By Patrick Flaherty
Daryl Horgan may be the latest Galway man to try his hand at making a living from football after his heroics for Dundalk this year saw him earn a deserved move to Preston North End – but he is far from the only Galwegian to have made the journey.
Seamus Conneely, who hails from just outside Carraroe, began his career with Galway United in 2007 – but almost a decade later he has found a new home in Lancashire, where he is captain of League 2 side Accrington Stanley, an accomplishment the defender is very proud of.
“Yeah, it’s a great source of pride. The club name stands out. Most football fans in England may not know where it is, but they’ve heard the name Accrington Stanley. But it definitely gives you a real boost being captain of them,” he says.
It hasn’t been all plain sailing however for the man who was born in the UK but resettled to Connemara with his Galway family as a young boy; he has seen many highs and lows during his nine years as a professional footballer.
After a successful spell with his hometown club, Conneely signed with then Championship side Sheffield United in January 2011; he never would play for the first team during his spell at the club and left in May 2012.
Back in Ireland, and with Galway no longer having a team, Conneely moved up the N17 to play with rivals Sligo Rovers.
Conneely won a league and FAI Cup while at the Showgrounds, but his biggest break came in January 2015, when his former Sligo boss John Coleman offered him a second chance to play in England by linking up with him at Accrington Stanley.
“I had a bit of a break with John Coleman coming over and taking the job at Sligo. He was only there a couple of months and he got the Accrington job. So that’s really how I ended up coming to Accrington.
“I’m not sure I would have even come back to England if it wasn’t for that little bit of fortune I had. But you need it along the way and I’ve been able to take mine.”
See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.