THE RETURN OF supporters has meant a familiar voice once again rings in the ears of Finn Harps defender Dave Webster.
For so long, the Covid-19 shutout meant boss Ollie Horgan’s orders dominated grounds around the country.
Not anymore, not since Webster’s grandmother, Rita, has been able to get back in the stands.
“You can hear her over Ollie at the games, big time!” he laughed.
“The last few weeks I’ve been able to get some of my family to travel up to the games and it’s been great. My mam and dad and nanny, and a good Cup run would be great to go alongside it.
Once you’re getting three points and winning games, the atmosphere everywhere, at the training ground and at the games, is brilliant.”
Webster is by no means wet behind the ears. The experienced centre back turned 32 earlier this month and his family have retained their grá for watching him play from his days starting off with Bray Wanderers 13 years ago.
His League of Ireland career has taken him to Shamrock Rovers, Waterford and St Patrick’s Athletic, but silverware has remained elusive for the Dubliner.
He now also has his own family, and his partner and two-year-old daughter have born the brunt of the sacrifices for the last year and a half as he splits his time between Dublin and Donegal.
“Big time, 100%, especially with the missus, I’d be staying in the spare room before the games, she’d be going mad but at least we’ve had something to show for it the last few weeks with the wins!
“You want to try and win silverware, that’s what you want to look back on at the end of your career. So hopefully we can get a good run in the Cup and have an opportunity to get to the semis or a final, it would be great, yeah.”
A derby with Derry City in the FAI Cup second round tonight is a serious test of their Cup credentials, although at least he no longer has to make the three-hour journey along anymore.
Fellow Dubs Sean Boyd and Adam Foley have provided invaluable
“We had Conor Barry with us but he’s gone out on loan to Athlone so he’s been a miss,” Webster adds.
Once you have lads with you it’s a lot easier. We have a stop in Monaghan and have a bit of craic. They know us and we load up there and then stick on a podcast for the last hour and a half, we’ve kind of got it down to a tee at this stage.”
The series of choice is Undr The Cosh, a no holds barred account from players who might not be the biggest names but have lived the kind of lives in professional football to provide plenty of outrageous stories.
The League of Ireland version, Allergic to Silverware, is hosted by former Harps teammates Keith Cowan and Mark Forker and is an apt description for many like Webster who fight the good fight without little reward.
“Yeah, I think everyone has a lot of Ollie [Horgan] stories! I’ll keep mine until I’m finished anyway!”
There could be quite a few more if they manage to reach the Aviva Stadium this year.
