RTÉ documentary highlights how Irish football's biggest issue doesn't discriminate

The 42

11 hours ago

THE CLUE IS in the name, of course, and Football Families really does portray a vivid picture of the contrasts practically every club in the country can relate to.
The first episode of the three-part documentary that focuses on Shelbourne's League of Ireland academy aired on RTÉ 2 last night, and within 15 minutes we meet three players from the different age groups, and backgrounds.
Jayden Marshall is an U15 defender on the cusp of making his Republic of Ireland debut. His proud father stands with the family's Jack Russell under his arm and welcomes us into their new home in Fettercairn, an estate in Tallaght that is only a cartwheel celebration away from where Robbie Keane grew up. It remains one of the most disadvantaged areas in Dublin.
It is the new family home because the one Jayden grew up in burned down.
'Thank God the kids were all at school,' his father says. 'Jayden has a heart of gold, I'd be lost without him.'
Jayden's dad tells the story of when he arrived at the scene and the fire brigade asked what heirloom or memento would he like to be salvaged.
He chose his eldest son's first international jersey, and it hangs above him framed on the wall as he stands 10 foot tall in his kitchen for Amhran na bhFiann as Jayden prepares to follow in his brother's footsteps by playing for Ireland.
Then we get the first sight of the boy known locally around Howth as 'the kid with the football', juggling the ball out of his school and along the manicured hedges of an area that is one of the most affluent.
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Cillian O'Sullivan is 15 but looks and sounds about 10. Then you see how he controls the ball, moves his feet and swivels his hips. He is a player, and someone who caught the eye of Damien Duff early in his reign as first-team Shelbourne boss.
The Republic of Ireland legend has since departed the club but one of his contributions to this documentary was citing how O'Sullivan reminded him so much of himself, and his own love and dedication to the game.
'Enough is never enough,' Duff says. 'I think footballers across the board, not just in our academy, they think they're doing enough. They're not. Street football is dead, trying to hit lamp posts, trying to hit a sign on a wall, dribbling in and out of cars. That's all I did. The first time it properly hit home with me, I decided to take a training session and I just saw this little figure over in the corner, nobody else there. I walked over to him and it was Cillian.
'He was kicking the ball against the kerb. I think he was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt and shorts, I'm there with about 20 layers on. Even the game that he's playing just reminded me of my youth. He had a kerb, he had a ball. That's him. For me, the secret, that's what it takes. Always practicing.'
Like Jayden, we are welcomed in by the family to their Georgian style home, and while it's not hard to see the differences in demographics their passion and desire is a shared bond.
Cillian has already needed two ankle surgeries before his 16th birthday but retains a determination to make a career for himself in the game. While his technical ability is clear he is a late developer compared to his teammates, and his seems like a story as old as time – the small, gifted player with a ball at his feet who struggles with the physicality of boys his age.
And that's a point Shels academy boss Colm Barron touches on later, explaining how the aim should be to develop those kids so they're capable of getting into the first team – and beyond – rather than hitting their peak at 14 and 15 before they plateau.
Teenagers Dan Ring and Ali Topcu were both part of the matchday squad for Shelbourne's Champions League qualifier away to Qarabag in Azerbaijan on Wednesday evening.
Topcu becomes the next focus of the cameras, the young goalkeeper citing his aim to make it as a professional with 'one of the biggest clubs in Europe'. His father was a scaffolder here for 20 years after moving from Turkey. He has now given up his job to dedicate himself to helping his son achieve his dream.
It is when we meet Topcu that the overall change in landscape for underage development in football is addressed, and how Brexit means no Irish player under the age of 18 can leave for the United Kingdom.
The FAI are in the final stages of an independent audit of League of Ireland academies to determine just how much work is required to catch up. 'It's more to do with the actual player pool. That's the big issue,' LOI academy manager Will Clarke admitted in a presentation earlier this year. 'It's shrinking year on year. That, to be honest with you, is the issue.
'For us to be successful at senior international level, ultimately the challenge and problem we are trying to solve is how to get 35 players playing in the top five leagues in Europe on average 1,400 minutes a season?
'That is what we are trying to address here. That will give us the best chance of success at senior international level.
'We're going to continue to struggle, we're going to basically regress,' Clarke said. 'That's being honest. Even if you look at the senior international team, the impact of Brexit hasn't even reached there.'
The FAI's aim of submitting its funding proposal to Government by 15 August is on track. There has been political manoeuvring in the background – and in public – over the last 18 months but the next three will prove decisive in making the picture clearer for the development of football in this country.
The hope is to receive a commitment of funding for an 11-year period in the October Budget, and while a top-end figure of €8 million will be be required the FAI plan is for a phased approach with that amount also tapering off in the final years.
As Football Families highlights, Irish football's most important issue is one that doesn't discriminate as young people from all backgrounds seek to make a life for themselves in a sport that touches every part of our society.