Drogheda United join Shelbourne in 2024 Unlikely Heroes Hall of Fame with FAI Cup win
Drogheda United have won the 2024 FAI Cup with a 2-0 win over favourites Derry City.
2024 WILL go down as the year of the journeyman, the unlikely hero, and the underdog.
Often the forgotten men of football, the players behind the players behind the headlines, this year has seen them leap into the spotlight.
Just look at champions Shelbourne. We can reflect now on the talent in Damien Duff’s squad, and marvel at how the Chelsea and Ireland legend glued them together with a mix of tactical wizardry and a masterclass in motivation.
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But few outside the Tolka Park dressing room predicted their long-shot Premier Division title win.
Especially as that dressing room was filled with players either thought to be past their prime or simply not fitting the profile sought by the more fancied contenders.
Yesterday, the FAI Cup went to another long-shot, thanks to another couple of journeymen and unlikely heroes.
Andrew Quinn joined the 2024 hall of fame when he produced an outstanding finish at the back post to open the scoring in the FAI Cup final.
The Drogheda United defender, at just 22 years of age, has already played for Dundalk, Bray Wanderers, Drogheda and Shels, before returning to the Boynesiders at the start of this season.
There’d be few objections locally to the Meathman being handed a long-term contract - or a ‘multi-year’ deal, in the parlance of some League of Ireland sides in recent years.
Quinn will never forget the moment he connected so sweetly at the back post with Shane Farrell’s free-kick.
He lost Derry centre-half Mark Connolly and caught the ball flush on the volley, and placed it between goalkeeper Brian Maher and the upright.
There’ll be no need for him to put his hand in his pocket anytime soon in any pub within a wide radius of Weavers Park.
And if the bar that has lent its name to United’s home ground awards platinum cards, then surely one will be winging its way to Quinn.
Douglas James-Taylor, the scorer of Drogheda’s second, is just a few months older than Quinn and has come to Drogheda via sister-club Walsall on-loan.
His career so far has taken him from Salford City to Stoke City, Wealdstone and AFC Fylde.
They’re not the only well-travelled members of the new FAI Cup champions.
As fans and observers, we often give little thought to the journeys that bring players to these huge occasions, or to what these moments mean to them.
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We will spend 90 minutes cheering, jeering and analysing them, and then it’s back to the grind for another week, before doing it all over again.
But their stories are what is truly great about football. And just this past week we heard some remarkable tales.
There is something magical about a young man somehow finding his way from rural Haiti to Irish football’s showpiece.
Or another born and raised in the shadow of San Francisco’s famous Golden Gate Bridge coming to his parents’ homeland with little more than a dream of a career in the beautiful game.
Frantz Pierrot might have been upset with the decision to substitute him deep into the second-half yesterday - he appeared reluctant to walk over and shake the hand of his replacement Adam Foley - but he played his part.
The Haitian was a thorn in the Derry City defence, particularly in the first-half as the Boynesiders looked to get the ball to him as early as possible.
He didn’t get the goal he craved, but he earned his winners’ medal.
As too did goalkeeper Luke Dennison, a Californian born to a Dublin mother and Sligo father, who outlined ahead of the final his incredible journey to the biggest day in Irish football.
Once a San Jose Earthquakes prospect, he longed for a career in Europe and to play European football. That’s something Drogheda United can look forward to next summer
Dennison arrived in Ireland with no plan, other than to tap up any family connections.
His determination earned him spells training with Shamrock Rovers, Leixlip United and Maynooth Town University, before an amateur contract was secured with Longford Town.
From third choice goalkeeper with Bohemians to FAI Cup winner in the space of a year, call him a journeyman, call him an unlikely hero, or call him both, but Dennison was outstanding too for Kevin Doherty’s side.
For Quinn, James-Taylor, Pierrot, Dennison and for some of Shelbourne’s title winners, yesterday’s FAI Cup success and last week’s title win might be a once-in-a-career thing.
For Drogheda United and Shels, maybe the successes of this year will be once-in-a-generation, and next year Shamrock Rovers and Derry City, and Stephen Kenny’s St Patrick’s Athletic will sweep up the honours.
Remember, Drogheda’s Premier Division status is still in doubt, as they face a promotion/relegation play-off against Bray Wanderers next weekend.
But for now we can all - yes, even fans of the perennial winners - enjoy the fact that 2024 was the year when some of the game’s lesser lights shone bright.
We all love a good underdog story. And thanks to these journeymen and unlikely heroes, we’ve certainly had our fill.
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