THE REST OF Andy Boyle’s life is beginning to surround him. Quite literally in an office in the heart of the IFSC.
Rather than feel like the walls are closing in, he is embracing a kind of comfort that comes with meeting a completely new challenge head on.
It’s one the 35-year-old began to prepare for long before calling time on his days as a professional footballer.
And, on a day like this, the outlook is most certainly bright.
The sun is shining, bouncing off a glistening Liffey as tourists mill about EPIC The Irish Immigration Museum and queue across the road to buy tickets for The Jeanie Johnstone Tall Ship – An Irish Famine Story.
Further on, workers in the IFSC are making the most of the weather. Some eat their lunch as they walk by the river, another bursts from an office building in a change of running gear to get some exercise.
Andy Boyle in action for Ireland. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
It’s Thursday lunchtime and Boyle is tweaking a new routine of his own by skipping the gym on his break and squeezing in a chat with The 42 instead.
He posted his retirement message on social media on 4 October last year and needed a little nudge from his wife, Hayley, to do so.
“I would have disappeared into the background happy enough,” Boyle says. “But listen, I am glad I put it out there because I started to get some really nice messages back. I wasn’t as emotional about the announcement because I knew it was coming, I’d dealt with that side of it.
“It was when people started to get in touch and reached out to me, that was nice because maybe you don’t realise that you were able to have a positive impact on some people while you were playing. So that was really nice.”
Boyle had already begun to process that his playing career was over. Tendonitis in his knee required weekly injections just to try and see out the season with Waterford. He couldn’t train, the effectiveness of the jabs began to wane and the pain increased.
Last August, for an away match with Cork City, he travelled with his teammates but had a pitstop in a medical centre to have an injection to make it through the 90 minutes. He didn’t last the warm-up.
“I was thinking of long-term effects, what’s this doing to me? Who was it really helping, doing what I was doing? I was only 34 and didn’t want to risk being in pain for the rest of my life.” he says.
So, Boyle began to get his head around the fact time was running out. His eyes had already been opened to such a scenario long beforehand, though.
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Despite the fact he was an instrumental figure at the heart of Dundalk’s defence during the Stephen Kenny golden period, he was unable to secure a mortgage during this time in the League of Ireland.
Even with a considerable lump sum from a bonus after qualifying for the group stages of the Europa League, a home for his family was out of reach.
A move to Preston North End alongside Daryl Horgan increased his earning power, there was even the “honour and privilege” of a single cap for the Republic of Ireland, but when he returned to continue his career in the League of Ireland that money in the bank still wasn’t quite enough.
“I had to show them I was taking steps to be able to continue in work after football and would be able to pay the mortgage,” he says.
And it just so happened that he began to see his future in finance.
Boyle (right) lifts one of four league titles with Dundalk. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Boyle decided it was time to return to education and began a four-year blended learning degree in finance and accounting from Griffith College. He was fortunate to have his Leaving Cert behind him from Coláiste Phádraig in Lucan but it was still a leap back into a different world.
Compared to some of his peers he was also an outlier, as a study in 2019 from the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland found that 33% of members only had their Junior Certificate.
“It was daunting, I won’t lie about that. You’re getting used to things, using a laptop, getting comfortable with all that. But it was about being able to better yourself and taking on the hard work.”
Just like throughout his playing career, the support of Hayley, who he has been with since he was 15, was pivotal. His parents, too. During the last year of the course he also became a father when his daughter, Indie, was born.
“It’s not like you have the money to sit around and do nothing. Even if I had I wouldn’t be able to do that, even mentally to do something with that purpose is important,” he says.
When Boyle speaks now, it is not with fear for the future. He can appreciate his past and the thrilling success, while also acknowledging that things didn’t quite work out for him in Britain. “But you can’t waste time thinking back to things you can’t control.”
Simon Grayson was the manager who signed him for Preston in December 2016, but he left for Sunderland on the day Boyle was returning from Dublin for the following pre-season. New boss Alex Neill didn’t fancy him, a loan move to Doncaster Rovers led to a groin injury and the rest of his contract at Preston was spent on loan in Scotland with Dundee and Ross County in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
All of this on the back of those European exploits for Dundalk. Kenny informed him of his call-up for the Ireland squad alongside Horgan when they landed in Russia for a group game with Zenit St Petersburg. He can smile at that memory and allow the pride of his appearance against Iceland in March 2017 wash over him.
“I was sent a photo from that game. I’m on the ball and in the background are my two brothers, my Mam and Dad, and niece and nephew. It’s a great moment to have.”
