IN 2016, SEAN Maguire was scoring prolifically, and Cork were challenging for the title.
10 years on, everything and nothing has changed.
Maguire is finding the net regularly, and the Leesiders are challenging at the top of the table.
Only this time, it is in the First Division rather than the top flight.
In between, he earned international recognition and won every major trophy in Irish football.
Another title is expected to follow this year, with Cork City currently top of the table, three points clear and with a game in hand on nearest rivals UCD.
While Maguire’s stock may not be quite as high as it was in 2016, he remains highly regarded.
Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and Derry City were among the clubs interested in acquiring the forward following Cork’s relegation last year.
Instead, he chose to stay loyal to the club with which he is most closely associated, penning a contract extension until 2028 last February.
Maguire, who has just turned 32 and recently completed his B coaching licence, is a fan of new manager Barry Robson and the latter’s emphasis on high-intensity running.
“It’s quite difficult playing in this league, playing that sort of way, because the other nine teams, more often than not, play it long, whereas in the Premier Division, it would suit us a little bit better, because we get after teams,” Maguire tells The 42.
Maguire adds that the former Aberdeen boss is “probably the main reason why I wanted to stay because I think he’s the right man to bring this club forward and hopefully get out of this league this year”.
The striker acknowledges that the First Division, largely populated by young, inexperienced players and semi-professionals, is a significantly lower standard than the top flight.
“I think there’s a massive difference in terms of physically and mentally,” he says.
Dundalk were Cork’s biggest rivals in Maguire’s first spell with the Leesiders, and he is hoping his club can emulate the Lilywhites’ impressive transition to the Premier Division after winning promotion last year.
“What [their manager] Ciaran Kilduff has done is bring in experience, which we probably should have done last year,” he adds.
For now, though, Maguire and co are stuck in the purgatory of the second tier.
“It’s not the level I want to be playing at, the age I am now. I thought I’d be playing a lot higher at this stage in my career. But I’m happy to be home with the family.
“We went to Finn Harps a couple of weeks ago, and it was one of the strangest games I’ve ever played. It was literally 11 men on the edge of the box, and it can be quite hard.
“Sometimes, these teams, I’m not saying they’re bad teams, but they’re bringing it down to that level.
Advertisement
“And it can bring the best out of you, but the worst as well.”
Sean Maguire pictured playing for Cork City. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
Maguire is the second-oldest player at the club after Greg Bolger, so their coterie of youngsters are regularly seeking him out for career advice.
And the talented attacker has plenty of wisdom to dispense.
He originally took the First Division by storm in the 2012 season, scoring 13 goals from 24 appearances at Waterford (he has eight from 12 so far this year).
But moving to West Ham as a teenager “didn’t really work out. I probably went over at the wrong time”.
Maguire had loan spells at Accrington Stanley and Sligo Rovers, as well as a brief stint at Dundalk.
But it was at Cork where his career really took off, with 31 top-flight goals over 51 appearances in a season and a half, resulting in another move to England.
His feelings, looking back on his time abroad, are mixed — there were positives, even if it ended with nagging feelings of what might have been.
“I played 170 games for Preston, I would say, 130 to 140 of those, I didn’t play as a striker,” he recalls.
“I played left wing, right wing, but the majority of those games I played under Alex Neil and you kind of play as an inside forward, but I really enjoyed it. I suppose people will look at my number of goals compared to games and go: ‘That’s pretty poor.’ And I’d understand why you’d be thinking that.
“But then you’ve got to look at where I was playing, what kind of system I was playing, compared to what I was doing at Cork for that year and a half, because I still consider myself a goal scorer, playing as that number nine. I suppose the older I’m getting, I’m playing as a sort of false nine, number 10. But anytime I get in the box, I still fancy myself.
“When I went to Carlisle for that year, I always had a bit of a craic with the lads, because I was basically playing at right wing back for a lot of the games, at the bottom of League One.”
It is often underestimated how much a particular environment can contribute to a player’s success or failure, and Maguire reckons Turner’s Cross gets the best out of him.
Being away from close family, though, was not the only issue, with social media a regular source of frustration, particularly in the latter half of his spell in England when Maguire struggled at times, not helped by recurring injury problems.
“You could have the worst game in the world. And you go on to LiveScore or FotMob, and somebody sees the name ‘Sean Maguire’ and 1-0, and they think you had a great game.
