STEPHEN BRADLEY ARRIVED to speak with a cup in his hand.
But not the FAI Cup.
Or the league trophy.
The Double was secured and those trophies were paraded around Aviva Stadium together after this 2-0 win over 10-man Cork City.
In this moment of reflection the Shamrock Rovers boss was instead supping on tea to toast a place in lore.
“Today was all about achieving something that hadn’t been done since 1987 at this football club,” he beamed.
“It’s something that can never be taken away from us as a group regardless of what people’s opinion are of us or the club, team, whatever. Individuals, it’s something that can never be taken away and that’s special.”
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Pico Lopes lifts the cup. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
There was understandable emotion for Bradley, who turns 41 later this month, as he took a moment to remember his late mother, Bernadette, who passed away in 2016.
“This [medal] will go on me mam’s picture at home. Every year, that’s what I look at and say, trying to get her a new one. So that will go on her picture and I’m sure she’s proud.”
Bradley’s counterpart Ger Nash spoke in hushed tones, The despondency was understandable and the sense of regret palpable, but there was no issue with the red shown to Harry Nevin just before half-time.
The City boss admitted the full back was “devastated” but spoke of the pride he had in their performance, one that ultimately counted for nothing after Rory Gaffney’s second-half brace.
The first trophy Bradley won as Rovers boss was the FAI Cup in 2019. Six of the players who were in the squad that day savoured glory here, a sign of the core that has backboned Rovers’ dominance with five league titles in six years and, now, a Double.
Bradley joked that he probably won’t see his players for a week after they celebrate this triumph, but their season is far from done. Shaktar Donetsk visit Tallaght Stadium in a few weeks for their fourth game in the Uefa Conference League.
They came into this showpiece from a trip to Athens, where Rovers drew 1-1 with AEK to provide fresh impetus into the second half of their league phase campaign. Should they follow up last season’s knockout phase play-off round again than Bradley will continue to scale new, unseen heights for an Irish side in Europe.
“Well we’re not a small team anymore, we’re a big team and we want to get bigger and the ambition for this club is to keep growing. But I understand what you’re saying and it’s not easy, it’s difficult. But this can never be taken away from us. It will be spoken about forever and that’s special.
Stephen Bradley takes a moment to himself after victory. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“We’re young, we’re hungry, we’re ambitious, we want more. We’ve done Conference League a few times now, I think we need to go further, I think we need to go, our aim has to be Europa League, our aim has to be….”
Bradley stopped himself for moment and then name checked the side of the 1980s that won the Double three years in a row.
“Why can’t we go and do that? And try and do that, it’s more difficult with Europe, but why can’t we go and do that? I don’t believe in limiting our ambition or what we should aim for as a club and I’m not going to start that now. We’ll assess this now in the off-season and we’ll lay down new markers for next year and where we want to go.”
The obvious question to ask is where continued success at Rovers might eventually lead for him. His own thought process about career progression has been understandably altered in recent years as his son, Josh, underwent treatment for cancer that came to a successful end during the summer.
“Maybe before Josh got sick I would have been wanting to try and plan and to try and map out your future. But when Josh got sick it really made me understand that you’ve just got to live in every moment and every day and people might have heard me say that and think, ‘yeah, I don’t really believe it.’ But until you’re in a situation where your life changes in the blink of an eye, I truly believe that now.
“Whatever my story is, however it’s written, it will be. I’m okay, I’m comfortable with what I am, where I am. I’ve made no secret of what I want to achieve in the game but there’s no grand plans.
“What will be, will be for me. I’m 40. I’m still learning, still trying to be better and like I said, wherever I end up, whatever I do, it’s fine with me, I’m comfortable with that.”
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'We're not a small team anymore, we're a big team and we want to get bigger'
STEPHEN BRADLEY ARRIVED to speak with a cup in his hand.
But not the FAI Cup.
Or the league trophy.
The Double was secured and those trophies were paraded around Aviva Stadium together after this 2-0 win over 10-man Cork City.
In this moment of reflection the Shamrock Rovers boss was instead supping on tea to toast a place in lore.
“Today was all about achieving something that hadn’t been done since 1987 at this football club,” he beamed.
“It’s something that can never be taken away from us as a group regardless of what people’s opinion are of us or the club, team, whatever. Individuals, it’s something that can never be taken away and that’s special.”
There was understandable emotion for Bradley, who turns 41 later this month, as he took a moment to remember his late mother, Bernadette, who passed away in 2016.
“This [medal] will go on me mam’s picture at home. Every year, that’s what I look at and say, trying to get her a new one. So that will go on her picture and I’m sure she’s proud.”
Bradley’s counterpart Ger Nash spoke in hushed tones, The despondency was understandable and the sense of regret palpable, but there was no issue with the red shown to Harry Nevin just before half-time.
The City boss admitted the full back was “devastated” but spoke of the pride he had in their performance, one that ultimately counted for nothing after Rory Gaffney’s second-half brace.
The first trophy Bradley won as Rovers boss was the FAI Cup in 2019. Six of the players who were in the squad that day savoured glory here, a sign of the core that has backboned Rovers’ dominance with five league titles in six years and, now, a Double.
Bradley joked that he probably won’t see his players for a week after they celebrate this triumph, but their season is far from done. Shaktar Donetsk visit Tallaght Stadium in a few weeks for their fourth game in the Uefa Conference League.
They came into this showpiece from a trip to Athens, where Rovers drew 1-1 with AEK to provide fresh impetus into the second half of their league phase campaign. Should they follow up last season’s knockout phase play-off round again than Bradley will continue to scale new, unseen heights for an Irish side in Europe.
“Well we’re not a small team anymore, we’re a big team and we want to get bigger and the ambition for this club is to keep growing. But I understand what you’re saying and it’s not easy, it’s difficult. But this can never be taken away from us. It will be spoken about forever and that’s special.
“We’re young, we’re hungry, we’re ambitious, we want more. We’ve done Conference League a few times now, I think we need to go further, I think we need to go, our aim has to be Europa League, our aim has to be….”
Bradley stopped himself for moment and then name checked the side of the 1980s that won the Double three years in a row.
“Why can’t we go and do that? And try and do that, it’s more difficult with Europe, but why can’t we go and do that? I don’t believe in limiting our ambition or what we should aim for as a club and I’m not going to start that now. We’ll assess this now in the off-season and we’ll lay down new markers for next year and where we want to go.”
The obvious question to ask is where continued success at Rovers might eventually lead for him. His own thought process about career progression has been understandably altered in recent years as his son, Josh, underwent treatment for cancer that came to a successful end during the summer.
“Maybe before Josh got sick I would have been wanting to try and plan and to try and map out your future. But when Josh got sick it really made me understand that you’ve just got to live in every moment and every day and people might have heard me say that and think, ‘yeah, I don’t really believe it.’ But until you’re in a situation where your life changes in the blink of an eye, I truly believe that now.
“Whatever my story is, however it’s written, it will be. I’m okay, I’m comfortable with what I am, where I am. I’ve made no secret of what I want to achieve in the game but there’s no grand plans.
“What will be, will be for me. I’m 40. I’m still learning, still trying to be better and like I said, wherever I end up, whatever I do, it’s fine with me, I’m comfortable with that.”
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landmark moment Shamrock Rovers Stephen Bradley