There is no anger at how things finished, no resentment or frustration even if the dream would have been to bow out with another appearance at Aviva Stadium in the FAI Cup final.
A major factor in being able to embrace this next stage of life is actually being prepared for what comes next. Boyle is in the process of achieving further qualifications so he can progress from his current position as a mortgage administrator to recognised broker within Finance Solutions, the company who took him on earlier this year.
“I never saw myself going from football to the IFSC. It is a great feeling to be able to help people with such an important part of their life. You get a lot from that happiness,” he says.
“Being confident in dealing with people, speaking to them on the phone and making sure you are there to provide answers, it’s important because they are putting trust in you.”
From left: Chris Shields, Stephen Kenny, Stephen O'Donnell, Andy Boyle, and Brian Gartland. Cathal Noonan / INPHO
Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO
Boyle also passed one important milestone a couple of weeks ago when he reached three months of service. “I was able to get one day working from home.”
He grins and is already working towards the six-month mark. “Then it increases to two days.”
Other small adaptations to his new reality seem like rewards for being capable of taking that much bigger leap of faith. There is the Bohemians fan in the office who is not as vocal around the place as earlier in the season.
He jokes about the nerves of ironing his clothes and laying them out the night before that first day in the office.
“I didn’t have to do that with football.”
It took a bit of time to get his head around annual leave, the fact he was entitled to a certain number of days off work and there was a system to enable him to simply request it.
“I was almost scared to put it in the request. These days are actually there for you to take off and it’s not frowned upon. It’s not like that in football.”
Boyle wins a header against Fred Friday of AZ Alkmaar during the 2016 Europa League. Karel Delvoije / INPHO
Karel Delvoije / INPHO / INPHO
He still watches any game that he can on TV and during that recent bit of time off with family he also caught up with former Dundalk centre back partner Brian Gartland, who is now assistant to Kenny at St Patrick’s Athletic.
Horgan is still going strong in a second spell with a Dundalk side that are impressing under manager Ciaran Kilduff, also a former teammate at Oriel Park who scored away to AZ Alkmaar during that famous European run.
A decade on, Boyle still laces up the boots with friends in Palmerstown for Leinster Senior League side Glenville. “Still moaning,” he says, smiling. “It’s nice to play with some younger lads because they’re only starting out and it’s good to help them in some way.”
Boyle led by example as a player and could always be relied upon. They are traits that will serve him well in a new stage of life. Even on those days off.
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A new life surrounds Andy Boyle and he's ready to embrace the challenge
THE REST OF Andy Boyle’s life is beginning to surround him. Quite literally in an office in the heart of the IFSC.
Rather than feel like the walls are closing in, he is embracing a kind of comfort that comes with meeting a completely new challenge head on.
It’s one the 35-year-old began to prepare for long before calling time on his days as a professional footballer.
And, on a day like this, the outlook is most certainly bright.
The sun is shining, bouncing off a glistening Liffey as tourists mill about EPIC The Irish Immigration Museum and queue across the road to buy tickets for The Jeanie Johnstone Tall Ship – An Irish Famine Story.
Further on, workers in the IFSC are making the most of the weather. Some eat their lunch as they walk by the river, another bursts from an office building in a change of running gear to get some exercise.
It’s Thursday lunchtime and Boyle is tweaking a new routine of his own by skipping the gym on his break and squeezing in a chat with The 42 instead.
He posted his retirement message on social media on 4 October last year and needed a little nudge from his wife, Hayley, to do so.
“I would have disappeared into the background happy enough,” Boyle says. “But listen, I am glad I put it out there because I started to get some really nice messages back. I wasn’t as emotional about the announcement because I knew it was coming, I’d dealt with that side of it.
“It was when people started to get in touch and reached out to me, that was nice because maybe you don’t realise that you were able to have a positive impact on some people while you were playing. So that was really nice.”
Boyle had already begun to process that his playing career was over. Tendonitis in his knee required weekly injections just to try and see out the season with Waterford. He couldn’t train, the effectiveness of the jabs began to wane and the pain increased.
Last August, for an away match with Cork City, he travelled with his teammates but had a pitstop in a medical centre to have an injection to make it through the 90 minutes. He didn’t last the warm-up.
“I was thinking of long-term effects, what’s this doing to me? Who was it really helping, doing what I was doing? I was only 34 and didn’t want to risk being in pain for the rest of my life.” he says.
So, Boyle began to get his head around the fact time was running out. His eyes had already been opened to such a scenario long beforehand, though.
