again.” He doesn’t need to raise his voice, the squad just follow.
I am here to meet Eoin Bradley, to trace his path from Kilrea United to the cusp of Windsor Park glory again. I don’t need to look far. He is wearing a pair of bright yellow boots, but he doesn’t need them to stand out. His physique elevates him among the sea of blue training tops. Rather than being a GAA import, added to the squad to fit in - Bradley is the centre of it all, without trying to be.
His natural larger than life personality, his ability to score goals, to deliver on the big stage and his carefree demeanour make him the fulcrum of all goings on. They all call him ‘Skinner’, you can feel the rapport and see the enjoyment.
The session ends with shooting. Bradley’s first shot goes straight at the ‘keeper, the next two fly into the top and bottom corners with venom. The fourth lacks any pith and is easily saved. Two goals from four attempts.
Kearney announces a game of last man standing - miss and ‘you’re done’. The competitive edge kicks in and Bradley doesn’t miss this time. Ten men drop away, leaving Neil McCafferty as the last challenger but it is ‘Skinner’ who wins through.
Glenullin pitch, Bradley’s home since he was old enough to hold a ball, was his first arena but he is equally at home now, here in Coleraine.
“I like it down here,” remarked Bradley as he trots in from training. He is informed of his Cup Final suit being ready. “Cheers boss,” comes his response.
Nestled in the corner of the dressing room, still in this training kit, Skinner is the epitome of relaxation.
GAELIC FIRST
Why Skinner? An obvious first question. “Whenever I was younger, I used to ‘skin’ people,” quipped Bradley. “That’s what I always took from it. I used to be fast and it must have stuck. Patrick or some of the boys gave it to me when we were running around Glenullin at five or six years of age.”
The first taste of soccer was a brief one. At the age of ’16 or 17’ there was trial with Ballymena United under Kenny Shiels but it was Derry GAA manager Chris Brown who won the battle.
“I trained with the (Ballymena) reserves one night and Derry minors was on at the time. I went to the training but after that I said ‘naw’ and just went and played for Derry minors. I never went back and never even thought about playing soccer,” recalled Bradley.
With Gaelic football his main priority, the soccer exploits were restricted to the GAA off-season, from September to December - Kilrea United was the first port of call, when he could squeeze himself between Derry and Glenullin.
“It was a kick about on a Saturday and then a ‘locka pints’ after – that’s all it was. It was for four of five years, whenever I could. Some years I couldn’t, if Derry were training before Christmas.”
Four years ago, the landscape changed with an invitation from John Paul McQuillan to come down to play for Ballymoney United. It proved to be the next step towards his career in the Irish Premiership.
“I said ‘I’ll be able to train one night a week’ with them,” referred Bradley of his temporary arrangement. It proved a short and worthwhile stint, giving him a shop window.
“I played five games and scored a hat-trick in two of them. We played Ballymena in a Junior Cup game, it was Ballymena’s first team and I scored two against them, Oran (Kearney) heard about it, rang me and asked me to come down.”
Following his first transfer to the Bannsiders, Bradley was struggling to break into the team so he took the bull by the horns and asked the question.
“I said to him (Kearney) one day, there is no point in me being here, either you give me a chance or not. We were playing Ballymena and he said ‘you’re in tomorrow’. I scored, got man of the match and just kicked on from there.
“I stayed here until the end of the year, then they signed wee David McDaid and he was coming from full-time football. It wasn’t that Oran didn’t fancy me, he saw things going the other way. He offered me a contract to stay at that time, I just decided to leave,” admitted Bradley.
Glenavon came calling as Bradley added: “I was chatting to Gary (Hamilton), I had a couple of offers and Gary’s was the best, I spoke to him and me and him clicked. To be fair they were two and half of the best years I had, I really enjoyed it up there.”
Despite being rank outsiders, Bradley played his part as Glenavon beat 42 time champions Linfield last season to land the Irish Cup.
Bradley has made a habit of toppling the top dog. In his GAA career, Bradley overturned kingpins Kerry to land the 2008 NFL title. When Glenullin won the club championship the previous year it was kingpins Bellaghy they beat in the final, after a replay.