“But you could have played brilliantly and not scored. And, you know, people are not talking about you. So there were periods when I was at Preston, I went 15-17 games without even scoring. So it was quite difficult at the time. I let a lot of things get to me, things on social media and stuff like that.
“That’s probably why my form dipped, and it just went downhill from there. Because I consider myself a goalscorer — always have.
“I just wanted to come back to a place where, it sounds like a mad thing to say, but if it gets the best of me, being the bigger fish in a smaller pond, whereas the other way around, it probably didn’t.”
Maguire struggled with form and injuries during the latter half of his spell at Preston. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Maguire learned from these negative experiences and is now off all social media, with the occasional exception of Instagram.
“I used to be terrible for it. I used to come in after a game, and I’d be straight on my phone, searching my name, even though I knew I had a terrible game, giving away the ball all the time, missing a chance. I was going searching for the bad stuff, which was actually shocking to even think about, because I was doing that for a good year or year and a half, and then, I got to a stage where I could just delete everything.
“It can be quite hard not to see things on there. You could have the best game in the world, and someone will always have something bad to say about you, regardless.
“If I could go back in time now, things might change, but everything happens for a reason, and there’s a reason why I’m back playing for Cork City now.”
Former Ireland teammate Shane Duffy got into trouble for responding directly to one of the online haters earlier this season, and Maguire admits he has been tempted to do likewise.
“There have been times where my brother, my buddies, have responded without anyone actually knowing they’re my buddies, because it’s hard to keep [quiet]. If I saw someone hurl abuse at one of my best mates, it would be hard for me not to say anything.
“There have been times which have been tough in games as well. There were a couple of times where I was playing for Preston, and my family and friends were in the away end, and not that you’d be getting abuse, but you’d be called shite or whatever, and family members then get involved and stuff like that.
“But I’m a professional footballer, I’ve learned to deal with it, everyone’s entitled to their opinion.”
He continues: “You could be somebody’s best player, but the other person’s worst player, and just have to learn to deal with that. Maybe my career could have gone down a different path if I hadn’t gone down that route of looking up my name and stuff like that. But you can’t really look back.
“I’m 32, but it was different when I was 24-25, living in Preston. If I were going to Sainsburys or something, I’d feel like someone’s looking at me, thinking: ‘Jesus, he’s fuckin’ shite,’ you know what I mean? So it was all going through my head. I’d be the worst person in the world. I’d go back home, sit in a dark room, wouldn’t speak to the missus or anything, and then I do that till probably Sunday night, and it used to be repetitive, and sure that’s no good for you.”
And for Maguire, one incident in particular stands out.
“A fan had a message request on Instagram, and I actually had to get the club involved because he was saying, ‘I know where you live,’ and stuff like that.
“It got to that stage at one time. I’ll actually never forget it. So it got a bit not scary, but I was thinking: ‘It’s hardly this bad.’
“Obviously, [football is] not a game to a lot of people; it’s what they live for.
“But thankfully, it was dealt with.”
Ireland's Sean Maguire celebrates scoring their second goal with Troy Parrott. Oisin Keniry / INPHO
Oisin Keniry / INPHO / INPHO
Maguire’s thoughts on his Ireland career are similarly bittersweet. Between 2017 and 2020, he won 11 Ireland caps, with his only goal coming in a 3-1 friendly win over New Zealand, set up by a young debutant named Troy Parrott.
“Look, even just putting the Irish jersey on once was always a dream,” he says.
“But I think back in 2017 when I was on a hot streak, going to Preston, and I’m flying, even in 2018. I’m thinking I’m definitely going to get 30-40, maybe even more caps. And it didn’t really work out that way.
“So to do it 11 times and score, it’s a dream come true, but I do look back on my career going: ‘Ifs, buts and maybes.’ What if I didn’t get injured at this time? What if my form hadn’t dipped as much? Would I have had more caps? Would I still be playing in England now and still paying for Ireland? You don’t know.
“I’ll never forget walking onto the plane for my first ever call-up, and I was sitting beside Roy and Glenn Whelan on the other side. And I was thinking: ‘Glenn Whelan has had this many caps. Roy Keane is obviously an icon of Irish football.’ I’m thinking: ‘This can’t be real.’
“And then, the next month, we’re playing Denmark in the [World Cup] playoffs, and I’m absolutely flying at Preston. And then that’s when I ruptured my hamstring. I’m thinking I got a right chance of obviously starting both games if I stayed fit, because I was doing so well.
