LAST UPDATE | 6 Jul 2021
IT IS OCCASIONS like this coming Wednesday evening that played a part in convincing Richie Towell to return to Ireland.
10 years on from the club’s memorable run to the Europa League group stages, Shamrock Rovers travel to face Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League first qualifying round first leg (the game kicks off at 5.30pm and there is a stream you can pay to view on the Hoops’ website — more details here).
The Dubliner made his debut for Rovers in the 3-1 win against Dundalk on Friday night. It was a long time coming, with Towell’s signing on a pre-contract agreement being confirmed as far back as last February, but he was not eligible to represent his new club until July.
It will not be the first time Towell has played in Europe. He did so previously during his Dundalk days against BATE Borisov among others but missed out on the Lilywhites’ best European nights.
He signed for Brighton in 2015 and it was the following year that Stephen Kenny’s side famously qualified for the Europa League group stages.
And Towell has great admiration for the current Ireland manager. After being deemed surplus to requirements at Celtic and failing to turn a loan spell at Hibernian into a permanent move, Kenny was instrumental in resurrecting his career at Dundalk and ultimately paving the way for a return to British football.
Towell adds that current Rovers boss Stephen Bradley is similar to Kenny in some respects.
“I loved my time with Stephen Kenny. He was brilliant for me. It was probably at a time when I needed him most [that I joined Dundalk],” he says.
“I was 21-22 and doing nothing with my career. I was just fluting around, to be honest. I was going through the motions.
“When I linked up with Stephen, he gave me that tunnel vision. That’s something I’ll always hold Stephen in high regard for.
“It was amazing to work with him and I’m glad he’s gone on to get the senior job. He deserved it because he works tirelessly.
“It’s the same as the gaffer here. We were all in here yesterday when I’m sure everyone else is off on a Sunday. We were just working, working and working.
“He has the same work ethic as Stephen Kenny and he’s instilling that in us. I’m really excited.
“I’ve loved the last couple of weeks and am really excited for the future.”
After signing with Brighton, the Seagulls swiftly earned a promotion to the Premier League. Towell struggled to get a look in there and instead spent two seasons on loan at Rotherham, where he played regularly and helped the club earn promotion to the Championship.
It was Salford though who signed him permanently, and Towell played two seasons with them before departing at the end of the most recent campaign in England.
So how does he feel about being back home?
“Amazing. I’m loving it, I really am loving it. Not just me, I’ve two kids now, and my partner, they’re really happy to be home as well. They were missing their grandparents and cousins and stuff when over there, it takes a little bit of pressure off them as well.
“I never even bought a house over there. It was always my plan to come home, and it was always my plan to come home early as well. To be honest, I could have stayed over there if I wanted to, I had numerous options, but I didn’t want to come home when I was 35 or 36, I wanted to come home when I was in my prime to show what I can do.
“The club is amazing, the people who are running it, you see the facilities we have, everything they try to do is uber professional. When I spoke to Stephen — and I know a lot of the lads who play here as well, when I spoke to them, we knew it was a good set-up. It really was a no brainer.”
Former club Dundalk were also keen on signing Towell but ultimately Rovers proved the more attractive option.
“Just the drive that the club have, they only want to go one way and that’s up, don’t want to just linger around. You see the type of signings that they’re making. And the progression that they’re making on and off the pitch. As soon as I saw that, it was something that I wanted to be part of. I know it sounds a bit like a cliche but it was really was, you can see everything that they are trying to do is geared towards being the best club in the country for a good number of years.”
But for all his enthusiasm about returning to Ireland, Towell reflects fondly on an “amazing” five and a half years in England.
“When I was at Brighton, we got promoted to the Premier League, I went on loan to Rotherham, got promoted to the Championship, won at Wembley twice, you know. It was a great experience. Hopefully, I can take home that experience with me and help the younger lads that are here, with these big games that are coming up.”
And how do the levels he played at in England compare to the Premier Division in Ireland?
“It’s such a hard question, it really is. Because League Two is so competitive now. Our budget at Salford was mental, I think it was bigger than the team who won League One. You have really big gaps over there because the likes of Salford can pay what they want. Whereas over here, they can’t really.
“The only time I think you would ever know that is if they actually played against each other. Don’t get me wrong, we had some really good players at Salford and a really good side, but I think the team at Shamrock Rovers are a better team. At Salford, we were more individuals but here the gaffer has more of a group as a team. There is nobody that wants to go and do their own thing, everybody wants to work hard and do what’s best for the team, which is the most important thing.
“I was quite lucky in all of the dressing rooms I was in, they were good people and lads wanted to work hard and graft but I know some lads over there that don’t get on with their teammates. That’s just the reality of it. Lads are a lot closer here. Most of them live close to each other. When I was at Salford, we had lads travelling from everywhere. Some of the lads were travelling three hours to get into training because they didn’t want to move their kids out of school.