Despite cup glory with Glenavon, circumstances changed this season. The practicalities of the two and half hour round trip to Lurgan would become a burden and like so many times before – Bradley’s phone rang.
THE RETURN
“I didn’t want to leave but Coleraine came in for me. At this stage of my career it was closer to home, with me not driving and my young boy (Cathaoir) was playing (for the youth team) down here. Oran wanted me and he told me his plans for the club,” Bradley explained.
“Lucky enough this year, it has went well, we are in Europe (next season) and we are in the Cup Final.”
After a summer playing for the Donegal GAA club in Boston, he missed the first five league games of Glenavon’s 2016/2017 season. Injuries crept in and he was in and out of the team.
“It wasn’t that I was scunnered but I needed a change and Coleraine put in a good offer for me. I spoke to a lot of people around the club, I’d be friendly with Colm McKendry (chairman), I spoke to him, I spoke to Oran (Kearney) and one thing led to another.”
The Bannsiders’ boss wanted the best local players playing for the club. Barring a few players, the crux of the squad are from Coleraine, Limavady, Ballymoney and Kilrea. The run in Europe will generate some cash to extend the budget, but there isn’t the same sponsorship attraction as the Linfields of this world.
Bradley’s first game back was against Linfield, the following week he bagged a hat-trick in the Irish Cup Quarter-Final against Carrick Rangers. The week after Bradley slid into a post leaving him injured and on the sidelines for eight weeks.
“I was suspended for the last two games but I am feeling good and I’m feeling fit - I am training a wee bit with Glenullin too so that helps,” added Bradley, who starts to look forward to the Saturday’s final.
All the lampposts on the roundabouts have blue and white chequered flags adorned on them, reminding him of the buzz in Glenullin back in 2007, his best sporting moment to date. Bradley sees the similarities to Coleraine.
“It’s a good wee club, it is good for the fans. There is a Kilrea/Garvagh supporters club, I go into the shop and there are boys stopping me, boys I don’t even know, about 50 or 60 years of age, who have supported Coleraine for about 40 years, it means a lot to them.
“It means a fair bit to me, my family and all will be there. Daddy and Patrick were there last year but Mammy and my sister were on holidays - they are going this year. There is a bus from Kilrea going and a bus from Glenullin.”
Last season his son Cathaoir (11) was in hand as a mascot when he walked out on final day. This year he is too old so daughter Cara (6) will be joined by nephew Conleth.
WHAT PRESSURE?
Unlike most of the squad, Bradley has the experience of last season and on the Gaelic field has played in front of a packed Croke Park, ten years ago against Dublin. The Coleraine squad mention Saturday as a big occasion, playing in front of slightly more than 10,000.
“I’ve played in front of 82,000 people,” is Bradley’s reply to his peers. They look at him in disbelief.
His ability to deliver comes from more than that – he thrives on the big occasions. That’s the attraction. But is that really the case? Or below the smiley face and unflappable confidence, is there a different Eoin Bradley, hidden away somewhere?
“I don’t have time to be nervous, I enjoy what I do – I love playing football,” stresses Bradley. “I love going and kicking a ball over the bar from the sideline or scoring goals. If somebody says ‘naw you can’t do it’, it would make me want to do it more.
“I have never been one to sit down, to practice and practice and practice – I just love to go out and play and be happy. If you are not happy, then what is the point in doing it? You see all these people running about with all this pressure – ‘this big game is coming up’. What’s the point of playing football if you don’t want to play in a big game?”
The Cup Final is here, the stage everyone should crave, as Bradley adds: “Where do you want to be playing? I don’t want to be at home watching it on TV – you want to play in the big games.
“Touch wood it doesn’t come back and bite me. Of course there are times when you are under pressure, if you miss a penalty, or you miss a free – I think what’s meant for you, will not go past you.”
Bradley’s laissez-faire attitude to football makes him a difficult nut to crack for defenders. He describes modern day Gaelic football as ‘boring’ and ‘defensive’, with a reference to robots. Bradley certainly isn’t pre-programmed. The term ‘expect the unexpected’ comes to mind.
One GAA defender was quoted on what it is like to mark Bradley. “How am I meant to know what he is going to do next, Skinner doesn’t even know that himself.”
