WHILE MOST of Ireland’s English Football League-based players could fully relax for a couple of weeks this summer, Sean Roughan was thinking hard about a big decision.
After six years at Lincoln City, the 22-year-old defender decided he was moving on.
While grateful to the club for helping to develop him, he felt now was the time to take the next step in his career to progress further.
Roughan had moved over to England at 16, and the youngster was able to do his Leaving Cert remotely, with the club hiring a tutor to prepare him for the exams.
Director of Football Jez George mentioned this factor on the official club website news article confirming the player’s departure.
“This story also wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Mark Wallace, the headmaster of Lincoln Minster School at the time, who found a way to deliver the curriculum with the help of numerous teachers, and Louise Costello, who tutored Sean in Gaelic. They all had a harder job than the football staff!”
Roughan ultimately repaid the significant investment made by the English club in 2019.
He registered over 150 appearances, becoming a regular in the last three seasons, having impressed on loan at Drogheda in 2022.
The Dubliner was particularly eye-catching in the 2024-25 campaign, as he was one of three outfield players in League One to complete every minute of action (Bristol Rovers’ James Wilson and Reading’s Lewis Wing were the others).
Such a feat is rare, especially for someone of Roughan’s age (the other two aforementioned footballers are 36 and 29).
When you consider that as a teenager he had been seriously hampered by quad and ankle injuries, and had to undergo surgery as a result of these problems in 2021, the achievement is even more impressive.
So with all those minutes under his belt, there was unsurprisingly plenty of interest in Roughan this summer.
It was a difficult choice, but in the end, he opted to sign a three-year deal with Huddersfield Town.
Advertisement
In the process, he rejected two offers from clubs in the Championship to join the team that finished 10th in League One last season, 14 points adrift of the playoff spots.
Roughan knew that staying in England’s third tier would likely undermine his “dream” of playing for the Irish senior team, at least in the short term, as footballers competing below the Championship are seldom considered for a call-up by national team manager Heimir Hallgrímsson.
However, the former Ireland U21 international is confident it will ultimately be the right move for him.
“It would help me be in the Ireland picture more, [playing in the Championship], which is the biggest dream I have to play out in front of Aviva,” he tells The 42. “But it was one of them where everything in good time, I thought.”
He adds: “Everything that you do in football is a risk, and you just have to hope that it pays off.”
Expanding on his reasons for choosing Huddersfield, Roughan says: “Just talking to people around the club, it’s going places, and that’s what I liked about it. I wanted to be at a project where they’re going forward and not somewhere that they’re going to be happy to stay in the position they are. I want somewhere that is challenging, and that’s going to challenge you.”
Roughan says that it was “the biggest decision I’ve made in my career to date”.
Former Ipswich coach Lee Grant was recently appointed Huddersfield boss. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
The club themselves are in transition. Last month, Lee Grant was appointed manager, following three years as first-team coach at Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town, who achieved back-to-back league promotions during that period before their recent relegation from the Premier League.
“Everyone that I’ve talked to about him, and people close to me, thought he was a really nice guy and and that he’d probably be the best to try to develop me,” Roughan says of Grant, who as a player had spells with Derby, Sheffield Wednesday, Burnley and Stoke before spending the final four years of his career as a backup goalkeeper at Man United.
Joining Grant in the backroom staff is former Ireland international Paul McShane, with the pair having previously worked together at the Old Trafford club.
Roughan has also worked with McShane, as the Wicklow native is the Ireland U21s assistant boss.
Two other highly-rated coaches have joined the staff as well. Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and Jonathan Robinson both had lengthy spells in Liverpool’s academy — helping develop players such as Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah and Tyler Morton — while the latter was also recently Steven Gerrard’s assistant at Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq.
All these changes fit with Huddersfield’s philosophy of creating an exciting young squad and turning footballers of potential into top professionals.
“The gaffer has been at big clubs as well, and he’s been around when they’ve been in the Prem,” says Roughan.
“He’s been at United, so he’s well in the know of what you have [to do to get] there, or how you get better, and [the same goes for] the people around him as well.”
