Derry City FC: Armband or no armband - Connolly wants trophies!

Tiernan Lynch has yet to reveal the identity of his captain this year, but Mark Connolly will certainly be among the contenders to wear the armband come Friday evening at Tolka Park.

Connolly, entering his third full season at the club, is a natural leader amongst many at the club this season, but regardless of Lynch’s choice, Connolly wants silverware in his hands come the end of 2025. While few can predict what lies ahead for the Candystripes this season – whether they will challenge again or not – Connolly is adamant – he wants what the team just missed out on last year.

“I've come to this football club to win leagues, to win trophies,” he insisted. “My aim is to win. I'm not here just to just to get through my career or get through things. My aim is to win leagues, to win cups, to be back in the Aviva and getting the fans a day out that they deserve. We're working tirelessly hard now at the moment to get there and hopefully come the end of the year, where we're a bit closer than we were last year.”

Connolly, Shane Ferguson, Carl Winchester, Robbie Benson, Pat Hoban, Liam Boyce – there are any number of players who would make a suitable captain in 2025, and Connolly acknowledges that the experience now in the changing could make a huge difference.

“It's positive,” he stated. “Certainly the players who have come through the door are very, very good players who have played at a good level and they are good lads as well which helps.

“There's a lot of experience coming through the door. They'll push the standards right up as high as we can along with the staff. It'll definitely help this year with having that more experience and everyone's driving in the same direction. These boys have played at a top, top level, and played a lot of games, so there's plenty of experience there to help the whole team.”

The importance of securing Owenbeg as a regular training base has undoubtedly had a huge boost on squad morale, with the players no longer trekking around the city from one location to another on a daily basis.

“It was difficult (last year),” Connolly agreed. “I think Ruaidhri tried to get something organised last year as well and I think it was very, very difficult at times to manage where we were going to be. And unfortunately, obviously we didn't have Owenbeg in place, which we have this year.

“ I think in time, the club is obviously pushing to have a state-of-the-art training facility that will benefit the whole city, especially the younger players coming through, and it will be massive for them.

“Once the club have that, then I think everything will settle down a bit. But last year, it was a struggle; you're training in one place and going to another place for the gym, and then back to another place. People will probably be thinking just get on with it, but it's a long season and when you see every team in the in the league pretty much have their own base and have their own training facilities in one in one spot, it's difficult to sort of compete against that.

Mark Connolly of Derry City in action against Donal Rocks, left, and Stephen O'Donnell, right, of Ballymena United during the pre-season friendly match. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

“But now there's no excuses. We have Owenbeg which is a top-class facility, and it's a base now that everyone knows what we're going to be every day, and it's a positive.”

With the likes of Shane McEleney and Ciaran Coll no longer at the club, Connolly will certainly be the leader at the back, in a position which he admits constantly keeps him and his team mates on their toes.

“The forwards or attacking players will probably think defenders have an easy job, whatever, but it's difficult, especially for the younger lads,” he explained.

“I was brought up with a lot of talk and communication when I was younger. I think that's maybe coming out of the game a wee bit now, because you're focusing on your own job instead of speaking to everyone on the pitch, so I think that's probably one thing that I would like to get into all the younger players coming through, that communication a bit more. But there’s the hustling and bustling, and the wrestling and doing all that.

“Obviously you're in the position where if you make one mistake or one bad pass or one missed tackle, it could result in a goal, and so you're not always going to get the plaudits at the back. But again, that's why it's so important to train to try and keep a consistent level and keep them focused for as long as you can. And I go back to the communication side of it, if you're if you're constantly speaking to each other at the back, you're keeping yourself switched on.

“The main thing for us as defenders is to keep clean sheets and keep the ball out of the goal. Sometimes you want to look pretty, you want to pass the ball a certain way, but the end of the day, it's about not conceding goals, and that's our aim again, especially this season.”

Derry City's Mark Connolly and Carl Winchester, left, at their new training facility, the Owenbeg Derry GAA Centre, in Dungiven, Derry. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Connolly does not need any reminder of what happened the last time Derry City met Shelbourne, with Harry Wood’s goal at the Brandywell sealing the league title for Damien Duff’s side on a painful night for everyone in red and white.

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“It was a game last year which we lost which made them champions in the end,” he recalled. “I think last season is brushed under the carpet and we can move on now.

“For us now, it’s focusing on this season and what’s coming and how it’s going to be. Lat season is finished with, we were disappointed, but it’s in the past and we’re looking forward now to what’s to come, starting with Shelbourne on the first day pf the season and it’s going to be a difficult one.”