“I have a strong mentality, things don’t bother me,” agreed Bradley. “I honestly don’t know what I am going to do, so how do they know. I could take the ball around a man two or three times, or I could pass it. I don’t know what I am going to do, so if they do, they are brave and smart.”
Some players express themselves better than others. Bradley doesn’t advocate telling players to go out and play their own way but it is his approach.
“I always played my best (Gaelic) football for Daddy, or Michael O’Kane (Bradley’s cousin). Michael used to say ‘Eoin go out and do what you want, I’m not going to tell you how to play football’.
“Damian Cassidy was the same with Derry. I remember him saying, ‘Eoin you are the best footballer in Derry – go out and do what you want’. That’s when I played my best football.”
It follows into the soccer side of his sporting career, as he continues: “Oran doesn’t tell me to play up front and stay there. Gary Hamilton, when I played for him, said ‘Eoin there is nobody in the Irish league who is going to stop you, just you go and do what you are good at’, that’s what he told me.”
Coming late to soccer does have its limitations. Bradley confesses to lacking the perfect first touch.
“You saw me, my first touch wouldn’t be as good as some of the boys out there but I guarantee you if I had the ball at my feet they are not getting it off me, I knock people out of the way, barge past people and score goals - that’s what I am good at so that’s what I try to do.”
OVER THE WATER
Back in his teens, choosing Derry minors over giving Ballymena United a proper chance ended any chance of a proper crack at cross-channel soccer.
“I was chatting to Gary Hamilton, David Healey and a two or three of those managers – ‘Eoin if we had’ve had you at 18 or 19, you’d be making £20,000 a week across the water’, but I wouldn’t have won a championship for Glenullin in 2007 and wouldn’t have played for Derry all those years.
“I might have made good money, but winning a championship with Glenullin is the still the best day of my career, no matter what sport it is.” Winning with the family and all the boys he grew up with, but his soccer pursuits weren’t always well received by the Gaelic fraternity.
“The amount of grief I got for playing soccer - sure ‘it’s easy’ – if it is that easy, everybody else would be playing soccer. I am lucky, I’m fit to play both. The last couple of years, with Michael O’Kane and Daddy managing they have kind of let me come and go as I please.”
All the years plastering and GAA based weight programmes leave Bradley with the body power to hold off defenders. There is more to it, as he explains.
“Not just because it is me or Patrick but we took more abuse than any two players in Derry football – I don’t care what anyone says, that’s just my opinion. Some of the stuff people used to do, you’d never get frees. You’d get beat two or three times to get frees but it hardens you for the likes of this (soccer) - making it a lot easier.”
With the focus now back to Saturday’s final, the experience gained from last year is invaluable. The suits, the build-up, leaving on the bus from Mourneview on the morning of the final through the throngs of people, orange smoke, flares and all the photos with fans.
“We have all that to look forward to again,” Bradley enthused. “Some of the young boys will be saying to themselves ‘it’s a cup final’ but they should be relishing it, saying ‘this is the biggest day of my life’, that’s how I looked at it last year.”
The scars from a broken leg are still visible. The marks from a knee operation are still there, the rib injury in January and breaking his arm ‘the odd time’ spell out the tough side of his sporting career.
His spell with Glenavon brought European football – trips to Iceland and Belarus. Chartered planes and the craic on the way home. Gaelic football took him to Australia and America. Next season will bring another European experience, one he intends to make the most of.
“We’ll enjoy it, this might be the last year (in Europe) of it. I enjoy it here in Coleraine, I have a two and a half year contract and I will be here for the foreseeable future.”
The last question is the one that generated the shortest answer. Any regrets?
“I wish I had done it sooner but I enjoyed my career playing for Derry and I am still playing for Glenullin – you can’t have it both ways,” concluded Bradley.
On Saturday, Linfield will take the field in their own backyard, hell-bent on winning title number 43, on making up for last season.
For Eoin Bradley, the man who just loves to perform, it will be another chance to strut his stuff on the big stage. A man absent of nerves, he will be in his element – just like he was in the early days ‘skinning boys’ in the gardens around Glenullin.