PLAYER INTERVIEW
Having arrived in the Summer from Rochdale, Stephen Dooley’s first memories of football are not dissimilar to most footy-mad kids growing up. The Northern Irishman recalls a strong group of five or six mates who would spend their Summers kicking a ball around the streets of Portstewart, a small town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, from dusk ‘til dawn.. INTERVIEW: Hal Boxhall-Dockree
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t was Stephen’s Dad who would instigate a first real involvement with grassroots football, and a ten-year stint at local club Coleraine, then known as Triangle FC, after bringing his son to a training session while coaching the team. With Coleraine competing in the NIFL Premiership, Stephen’s attention was naturally drawn to his idols in the Premier League, and to his beloved Manchester United. “I grew up with my Mum, Dad and younger brother and had a really good childhood spent mostly playing sports, football being the main one, but I’d give anything a go – tennis, badminton, gaelic football, cross county you name it. It used to be football on Saturday and Gaelic on Sunday, but when I got to 16 and started playing men’s football I had to choose one, and that was always going to be football.” “I was a winger when I started playing and loved dribbling with the ball, so when Ronaldo burst onto the scene I found watching him just mesmeric. Coleraine had a lot of good managers and coaches, it’s hard to single out just one, it was a really good time and I’m lucky to have got to play two years in the first team of my hometown team.”
DOOL 10
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