WHEN CORK CITY lost Kevin Doyle a few months into their league-winning season of 2005, many of the club’s supporters consoled themselves by agreeing that it could have been worse.
Reading could have bought John O’Flynn instead.
Given what he subsequently achieved, Doyle’s calibre can’t be disputed now. Only five players scored more goals in his first season in the Premier League, 2006-07, at the end of which he was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
But the reality was that while Doyle was sorely missed on Leeside, the general consensus among the patrons at Turner’s Cross at the time was that O’Flynn’s potential was even greater. His track record of injuries was the caveat.
Unfortunately for O’Flynn and the clubs he represented, those injury problems persisted and prevented him from discovering the full extent of that potential. Nevertheless, when he was available, the Cobh-born striker maintained an impressive strike rate for Cork City, and then Barnet and Exeter City after he returned to England in 2008.
He joined Cork City having been a trainee at Peterborough United. When City were crowned League of Ireland Premier Division champions in 2005, O’Flynn opened the scoring in their decisive 2-0 win over Derry City, ending the season as the club’s leading goalscorer.
He was back in Cork for a second spell with the club in July 2015, before moving up the N20 to sign for Limerick. Tomorrow night’s game away to Shamrock Rovers will mark the end of his second season on Shannonside — and the end of his time with the club, as he discovered this week.
O’Flynn won’t be in the squad for the game at Tallaght Stadium. Manager Neil McDonald — who took over at Markets Field following the departure of Martin Russell in April — has informed him that he’s no longer part of his plans. He may be 35 and the injuries have had an impact on his physical condition, but he’s adamant that this isn’t the end.
A modified training programme is required by the former Ireland U21 striker, but if he’s afforded that, O’Flynn believes he still has something to offer at League of Ireland level.
“It’s been a disappointing season,” he said. “When I signed back at the start of the season, it was on the basis that I couldn’t train on the astro-turf. Training continuously on the astro kind of killed me last year. Even the younger lads who have no history of injuries, they’d have complaints with it as well. It’s a surface that takes a lot out of the body.
“I want to extend my career, not take years off it, and the astro wasn’t helping. That was fine, but then the new manager came in. I normally wouldn’t train on the astro-turf, especially the day before a game, but I felt I needed to go out there and do a bit when he arrived.
“I ended up hurting my groin that day and I was supposed to start in the next game against Dundalk. That was the story of my season, basically. We were back on the grass for a while and I was getting a few runs as a sub, but we were back on the astro after that and I had to miss sessions.
“A new manager coming in doesn’t really know the players, so not being able to train every day probably didn’t do me any favours in his mind. If it was an Irish manager who was familiar with the league and the players, things might have been different.”
With players like Rodrigo Tosi and Chiedozie Ogbene in good form in Limerick’s attack, O’Flynn had to settle for a handful of appearances from the bench this season. He scored in a 2-0 win away to St Patrick’s Athletic in April and, coincidentally, his final appearance for the Blues was at Turner’s Cross in last month’s 1-0 FAI Cup semi-final defeat to Cork City.
After being Limerick’s top goalscorer last season as they coasted to the First Division title, O’Flynn is confident that he can still be an asset to a League of Ireland club in 2018. Nevertheless, he’s also putting plans in place for life after football by studying for a diploma in neuromuscular therapy, having already completed strength and conditioning and personal training courses.
“It all depends on the manager,” O’Flynn said, when asked about his prospects of finding a new club for next season. “I’ll train as hard as anyone in the right circumstances. I know my body so it’s just about getting the balance right.
“For me, it’s about being ready for the match and producing when you go out on the pitch. Some managers can take that, some can’t. It’s up to me to put myself out there as much as I can.”
He added: “I think there’s more years in my body. I’ll see what the off-season brings. I’ll keep myself ticking over. I’ve definitely got another season in me anyway. Hopefully next year will be as good as last year was for me. I want to play for as long as I can.”