On playing every minute last season, Roughan adds: “What I tried doing was controlling being fit and available. And if you’re fit and available for any manager, they’re going to like you.
“There were games where I wasn’t great, but [it's about] just trying to stay consistent in that moment, not making it a very, very bad game. And thankfully, the gaffer [Michael Skubala] still had faith to keep playing me, even if stuff went wrong, which I can’t thank Lincoln enough for, because sometimes people are fit for the full season, but don’t play a full season. So yeah, it’s a good milestone to hit, and not many people do it in their career, so hopefully I can do it twice.”
Roughan has also had plenty of help from people around him. His mother, Charlotte, is a fellow fitness fanatic who owns a gym in Ashbourne, and from a young age, she instilled in him the importance of diet and nutrition.
“You turn up to a game, if you haven’t refuelled your body well, you could get an injury, because rest and the food is probably the most important thing to do outside of football, to make sure that you’re ready and you’re fit.”
Even during his few weeks off in the summer, Roughan says he rarely indulges in junk food or deviates from a strict dietary plan.
“In the off-season, you don’t really do stuff like that. The body is not used to it. So you say you’re going to do it, but then when you get to it, you’re like: ‘No, I’m not really that bothered.’ Or: ‘I don’t want to feel sick.’”
Roughan may not be closing in on making the Irish squad just yet, but one factor that could help him down the line is his versatility.
According to Transfermarkt, of his recent appearances, he has played 56 games as a centre back, 33 at left back, and 24 on the left of midfield.
Hallgrímsson has plenty of depth in the centre-back position, but less so at left-back, where Roughan has predominantly played lately, and Ireland’s regular in that position, Robbie Brady, at 33, is closer to the end of his career than the start.
But the youngster knows he still has plenty of work to do for that dream to become a reality.
“Things move quickly in football,” he says. “The train’s never going to wait for someone if they’re late. So football’s not going to wait for you — you have to get on with it.
“And if you’re not going to be there or thereabouts, you’re going to be left behind.”
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.
One of 3 outfielders to play every minute in League One last season on his Ireland ‘dream’
WHILE MOST of Ireland’s English Football League-based players could fully relax for a couple of weeks this summer, Sean Roughan was thinking hard about a big decision.
After six years at Lincoln City, the 22-year-old defender decided he was moving on.
While grateful to the club for helping to develop him, he felt now was the time to take the next step in his career to progress further.
Roughan had moved over to England at 16, and the youngster was able to do his Leaving Cert remotely, with the club hiring a tutor to prepare him for the exams.
Director of Football Jez George mentioned this factor on the official club website news article confirming the player’s departure.
“This story also wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Mark Wallace, the headmaster of Lincoln Minster School at the time, who found a way to deliver the curriculum with the help of numerous teachers, and Louise Costello, who tutored Sean in Gaelic. They all had a harder job than the football staff!”
Roughan ultimately repaid the significant investment made by the English club in 2019.
He registered over 150 appearances, becoming a regular in the last three seasons, having impressed on loan at Drogheda in 2022.
The Dubliner was particularly eye-catching in the 2024-25 campaign, as he was one of three outfield players in League One to complete every minute of action (Bristol Rovers’ James Wilson and Reading’s Lewis Wing were the others).
Such a feat is rare, especially for someone of Roughan’s age (the other two aforementioned footballers are 36 and 29).
When you consider that as a teenager he had been seriously hampered by quad and ankle injuries, and had to undergo surgery as a result of these problems in 2021, the achievement is even more impressive.
So with all those minutes under his belt, there was unsurprisingly plenty of interest in Roughan this summer.
It was a difficult choice, but in the end, he opted to sign a three-year deal with Huddersfield Town.
In the process, he rejected two offers from clubs in the Championship to join the team that finished 10th in League One last season, 14 points adrift of the playoff spots.
Roughan knew that staying in England’s third tier would likely undermine his “dream” of playing for the Irish senior team, at least in the short term, as footballers competing below the Championship are seldom considered for a call-up by national team manager Heimir Hallgrímsson.
