MOST FOOTBALLERS will have more than 100 teammates throughout their careers.
Inevitably, players don’t always get on and long-lasting friendships can be rare enough, particularly in the League of Ireland where the short-term contracts invariably on offer ensure regular instability and a high turnover of individuals for most clubs.
But despite these unfortunate factors, players do sometimes forge close bonds.
That is the case at Cork City with Ruairi Keating and Barry Coffey. The latter joined the Irish club from Celtic (initially on loan) in the summer of 2021, while the former made the move from Galway in January 2022.
Instantly, there was a connection, on and off the field.
“We have a lot of similarities,” Coffey tells The 42. “He’s obviously from Mayo, me being from Tipp — quite country lads if we do say so.
“GAA was a big part of his life growing up as a kid — same as mine. And then him moving to England quite young after being at Sligo and me, going to Glasgow.
“We kind of clicked in that sense as well. We had nothing short to talk about.
“And then just his personality, he’s a really, really top guy. Obviously, he’s got a really sweet demeanour about him. And we kind of bounce off each other.
“And then since our very first game, I think it might have been UCD away in a preseason game, both of us scored in that and stuff.
“The more we chatted, the more we kind of realised, although there is an age gap of a few years, there are a lot of similarities that we probably see in one another as well, which I suppose was something we both laughed about. And every time he was saying something, I was kind of the exact same.
“So it was one of them relationships that never really had to be worked on.”
Coffey confirms that such strong bonds are far from commonplace in the football industry.
“If you’re lucky enough to play for a couple of clubs, you probably only take two or three relationships from each club.
“He’s been to a lot of clubs and probably only has a couple of close friends — when I say close friends, [I mean] ones you’d speak to daily, do you know that kind of way?
“The world of football’s mad and everyone knows each other, which is quite nice. But in terms of bringing it to that next level, it doesn’t happen often.”
In 2022, both players’ chemistry off the pitch was emulated in games. Coffey was named in the PFAI Team of the Year, scoring 14 goals in 27 matches largely from central midfield. Keating was similarly impressive, registering 13 goals from 28 league games.
Coffey admits this year, for him, has been “inconsistent” partially due to injury problems, though his teammate has shone again.
At the time of writing, Keating is joint second in the Premier Division goalscoring charts with 12 goals and three assists — only Jonathan Afolabi and Chris Forrester (both on 13) have scored more.
It’s all the more remarkable given that he’s doing it in a Cork team that have generally struggled — they are currently ninth in the table and appear set for a promotion-relegation playoff at the end of the season.
As Cork interim boss Richie Holland puts it: “His chances per game are probably down in comparison to other players and his conversion rate is higher.”
But Keating’s phenomenal form is only half the story.
For the 28-year-old Cork City star, it has been a season overshadowed by tragedy.
In July, his father Ciaran tragically passed away in a car accident while travelling to watch his son play a Premier Division match against Sligo Rovers.
Keating was unavailable for the following two league games, as he was granted time off for compassionate leave, but since then, the striker has returned to action and continued to be as prolific and inspirational as before.
“I’ve said it to him, and I’ve said it to the team, for what he’s gone through in the last three months, it’s nearly bigger than anything,” says Coffey. “How he’s able to tie his boots and go out onto a pitch, let alone try and run around for 90 minutes and then score, do you know what I mean? How he’s able to do that is so admirable, his mentality is unbelievable.
“And it’s something that we feed off as well, of course, it’s not just me, the whole club, we are a tight place and a tight group. We feed off that as well knowing that he’s struggling, as everyone obviously would.
“But the fact that he’s scoring goals and putting in performances and shifts like he’s doing while also dealing with heartbreak and loss is something that we can all take strength from to try to help him in any way we can.”
While such trauma is inevitably painful and everlasting, Keating has shown incredible resilience with his performances on the pitch.
“I don’t think it gets any easier,” says Coffey. “As it goes on it probably gets harder for him.
“But I do think there’s probably no one else that could do what he’s doing. I don’t think there is, in terms of channelling it, putting it into performances and putting it into training.
“He has used it as a power. It’s dawned on him that he has a huge purpose as to why he wants to do well, to make his dad proud and to have that kind of mentality that he’s going to be there with me rather than ‘I’m not going to do anything because I can’t,’ you know that kind of way?
“He’s using it as guidance towards doing well. It’s all well and good saying that and thinking it but when stuff like this does happen, it’s probably the last thing you want to do is get out of bed in the morning and come running around a football pitch. Although it’s a nice enough environment for him, there’s such a bigger picture to it.
“So there’s a lot of not pressure but there’s heartbreak and you can’t imagine what he’s going through but to put it into the right energy in terms of performance and goals and striving to use it as a positive and forceful power to help him — it just sums up the guy in how he went about it and how he’s doing since it happened.”
Coffey adds that everyone at the club was significantly invested in doing what they could to help Keating during this awful time.
The date of his return was understandably left entirely up to the player.
“If we could make him feel 1% better, or give him happiness for a couple of minutes a day, that’s huge for him at this moment in time.