“But then obviously, injuries just came, one after another. Hamstrings were like cheese strings for a good two and a half to three years. I tried every sort of thing to make them right. Touch wood, it’s been good as of late.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
‘I used to come in after a game, and I'd be straight on my phone, searching my name’
IN 2016, SEAN Maguire was scoring prolifically, and Cork were challenging for the title.
10 years on, everything and nothing has changed.
Maguire is finding the net regularly, and the Leesiders are challenging at the top of the table.
Only this time, it is in the First Division rather than the top flight.
In between, he earned international recognition and won every major trophy in Irish football.
Another title is expected to follow this year, with Cork City currently top of the table, three points clear and with a game in hand on nearest rivals UCD.
While Maguire’s stock may not be quite as high as it was in 2016, he remains highly regarded.
Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and Derry City were among the clubs interested in acquiring the forward following Cork’s relegation last year.
Instead, he chose to stay loyal to the club with which he is most closely associated, penning a contract extension until 2028 last February.
Maguire, who has just turned 32 and recently completed his B coaching licence, is a fan of new manager Barry Robson and the latter’s emphasis on high-intensity running.
“It’s quite difficult playing in this league, playing that sort of way, because the other nine teams, more often than not, play it long, whereas in the Premier Division, it would suit us a little bit better, because we get after teams,” Maguire tells The 42.
Maguire adds that the former Aberdeen boss is “probably the main reason why I wanted to stay because I think he’s the right man to bring this club forward and hopefully get out of this league this year”.
The striker acknowledges that the First Division, largely populated by young, inexperienced players and semi-professionals, is a significantly lower standard than the top flight.
“I think there’s a massive difference in terms of physically and mentally,” he says.
Dundalk were Cork’s biggest rivals in Maguire’s first spell with the Leesiders, and he is hoping his club can emulate the Lilywhites’ impressive transition to the Premier Division after winning promotion last year.
“What [their manager] Ciaran Kilduff has done is bring in experience, which we probably should have done last year,” he adds.
For now, though, Maguire and co are stuck in the purgatory of the second tier.
“It’s not the level I want to be playing at, the age I am now. I thought I’d be playing a lot higher at this stage in my career. But I’m happy to be home with the family.
“We went to Finn Harps a couple of weeks ago, and it was one of the strangest games I’ve ever played. It was literally 11 men on the edge of the box, and it can be quite hard.
“Sometimes, these teams, I’m not saying they’re bad teams, but they’re bringing it down to that level.
“And it can bring the best out of you, but the worst as well.”
Maguire is the second-oldest player at the club after Greg Bolger, so their coterie of youngsters are regularly seeking him out for career advice.
And the talented attacker has plenty of wisdom to dispense.
He originally took the First Division by storm in the 2012 season, scoring 13 goals from 24 appearances at Waterford (he has eight from 12 so far this year).
But moving to West Ham as a teenager “didn’t really work out. I probably went over at the wrong time”.
Maguire had loan spells at Accrington Stanley and Sligo Rovers, as well as a brief stint at Dundalk.
But it was at Cork where his career really took off, with 31 top-flight goals over 51 appearances in a season and a half, resulting in another move to England.
His feelings, looking back on his time abroad, are mixed — there were positives, even if it ended with nagging feelings of what might have been.
“I played 170 games for Preston, I would say, 130 to 140 of those, I didn’t play as a striker,” he recalls.
“I played left wing, right wing, but the majority of those games I played under Alex Neil and you kind of play as an inside forward, but I really enjoyed it. I suppose people will look at my number of goals compared to games and go: ‘That’s pretty poor.’ And I’d understand why you’d be thinking that.
“But then you’ve got to look at where I was playing, what kind of system I was playing, compared to what I was doing at Cork for that year and a half, because I still consider myself a goal scorer, playing as that number nine. I suppose the older I’m getting, I’m playing as a sort of false nine, number 10. But anytime I get in the box, I still fancy myself.
“When I went to Carlisle for that year, I always had a bit of a craic with the lads, because I was basically playing at right wing back for a lot of the games, at the bottom of League One.”
It is often underestimated how much a particular environment can contribute to a player’s success or failure, and Maguire reckons Turner’s Cross gets the best out of him.
Being away from close family, though, was not the only issue, with social media a regular source of frustration, particularly in the latter half of his spell in England when Maguire struggled at times, not helped by recurring injury problems.
“You could have the worst game in the world. And you go on to LiveScore or FotMob, and somebody sees the name ‘Sean Maguire’ and 1-0, and they think you had a great game.