Despite the fact he was an instrumental figure at the heart of Dundalk’s defence during the Stephen Kenny golden period, he was unable to secure a mortgage during this time in the League of Ireland.
Even with a considerable lump sum from a bonus after qualifying for the group stages of the Europa League, a home for his family was out of reach.
A move to Preston North End alongside Daryl Horgan increased his earning power, there was even the “honour and privilege” of a single cap for the Republic of Ireland, but when he returned to continue his career in the League of Ireland that money in the bank still wasn’t quite enough.
“I had to show them I was taking steps to be able to continue in work after football and would be able to pay the mortgage,” he says.
And it just so happened that he began to see his future in finance.
Boyle decided it was time to return to education and began a four-year blended learning degree in finance and accounting from Griffith College. He was fortunate to have his Leaving Cert behind him from Coláiste Phádraig in Lucan but it was still a leap back into a different world.
Compared to some of his peers he was also an outlier, as a study in 2019 from the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland found that 33% of members only had their Junior Certificate.
“It was daunting, I won’t lie about that. You’re getting used to things, using a laptop, getting comfortable with all that. But it was about being able to better yourself and taking on the hard work.”
Just like throughout his playing career, the support of Hayley, who he has been with since he was 15, was pivotal. His parents, too. During the last year of the course he also became a father when his daughter, Indie, was born.
“It’s not like you have the money to sit around and do nothing. Even if I had I wouldn’t be able to do that, even mentally to do something with that purpose is important,” he says.
When Boyle speaks now, it is not with fear for the future. He can appreciate his past and the thrilling success, while also acknowledging that things didn’t quite work out for him in Britain. “But you can’t waste time thinking back to things you can’t control.”
Simon Grayson was the manager who signed him for Preston in December 2016, but he left for Sunderland on the day Boyle was returning from Dublin for the following pre-season. New boss Alex Neill didn’t fancy him, a loan move to Doncaster Rovers led to a groin injury and the rest of his contract at Preston was spent on loan in Scotland with Dundee and Ross County in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
All of this on the back of those European exploits for Dundalk. Kenny informed him of his call-up for the Ireland squad alongside Horgan when they landed in Russia for a group game with Zenit St Petersburg. He can smile at that memory and allow the pride of his appearance against Iceland in March 2017 wash over him.
“I was sent a photo from that game. I’m on the ball and in the background are my two brothers, my Mam and Dad, and niece and nephew. It’s a great moment to have.”
There is no anger at how things finished, no resentment or frustration even if the dream would have been to bow out with another appearance at Aviva Stadium in the FAI Cup final.
A major factor in being able to embrace this next stage of life is actually being prepared for what comes next. Boyle is in the process of achieving further qualifications so he can progress from his current position as a mortgage administrator to recognised broker within Finance Solutions, the company who took him on earlier this year.
“I never saw myself going from football to the IFSC. It is a great feeling to be able to help people with such an important part of their life. You get a lot from that happiness,” he says.
“Being confident in dealing with people, speaking to them on the phone and making sure you are there to provide answers, it’s important because they are putting trust in you.”
Boyle also passed one important milestone a couple of weeks ago when he reached three months of service. “I was able to get one day working from home.”
He grins and is already working towards the six-month mark. “Then it increases to two days.”
Other small adaptations to his new reality seem like rewards for being capable of taking that much bigger leap of faith. There is the Bohemians fan in the office who is not as vocal around the place as earlier in the season.
He jokes about the nerves of ironing his clothes and laying them out the night before that first day in the office.
“I didn’t have to do that with football.”
It took a bit of time to get his head around annual leave, the fact he was entitled to a certain number of days off work and there was a system to enable him to simply request it.
“I was almost scared to put it in the request. These days are actually there for you to take off and it’s not frowned upon. It’s not like that in football.”
He still watches any game that he can on TV and during that recent bit of time off with family he also caught up with former Dundalk centre back partner Brian Gartland, who is now assistant to Kenny at St Patrick’s Athletic.
Horgan is still going strong in a second spell with a Dundalk side that are impressing under manager Ciaran Kilduff, also a former teammate at Oriel Park who scored away to AZ Alkmaar during that famous European run.
A decade on, Boyle still laces up the boots with friends in Palmerstown for Leinster Senior League side Glenville. “Still moaning,” he says, smiling. “It’s nice to play with some younger lads because they’re only starting out and it’s good to help them in some way.”
Boyle led by example as a player and could always be relied upon. They are traits that will serve him well in a new stage of life. Even on those days off.
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