“No one forgets, but it probably eases off in some people’s minds. And it’s still at the forefront of his mind every single second of the day.
“It’s a sticky one in terms of you don’t want to just start overstepping yourself and trying to be on top of him.
“So it was [a case of] be there for him if needs be. Obviously, he was in Mayo, so if he needed anything up to Mayo, he’s got a place down here so if he needed clothes and stuff, you can offer, just little things like that.
“He knows that if he ever did need anything, he could drop probably anyone in the whole club a message and they would do it for him.”
Holland adds: “You just keep in touch and are always open to speak to him and just have an understanding that these things take a lot of time to get over
“You just accept that there will be good days and bad days, especially when it’s so raw.
“For all of us, I feel that there’s a little family here as a club.”
On 1 September, Keating made his first start at Turner’s Cross since the accident. The opposition were Sligo Rovers — Cork’s relegation rivals and coincidentally, the same team they were playing the day Ciaran tragically passed.
“It was so weird in a way,” says Coffey. “It was magical. It was a stunned Turner’s Cross in kind of a loving way.
“There were mums and dads in the crowd that were tearing up thinking of everything that had gone on and then obviously it being against Sligo — when he took his jersey off [to celebrate scoring the third goal], it was unbelievable.
“That just goes back to his mentality. It’s hard enough to come back and train and get into a routine. Trying to play 90 minutes then on top of that and then also play against Sligo as well. It was the standout in his head, he probably couldn’t think straight.
“So it was a huge game for us — at that time, it was a big relegation game. He stood up and scored a hat-trick. It was just amazing.
“You’d love for him and I know he was thinking that his dad was there with him and it was just a nice but [equally] devastating moment for him.
“After the game, you could see he was very upset. I don’t want to say it was really beautiful but it was nice to see him score a hat-trick and do it for his dad.
“And I think he felt his dad that night especially.
“The kind of power he probably felt in doing it for his dad, and his dad being with him and guiding him was the other side of the coin.”
Coffey and Keating have played hundreds of games of football in their life, and both hope to feature in hundreds more, but that night in Turner’s Cross is one of the few they will never forget.
“Probably both Sligo games. The tragic first night and the heartbreak and love of the second night.
“I suppose it’s not something you want to remember. I wish I didn’t have to remember them so vividly and clearly. But at the same time, regardless of how many games we play, there are probably two or three special moments we’ve shared in terms of unique moments.
“But that one for all the wrong reasons is top of the list.
“I hadn’t played that night so when I was in the stands you could even feel that eeriness of it a bit more. I had a broken foot so it was really hard to watch as well because you know him personally, and you could see him on the pitch being upset.
“It’s number one and probably will always be number one moment, probably for the wrong reasons but also a little bit for the right reasons, seeing him be as mentally strong and as unique as he is.
“I think the whole league, probably the whole country in fairness gave him a lot of support and still do. Everyone around the league saw it at the time, and seeing him score a hat-trick, they were touched and moved by it.”
And the Sligo hat-trick has been far from the only highlight of a brilliant season for Keating.
In the game directly after, an FAI Cup quarter-final with Wexford, he scored a dramatic last-minute winner.
That goal set up this afternoon’s semi-final with St Patrick’s Athletic, as Cork City bid to win the trophy for the fifth time in their history and first since 2017.
“Look at his goalscoring record for the club and what he’s done here, I think that as soon as he walks into the room, he’s going to have that respect from all the players,” says Holland.
“He’s a leader within the group without saying much if that makes sense. He does his talking on the pitch.
“I think around the city, around Cork, he’s lauded really in terms of his performances and the way he carries himself.
“He’s been a big-game player definitely since he’s come in here. Even last year in the title run-in, when we won the First Division, he was massive, scoring winning goals against Waterford away and other teams as well.
“He stood up and was counted when it mattered. This season as well, we were up in Richmond Park and he’s got a 90th-minute equaliser.
“So he has scored against the big teams in big games. I’ve full confidence that if he gets opportunities [today], there’ll only be one outcome.”
At 28, Keating is arguably at the peak of his career, but Holland believes he can go even further.
“For Ruairi, it’s whatever he wants it to be,” the manager says. “He’s that good. And he’s that talented.
“I just think the environment is so important for Ruairi, that he’s happy where he is in terms of training and where he’s living, and then all the rest of it.
“Once he just has to concentrate on his football, he’s happy in training, and he’s happy in matches, I think he can go and do whatever he wants to do.
“I wouldn’t even rule him out playing at a higher level again, going back across, but that’s up to him, you know?”
Coffey agrees that Keating’s potential remains substantial.
“Look, he’s got a special family, his little daughter has started school and he’s got a lovely partner. So I don’t know what the next five years of his life look like.
“But what I do know is whatever he does, or whatever he chooses to do, whatever it is, he’ll be successful and it will be special for him.
“But from my point of view, I hope I’m still playing with him and he’s still banging them in, as he always does, and he probably always will, in fairness until he’s probably 50.
“Whatever it is, I think if he keeps going the way he’s going, he’ll be a League of Ireland legend for sure. Making his dad proud, I think that’s probably his motivation, and that’s a powerful thing.”