STEPHEN BRADLEY’S STORY is one of the most inspiring and evocative in Irish sport.
The Shamrock Rovers manager has spoken at length about the pitfalls he faced and mistakes he made as a trainee with Arsenal in the early 2000s.
A young Dubliner in London with more money than he ever envisaged, Bradley indulged in the trappings of wealth and vacuous fame.
He was the victim of a shocking home invasion that led to him being hospitalised after a hammer attack.
Bradley admits that he had already lost the hunger for the game at that point, realising that he had been overtaken on the relentless treadmill of talent, struggling to accept the opportunity passed him by.
He retired in the League of Ireland before he was 30 and started on his journey in coaching.
Bradley rebuilt his life and took his career in a different direction, one that has delivered enormous success due to his ruthless dedication and focus.
The Hoops boss doesn’t turn 40 until after this season but could be the first manager in the history of League of Ireland football to win five successive Premier Division titles.
He already wrote his name in the annals of the domestic game when he guided Rovers to the four-in-a-row in 2023.
That he was able to re-emerge in the game and not become another brutal statistic of lost talent is testament to his resolve.
His story, and that of his family’s, grew in the wider public consciousness when his son Josh was diagnosed with cancer at the age of eight in the summer of 2022.
The sight of Josh then leading out the Hoops players to lift the league trophy at the end of that season remains poignant and affecting.
Bradley is not quite on the cusp of another famous achievement this term given Rovers are currently third, six points adrift of leaders Shelbourne and two behind Derry City in second place.
They closed that gap on the Candystripes with a 1-0 win over Ruaidhri Higgins’ men at Tallaght Stadium on Monday and will get the chance to do the same when Damien Duff’s charges arrive on Friday.
These riveting encounters on the pitch are matched by the battle of wills and personality on the sidelines that will come to define the next era in the League of Ireland.
For all of Bradley’s success, though, there can be no denying that Duff is at the forefront of capturing the imagination right now.
He has Shels top of the league at the halfway point and has moulded the club, much like Bradley across the city, over his close to three years in charge. Duff has created something every fan, rivals included, would cherish.
He has a team that performs with total commitment and respect, not to mention clarity, and is capable of those special moments of quality. They are a side that live on the edge and will be defined by small margins.
The visit to Tallaght will be their next challenge after that 96th-minute winner away to St Patrick’s Athletic on Monday.
“That’s where bonds are built as well. Special dressing rooms, special moments,” Duff said afterwards.
“I like to sign good players but more importantly I like to sign good people, good men, hard-working, heart on their sleeve. The bond I’ve had in my life, it’s usually in successful teams. The unsuccessful teams don’t have a bond. It’s there for everybody to see. If you talk about the traits of Shelbourne FC, that’s one of the first things that jumps into your mind, the unbreakable spirit that the guys have.”
That is the point Stephen Kenny must get to with St Pat’s.
Defeats in his opening two games since being confirmed as boss last week mean the away clash with Bohemians at Dalymount Park tonight takes on even greater importance to get his tenure up and running.
A quick fix with an initial burst of optimism that then fades is the last thing St Pat’s need now.
That is why Kenny was given a contract until the end of the 2029 season. There is an acceptance and understanding at the club that he will need to do an audit of the squad and make required tweaks to become serious challengers again.
There is also the sense that the former Republic of Ireland manager needs to get settled in his new surroundings.
While Duff spoke about that “unbreakable spirit” at Shels, Kenny pointed out that the same cohesiveness and togetherness is not yet there at Richmond Park.
Derry City, too, have at times looked disjointed, like a team in progress just as much as one primed to be successful.
Ruaidhri Higgins carries a burden at the Ryan McBride Brandywell, the weight of history matched only by expectation given the resources made available through chairman Philip O’Doherty.
What adds another element of intrigue to the fortunes of these four clubs is that they are led by men with a common thread.
Higgins hails Kenny as “the most influential person in my career”, a relationship that began at Derry and continued with Dundalk as well as Ireland.
It was with the international team that Higgins and Duff were also briefly part of Kenny’s staff before going their separate ways.
When Bradley took charge of Rovers on an interim basis in 2016, Duff was one of his coaches and remained alongside him for a couple of years before spreading his wings.
Now they are set to define the next League of Ireland era.
