IN A LEAGUE where hoof and rush seems the order of the day, finding a football diamond willing to ply his trade in the First Division is a nigh impossible task. However, lucky enough to have acquired the services of both Sean Finn and Shaun Williams over the past two seasons, Dundalk FC has managed to lure yet another midfield magician into its claw, with the signing of one of the most exciting talents on the island, David Cassidy.
Different class
The 22-year-old arrived at Oriel Park in December last after departing Shamrock Rovers, and has already posed the question of why was he let go by the Hoops. Clearly on a different level to any other midfielder in this division, Cassidy has unsurprisingly been successful wherever he’s previously went. After threatening promotion with Kilkenny City, Casso moved to Rovers and won the First Division title, before helping the club to fifth position in the top flight last year - Rovers’ highest placing in five years. Born close to where Rovers were founded, the Ringsend bred star had began his career with local junior club Cambridge, before moving on to Home Farm. It was across the water where he learned his trade, however, as he joined Derby County at the age of 17.
Derby days
There, he spent three years and made a good impression in the reserves, however, the loss of a homely feel and personal reasons led to David returning to Ireland in 2005. “While I was playing with Home Farm, I got scouted by a guy from Northern Ireland,” Casso explains, when speaking exclusively to the Dundalk FC Magazine. “He brought me over on trial and then I signed there for two years. Over there, I got a one-year extension as a pro in the first-team, so it was good. I learnt a lot over there. Just things didn’t work out, so I came back here. I was out of contract, and I was starting to get a bit fed up. When I went over, for the first two years, there were a lot of Irish lads over there with me, but then for the last year, they were all gone, they had all been released, so I was by myself. My girlfriend moved over. She was pregnant, so she was back here then, so I just took the decision that home was better for me. In the last four or five months in England, things started to go downhill really; I was by myself all the time, so I decided to come home.”
Casso the cat
Cassidy soon got back into football, however, as he signed for Kilkenny City midway through the 2005 season. At the time, the Cats had started their amazing run under Pat Scully which saw them take 45 points from the final 21 games, as they missed out on the promotion playoff by six points. “I came back from England and I was doing a FAS course for football and Sports Science,” David recalls. “Then Bobby, the coach, got in touch with Pat Scully at Kilkenny, so I went up to just train with them one day and signed with them then until the end of the year. It was different. Coming from England and having pitches that are unbelievable to go down to Kilkenny, which is probably one of the worst, softest, pitches to play on. It takes a bit of getting used to, the league here and the different manner of football. It was adapting to different situations again, and the First Division is a tough league, as we’ll see here this year.”
Rovers arrival
Despite that relative success, Cassidy couldn’t resist the temptation of signing for Shamrock Rovers at the end of the season, as he followed Scully to Tolka Park. “I didn’t know if Pat knew he was moving to Rovers or not,” the youngster reveals. “There was no offer from Kilkenny. As soon as the season was over, Pat got that job, and I got a call a couple of days before he was taking it asking me to sign, so that was a done deal then. It was a different set-up again. We kind of trained in the same places as Kilkenny, because with them, we trained in Dublin as well. We trained in a lot of the same places and there was a lot of the same people too, because he brought a lot of lads with him. So, it was just like an old Kilkenny team with Rovers, with a bit more money wise, in terms of facilities and that. The equipment was much better and the training was much better as well. It’s a very good club; it’s being run like a proper club.”
League winner
A dream first season with the Hoops saw Cassidy rewarded with a league winners medal as Rovers fought off the challenge of Dundalk by a single point, with the midfielder pointing to the losses column as key. “It was great to win it,” he admits. “I think it’s important not to lose many games in this league. We drew twelve games that season, and got docked three points as well, to win the league, so I think it’s important to not lose. If you can get a draw, sometimes it’s not a bad result, in some places, especially when you go down to grounds like Limerick and Wexford etc. Sometimes, if you dig out a result there, it tells a lot coming to the end of the season.”
Learning curve
An impressive campaign saw Cassidy be one of the first players re-signed by Scully for Rovers’ return to the Premier Division last year. For long periods, the Hoops threatened an astonishing league challenge, as they closed to within five points of eventual champions Drogheda on the run-in. However, a sudden collapse meant an end to their title dreams, with tiredness the main factor according to Casso, as he admits: “We knew when we were in the First Division that we had a team that could win the league and do well, because we didn’t bring in many new players going into the Premier. It was just unfortunate at the end that we faded away and got tired; there was a lot of young lads there. We were right up there, and if one or two of results had to go our way, we could have pushed into the European spots. I think it was just tiredness. The lads were all very young; it was a great bunch of lads, but all of us, including myself, were very young, and it was a learning curve. None of us were in that situation ever before. All the other teams around us had a lot of experienced players. We peaked too early in the season - we had an okay start, a great midseason, and then a terrible end.”
Dundalk delight
Despite finishing fifth, Scully - after watching his side go without a win in the final seven matches - decided upon making major changes as he released eleven players just days after Rovers’ final league game against Waterford. Cassidy was one of those to depart, however, though he wanted to stay, he admits that it wasn’t a massive shock to be let go. “It was a bit of a surprise,” he says, “but then again, I was ready for it as well. I knew he’d get rid of a lot, because the club weren’t happy with the way the results were going in the last series. I was prepared for it, but I would have liked to stay. But that’s just the way football goes, unfortunately. I was disappointed to leave, but when you come to a club like this, it picks you up straight away. This club is run very well, and it’s really professional. It’s like England; he tries to run it as professionally as clubs in England. The facilities here; the pitch is unbelievable - it takes a while to get used to, but now that the lads are used to it, it’s great.”
Fairly tough
In the past three years, Pat Scully has shown himself to be one of the best managers in the business, as he has found success in each of his seasons in League of Ireland management. And, having worked under the former centre-half for two years, Cassidy admits that it’s a case of ‘tough but fair’ from Scully. “He’s good,” David says. “He’s tough, but good. You’ll learn. If you work around his way of thinking, then you have a chance, and I have learnt a lot off him. Some young players mightn’t like him and might walk away from the club, but if you stick by him, and do it the way he does it, you’ll learn a lot.”
Enjoyable experience
Now under another one of the top coaches in the game, Casso admits that he has really enjoyed his time working with John Gill so far. “John listens to your views and you feel that whatever you say counts, and you enjoy training,” he says. “It’s not real pressure on you on every single thing, you don’t get slated for making one mistake, and you don’t get someone on the back of your neck for it. John encourages you to do what you’re best at doing, and that can only help everyone and the team. I’m enjoying it here so far. There’s been no problem whatsoever. In training, you’re not slated for making one single mistake. If you make a mistake, you can make up for it. You’re obviously encouraged to play football the way you want to play. If you have a bad game, forget about it, there’s always next week. And you’re encouraged here constantly, and the coaches listen to you. They listen to your point of view and they’re a good help to you. Just hopefully now, we can keep the run that we’re on going.”
Future hopes
Dundalk’s good start to the season sees them currently sit joint-top with tonight’s opponents, Waterford United, and one of David’s future hopes is to see the Lilywhites back in the Premier Division and battling against local rivals, Drogheda, as he states: “Obviously, we want to win this league this season, and then build on it from there. This club should be a Premier club, and fighting with Drogheda. Obviously, we want to close the gap between us and Drogheda, because Drogheda now, because they’ve won the league, are the best club in the country. And, hopefully, we’ll be playing them in local derbies next year, which would be great.” Something which Casso is confident about. “I can’t see why we can’t win this division,” he says. “We have a strong squad of players here, so we’re confident we can go and win it. There’s no reason why we can’t do it; none at all.”
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