“But you could have played brilliantly and not scored. And, you know, people are not talking about you. So there were periods when I was at Preston, I went 15-17 games without even scoring. So it was quite difficult at the time. I let a lot of things get to me, things on social media and stuff like that.
“That’s probably why my form dipped, and it just went downhill from there. Because I consider myself a goalscorer — always have.
“I just wanted to come back to a place where, it sounds like a mad thing to say, but if it gets the best of me, being the bigger fish in a smaller pond, whereas the other way around, it probably didn’t.”
Maguire learned from these negative experiences and is now off all social media, with the occasional exception of Instagram.
“I used to be terrible for it. I used to come in after a game, and I’d be straight on my phone, searching my name, even though I knew I had a terrible game, giving away the ball all the time, missing a chance. I was going searching for the bad stuff, which was actually shocking to even think about, because I was doing that for a good year or year and a half, and then, I got to a stage where I could just delete everything.
“It can be quite hard not to see things on there. You could have the best game in the world, and someone will always have something bad to say about you, regardless.
“If I could go back in time now, things might change, but everything happens for a reason, and there’s a reason why I’m back playing for Cork City now.”
Former Ireland teammate Shane Duffy got into trouble for responding directly to one of the online haters earlier this season, and Maguire admits he has been tempted to do likewise.
“There have been times where my brother, my buddies, have responded without anyone actually knowing they’re my buddies, because it’s hard to keep [quiet]. If I saw someone hurl abuse at one of my best mates, it would be hard for me not to say anything.
“There have been times which have been tough in games as well. There were a couple of times where I was playing for Preston, and my family and friends were in the away end, and not that you’d be getting abuse, but you’d be called shite or whatever, and family members then get involved and stuff like that.
“But I’m a professional footballer, I’ve learned to deal with it, everyone’s entitled to their opinion.”
He continues: “You could be somebody’s best player, but the other person’s worst player, and just have to learn to deal with that. Maybe my career could have gone down a different path if I hadn’t gone down that route of looking up my name and stuff like that. But you can’t really look back.
“I’m 32, but it was different when I was 24-25, living in Preston. If I were going to Sainsburys or something, I’d feel like someone’s looking at me, thinking: ‘Jesus, he’s fuckin’ shite,’ you know what I mean? So it was all going through my head. I’d be the worst person in the world. I’d go back home, sit in a dark room, wouldn’t speak to the missus or anything, and then I do that till probably Sunday night, and it used to be repetitive, and sure that’s no good for you.”
And for Maguire, one incident in particular stands out.
“A fan had a message request on Instagram, and I actually had to get the club involved because he was saying, ‘I know where you live,’ and stuff like that.
“It got to that stage at one time. I’ll actually never forget it. So it got a bit not scary, but I was thinking: ‘It’s hardly this bad.’
“Obviously, [football is] not a game to a lot of people; it’s what they live for.
“But thankfully, it was dealt with.”
Maguire’s thoughts on his Ireland career are similarly bittersweet. Between 2017 and 2020, he won 11 Ireland caps, with his only goal coming in a 3-1 friendly win over New Zealand, set up by a young debutant named Troy Parrott.
“Look, even just putting the Irish jersey on once was always a dream,” he says.
“But I think back in 2017 when I was on a hot streak, going to Preston, and I’m flying, even in 2018. I’m thinking I’m definitely going to get 30-40, maybe even more caps. And it didn’t really work out that way.
“So to do it 11 times and score, it’s a dream come true, but I do look back on my career going: ‘Ifs, buts and maybes.’ What if I didn’t get injured at this time? What if my form hadn’t dipped as much? Would I have had more caps? Would I still be playing in England now and still paying for Ireland? You don’t know.
“I’ll never forget walking onto the plane for my first ever call-up, and I was sitting beside Roy and Glenn Whelan on the other side. And I was thinking: ‘Glenn Whelan has had this many caps. Roy Keane is obviously an icon of Irish football.’ I’m thinking: ‘This can’t be real.’
“And then, the next month, we’re playing Denmark in the [World Cup] playoffs, and I’m absolutely flying at Preston. And then that’s when I ruptured my hamstring. I’m thinking I got a right chance of obviously starting both games if I stayed fit, because I was doing so well.
“But then obviously, injuries just came, one after another. Hamstrings were like cheese strings for a good two and a half to three years. I tried every sort of thing to make them right. Touch wood, it’s been good as of late.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Interview League of Ireland LOI Sean Maguire Soccer Cork City Preston North End