“When you play over here, it’s a more tight-knit group. A lot of lads do more things together and it really helps the team. When I was at Salford, I never did anything with any of the lads outside of football. We trained hard together but outside of football we never went to dinner together or done anything together.
“It’s kind of weird, all the Irish lads stick together [in England]. I still speak to the likes of Adam Rooney and I would speak to Rory [Gaffney] when he left and obviously I am back playing with him. The Irish lads congregate at all of their clubs.
“Don’t get me wrong I still have a lot of English mates that are invited to my wedding and that I’m still close to but the Irish always stick together, don’t they?”
And one of the many familiar faces Towell came across during his time in England was Man United and Ireland legend Roy Keane.
“He used to come to all of our games. I never spoke to him. I was so surprised, he was linked with the managerial job as well because we went through a couple of managers when I was there. He was linked with that but it never materialised. He would come and watch every game because he only lived 10 minutes away so when he wasn’t able to go and watch the Premier League games, he would come every single week.”
And what of the similarly famous contingent of ex-Man United players who each own 10% of the club?
“Gary Neville was very hands-on compared to the rest, it was like his little pet project, he loved it and he was great. Anything we needed we could pick up the phone to him personally and say we need this or that. He’s a very approachable person, a very busy man. He works for Sky, he has hotels, he owns football clubs and he was still always at the end of the phone if you needed him. He was a really good person to work for.”
And did Towell regularly avail of the option to contact Neville?
“No, no, I used to stay away from him. I know some of the lads used to ring him for some stuff but I’m a pretty simple person, I just want to come in, work hard, train and go home to my family.”
Despite just missing out on Dundalk’s remarkable 2016 European run, Towell said he “wasn’t jealous” of his former teammates and loved watching the games in question, while he hopes to achieve similarly great things at Tallaght Stadium.
“I wasn’t part of the Dundalk team that did it so I would love to help Shamrock Rovers achieve that.
“If we did that, it would give the league a real boost. With Dundalk doing it last year and Rovers this time, people might actually have a look and say: ‘Wow, there are some top players and teams over there.’
“I came here because I want to dominate the leagues. We did that at Dundalk, winning leagues and cups most years. That success was brilliant and I’m still hungry.
“The main reason I signed here was I felt Rovers were the team to do that.”
With Hoops stars Danny Mandroiu, Jack Byrne (before he moved), Graham Burke and Aaron McEneff all winning Ireland call-ups during the Kenny era, international football is also a dream that Towell has not yet given up on with his 30th birthday only a few weeks away.
“I know I need to do a lot to get into an Irish squad,” he says.
“Hopefully, when I get a few games under my belt and start firing, doing what I know I can do, you never know what can happen.
“But at the moment, it’s in the distance for me because we’ve such an important time coming up at Rovers — the European games are massive for us.”
Towell smiles throughout the interview and comes across as genuinely excited and content with his present set of circumstances.
The Dubliner feels he has changed since going away and has developed into a more mature individual both on and off the pitch.
“I like to think I am a better all-round player,” he says. “Maybe when I was younger I was a bit selfish, to be honest. Now that I am a little bit older, a little bit wiser, I want to help the younger lads.
“When I come in here with the likes of Danny, [Liam] Scalesy, there are a lot of young lads with so much potential, so if I can help them a small bit, that will be brilliant.
“When I was at Dundalk, I was so driven I was probably a little selfish and didn’t help my team at times. Whereas now, I am very driven, but I am also a father, so I understand it is not just me.”
He continues: “If I said to my partner I am moving to England [again] she would be saying: ‘You are moving on your own!’ Even when there was talk of new contracts over there and teams coming in for me, she was saying: ‘If you are going to stay you are staying on your own, you are.’
“She has been brilliant with me. We have been together since we were 14 and she is so supportive. I think it was the right time to come home, not just for me but for her as well.
“We have two little girls. Flori is nearly two and Meadow is five and a half. They are amazing. To be honest, they give me the drive now. I always had the drive to go over to England. That was my main focus — to play in England and play for Ireland. Now, I have a different drive; when I get up, every morning, it is them.
“They were at the game on Friday [against Dundalk] and I was devastated that I didn’t score. Now, don’t get me wrong, I was buzzing that we won but when I didn’t score I felt that I let them down a little bit. They are like my biggest fans so to come home and be successful here, and have them come and watch my games and see me lift trophies… I have visions of them being on the pitch with me at the end of the season with trophies. That is what drives me now.
“Meadow was born on 13 December [just after the Brighton move was completed] so I was over there and then I came back for her birth. I was only home for a few days around Christmas and she moved over when she was only about two weeks old.
“It was tough, really tough when I told my partner we were moving to Brighton and she was just about to give birth, that didn’t go down too well. But she is the most supportive partner I could ever wish for. It’s always been: ‘Yeah if that is what you want to do.’ She has always backed me, which is amazing.”
