Laois Today: Advice to aspiring young soccer players from a Laois man exposed to the professional system

Portlaoise’s Paul Cahillane has offered some advice to young Laois soccer players who may be offered the opportunity of a professional career abroad.

The former Celtic, UCD and Wexford Youths midfielder was the guest on this week’s addition of the Talking Sport Podcast.

The focus of our new series is to speak to Laois people who have played at high levels in more than one sport.

Before winning 10 club championships with Portlaoise and playing for Laois at senior level, Cahillane was on the brink of a professional soccer career.

He spent three years at Celtic, from 2005 to 2008, having left Laois as a 16-year-old.

But with the way coaching in Ireland has changed since then, his advice now to aspiring young players is different than the road he took.

Paul said: “I’ve been asked this question a few times and I think I was wrong to go early because I don’t think I was mature enough at the time.

“I think the coaches in Ireland now are at a much higher level than when I was going through this process so I don’t see any reason why people can’t finish their Leaving Cert and do a year or two at League of Ireland to get older and better.

“Because for me, if you’re good enough at 18 or 19, clubs are still going to want to take you.

“If you have proven yourself in the League of Ireland, be it men or women, clubs are going to want to take you. It has been proven time and time again with players that come back.

“You only have to look at Richie Towell and when he came back from England to Dundalk, it wasn’t long before he got back over there again.

“I’d be very passionate about the power that education can have on people, not just as regards academics, but as regards learning from other people and how they go about their business.

“Be it playing against older players and learning how they do things on the field – or those experienced players and how they carry themselves off it.

“And then reading up on things. How many things have been introduced into sport in the last ten years – be it gym work, GPS, nutrition, fitness work.

“For me, you can only do all of that as you get older. So taking yourself out of an environment that is comfortable to you – where you can already develop – my advice would be to wait, develop and grow.

“But everyone’s circumstance is different. And who is to say that with a bit of luck, mine would be different and I would have a totally different opinion on it.”

You can listen to the episode in full here and subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify as well as listen on Soundcloud and Podbean.