However, the former Ireland U21 international is confident it will ultimately be the right move for him.
“It would help me be in the Ireland picture more, [playing in the Championship], which is the biggest dream I have to play out in front of Aviva,” he tells The 42. “But it was one of them where everything in good time, I thought.”
He adds: “Everything that you do in football is a risk, and you just have to hope that it pays off.”
Expanding on his reasons for choosing Huddersfield, Roughan says: “Just talking to people around the club, it’s going places, and that’s what I liked about it. I wanted to be at a project where they’re going forward and not somewhere that they’re going to be happy to stay in the position they are. I want somewhere that is challenging, and that’s going to challenge you.”
Roughan says that it was “the biggest decision I’ve made in my career to date”.
The club themselves are in transition. Last month, Lee Grant was appointed manager, following three years as first-team coach at Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town, who achieved back-to-back league promotions during that period before their recent relegation from the Premier League.
“Everyone that I’ve talked to about him, and people close to me, thought he was a really nice guy and and that he’d probably be the best to try to develop me,” Roughan says of Grant, who as a player had spells with Derby, Sheffield Wednesday, Burnley and Stoke before spending the final four years of his career as a backup goalkeeper at Man United.
Joining Grant in the backroom staff is former Ireland international Paul McShane, with the pair having previously worked together at the Old Trafford club.
Roughan has also worked with McShane, as the Wicklow native is the Ireland U21s assistant boss.
Two other highly-rated coaches have joined the staff as well. Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and Jonathan Robinson both had lengthy spells in Liverpool’s academy — helping develop players such as Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah and Tyler Morton — while the latter was also recently Steven Gerrard’s assistant at Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq.
All these changes fit with Huddersfield’s philosophy of creating an exciting young squad and turning footballers of potential into top professionals.
“The gaffer has been at big clubs as well, and he’s been around when they’ve been in the Prem,” says Roughan.
“He’s been at United, so he’s well in the know of what you have [to do to get] there, or how you get better, and [the same goes for] the people around him as well.”
On playing every minute last season, Roughan adds: “What I tried doing was controlling being fit and available. And if you’re fit and available for any manager, they’re going to like you.
“There were games where I wasn’t great, but [it's about] just trying to stay consistent in that moment, not making it a very, very bad game. And thankfully, the gaffer [Michael Skubala] still had faith to keep playing me, even if stuff went wrong, which I can’t thank Lincoln enough for, because sometimes people are fit for the full season, but don’t play a full season. So yeah, it’s a good milestone to hit, and not many people do it in their career, so hopefully I can do it twice.”
Roughan has also had plenty of help from people around him. His mother, Charlotte, is a fellow fitness fanatic who owns a gym in Ashbourne, and from a young age, she instilled in him the importance of diet and nutrition.
“You turn up to a game, if you haven’t refuelled your body well, you could get an injury, because rest and the food is probably the most important thing to do outside of football, to make sure that you’re ready and you’re fit.”
Even during his few weeks off in the summer, Roughan says he rarely indulges in junk food or deviates from a strict dietary plan.
“In the off-season, you don’t really do stuff like that. The body is not used to it. So you say you’re going to do it, but then when you get to it, you’re like: ‘No, I’m not really that bothered.’ Or: ‘I don’t want to feel sick.’”
Roughan may not be closing in on making the Irish squad just yet, but one factor that could help him down the line is his versatility.
According to Transfermarkt, of his recent appearances, he has played 56 games as a centre back, 33 at left back, and 24 on the left of midfield.
Hallgrímsson has plenty of depth in the centre-back position, but less so at left-back, where Roughan has predominantly played lately, and Ireland’s regular in that position, Robbie Brady, at 33, is closer to the end of his career than the start.
But the youngster knows he still has plenty of work to do for that dream to become a reality.
“Things move quickly in football,” he says. “The train’s never going to wait for someone if they’re late. So football’s not going to wait for you — you have to get on with it.
“And if you’re not going to be there or thereabouts, you’re going to be left behind.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Championship Interview League One Sean Roughan Soccer Huddersfield Town