EAMONN DOLAN HAS died at the age of 48.
The former Irish underage international and twin brother of well-known domestic football figure Pat, had been battling cancer and underwent surgery to remove a tumour last year.
Born in Galway, he enjoyed immense success as a youth player with his country and was part of the Irish side that competed in the 1985 World Youth Championship.
Beginning his club career with West Ham, he was briefly with Birmingham before signing for Exeter in 1991.
However, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer just two years later and subsequently had to cut short his tenure as a footballer.
But he remained with the club in a variety of different roles before eventually taking over as manager in 2002.
He moved to Reading in 2004 to take up a role as the club’s academy manager and helped a litany of young players make the grade, including Shane Long and Steve Sidwell.
He also worked closely with Steve Coppell, Brendan Rodgers, Nigel Adkins and Steve Clarke during their respective stints as manager.
In 2013, after Brian McDermott’s sacking as senior boss, Dolan took temporary charge for one game – against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
At the time, he was quizzed about how daunting the assignment was.
“You can quit, you can lie down, or you can get up and do something positive to make a statement”, he said.
Reading posted a heartfelt message to their website earlier today, as they remembered their colleague and friend.
For a man so modest, working tirelessly and with a real zest for success but without the desire for recognition for his countless achievements or any sort of limelight, to make such a monumental impact on a club and its supporters is extremely rare. Human beings like Eamonn Dolan are rare.Eamonn was one of the good guys. He will be so sorely missed by so many. We will never forget him.”
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