AT 33, Irishman Leigh Ralph has just experienced what he describes as the highlight of his football career.
The Tuam native started out playing junior football in Galway before living in London for a period.
Yet over the past five years he has taken a less conventional path, living in Dubai, the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates.
In recent times, he has worked as a coach there and currently has a job with Fleetwood United — a sister club to the similarly named England club Fleetwood Town — in the UAE Second Division League, essentially their equivalent of League One.
“I work in construction for an Irish company, that’s my main job,” he tells The42.
“And then I’m pretty much full-time with the football as well.
“I just signed a contract with Fleetwood Town for this season.
“So I’m starting a role with them on 10 September as well as playing full-time myself as a goalkeeper for quite a well-known club over there, Dubai Irish.”
Ralph also had an offer from another team but opted for the one with multiple Irish connections, whose manager is well-travelled former AIK coach Sean O’Shea.
“I’ve been playing at amateur level and basically, got approached to sign a pro deal this year.
“I’m in Ireland, at the moment, but heading into pre-season now in a couple of weeks.”
Ralph has encountered several former Premier League players during his time in UAE.
Last season, he worked as a coach for TFA, a Third Division club managed by Danny Guthrie, who made a handful of appearances for Liverpool and over 100 at Newcastle.
He also spent time working at second-tier club Gulf United, who were coached at the time by another ex-Magpies star, Steven Taylor.
The new season has yet to start, though Fleetwood would be considered among the favourites for promotion, while Dubai Irish, playing a division below them, will “probably be underdogs” and not among the league’s biggest spenders. Nevertheless, Ralph remains hopeful that they can finish in and around the playoff or promotion spots in what is a 16-team league.
And what would Ralph do if Fleetwood and Dubai Irish ended up in the same division?
“Yeah, that’d be a clash,” he says. “Maybe Fleetwood would sign me as a player-coach next year, we just have to [consider] that when it comes.
“But we’re lucky that the two clubs are quite close. Sean would know the guys there and they’re fairly good.
“With Fleetwood, they train in the mornings at 7am. So there’s no clash there — Dubai Irish train at night.
“I’m balancing a lot, to be honest. But I’m just about able to manage it.”
Ralph typically trains three days a week in addition to a fourth day spent doing a gym session.
Players either rest completely or train light on the fifth day ahead of a match that usually takes place at the weekend.
“The standard is very, very good,” he says. “So just for instance, last year, in Division Two, [former Celtic star] Gary Hooper was playing up front for Gulf United.
“This year at Fleetwood, we signed Ben Pringle, who used to play at Fulham. So there’s a lot of very good players there.”
As he awaits his return to Dubai next month, Ralph is currently training with Harland & Wolff Welders, a second-tier club in Northern Irish football.
He likens the standard of football over there in the second or third tier to the First Division in Ireland — and indeed, Waterford travelled out to Dubai earlier this year, but their friendly against Fleetwood was abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch with the score at 1-1.
“It’s [normally] very warm,” he adds. “So for instance, our pre-season in comparison to anywhere else in Europe, we’d be training in 38-40 degree heat, 6pm to 10pm. So the heat is very intense. It’s probably a lot quicker to get fit, because of all the calories we drop and a lot of the cardio work we do.
“But in terms of life in Dubai, I think it’s really easy to adjust to.
“I lived in London for four years and played there, but I just found in Dubai, there’s a window of opportunity, especially in football.
“There are so many ex-pros working there as managers and just the doors that can open for you. You’ve got to work hard at it. But I’ve been very lucky.
“You’re playing on pitches the likes of Chelsea and all the top clubs in England come and use. For instance, the home pitch we’re training on at the moment is used by Chelsea, Arsenal, loads of clubs in the summer.”
And who was the best player Ralph has encountered?
“I played against [ex-Sweden international] Christian Wilhelmsson, he played at Roma. He was quite good.”
The goalkeeper continues: “There aren’t many Irish playing professionally. But I would say this year that Dubai Irish might be one of the first clubs to have a small Irish contingent playing for them.
“They’re owned by Irish guys and are one of the oldest football clubs in Dubai. But there wouldn’t be many Irish playing higher up the tiers — Division Two to the Pro League. That’s because they have foreign rules there. You can only have a certain amount of European players in your squad.”
Despite the aforementioned degree of star power in local football, horse racing remains the number one sport in UAE, with attendances at matches rarely exceeding 1,000 people.
“But there is a building interest there now, especially with Saudi and what they’re doing across the water,” Ralph explains. “I think it’s a growing game. And there is a lot of investment now with English owners from English clubs coming to try to buy teams in the UAE.”
And for Ralph personally, the journey has been a deeply rewarding one after early struggles.
While happy in UAE for now, he is currently doing his coaching badges and aspires to return home one day and coach in the League of Ireland ideally.
Some footballers may be considered past their peak at 33, but the Galway stopper feels he has improved with age.
“I got that bit older and when I was 26, started to play really well and have man-of-the-match performances in the London leagues, then played a bit of semi-pro with West Essex.
“I was a lot more confident getting through games. I was never making mistakes and found it really easy. I went from strength to strength then and played with Alexandra Park FC.
“Then I moved to Dubai and got an offer from the same company I’m working for now, an Irish company. I moved over and played in the amateur divisions in Dubai, had a very good season last year, came in late in the season and played for a club there. I think Sean O’Shea might have seen me play and approached me then said: ‘I’d love you to play for Dubai Irish next year and you’d be on a pro deal.’
“To be honest, I couldn’t believe it really. I’m 33 now so I don’t know if that would be unheard of or extremely rare — it probably would be. I’m chuffed to get the opportunity.”
Consequently, Ralph says patience, perseverance and positive thinking helped him make it to this level.
“For years, I got knocked and dropped in big games.
“I struggled a lot with mental health, really struggling in my teens, taking medication and everything. I got to my late 20s when I started to talk to people, and got the right help and that completely changed my life, especially my playing career.
“I found that inner happiness and started to become stronger within myself and my thinking, how I thought about things. Once I could tackle that head-on, and really start to believe in myself and realise that I’m actually quite good, from that moment onwards, I became really confident.
“People watching me on the pitch would even say to me: ‘You’re so confident throughout the game.’ If you can tackle your nerves and start to believe in yourself that you’re a really strong good goalkeeper, it can help you massively, especially with your critical thinking on the pitch.
“It’s a very lonely position when you’re not playing well and you don’t get the help. When you do make a mistake, you’re frowned upon and a mistake can almost ruin your career. You have to come to the realisation that mistakes are going to come throughout your career. You are always going to make mistakes, and when you do, they’re going to be highlighted.
“A lot of goalkeepers struggle with mental health and struggle with their confidence. It’s very important to reach out and talk to people. When I spoke to people, it was probably the best thing I ever did really.”
