Doyle excited about the season ahead with St Patrick’s Athletic
He may still be settling into his new surroundings, but Firhouse native Eoin Doyle is looking forward to making his long-awaited return to the League of Ireland in the colours of St Patrick’s Athletic.
After helping Sligo Rovers to earn back-to-back FAI Cup titles in 2010 and 2011, Doyle embarked on a decade-long journey across the UK that saw him lining out for no fewer than nine clubs. In addition to earning promotion from England’s League Two on four occasions (most recently with Bolton Wanderers last May), the striker bagged a grand total of 145 goals in 408 overseas appearances.
These impressive stats mean the signing of the 33-year-old is a considerable coup for the Inchicore club and with Doyle taking note of how the league has evolved since his initial departure, the deal has proven to be a no-brainer for both parties.
“I’ve only been in there two days now. It’s the first two days of pre-season for me, it’s the lads’ second week. It’s hard to get a judge on things until you get into the games, but the standard has been very good. I’ve been very impressed with them all. It’ll be an interesting season,” Doyle explained in a Zoom call to the Irish media earlier today.
“It [the league] has gone from strength to strength obviously. From me being able to watch it last year when the streaming service came online. All the games have been good, I’ve enjoyed them. You can see the difference in the standards of the league since I left. It’s obviously very young and very energetic as well, so I’ll have to put up with that! I’m excited, definitely.”
As well as retaining the services of Ronan Coughlan – who slotted home their first penalty in a FAI Cup final shootout victory against Bohemians last November – the Saints have also bolstered their attacking options by signing Tunde Owolabi from fellow Premier Division outfit Finn Harps.
The Belgian scored 12 goals in 34 appearances for the Donegal men during 2021 and Doyle is hopeful of striking up a good understanding with his new team-mate.
“I’ve seen a bit of him in the last couple of days and he’s definitely athletic. He has a bit of power and pace about him. He’s definitely going to be a handful. Dave Webster, who is my cousin, was up in Finn Harps with him last year and always said good things about him,” Doyle added.
“I’m looking forward to playing with him. He’s definitely a handful and he obviously got a few goals at the back end of last season as well. Hopefully he can kick on early doors and keep that up.”
Doyle will be joined by a familiar face at Pat’s in the coming season, with his former Hibernian colleague Tim Clancy having recently been appointed as first-team manager at Richmond Park. A native of Trim in Co. Meath, Clancy guided Drogheda United to top-flight promotion in 2020 followed by a respectable seventh-place finish in the Premier Division 12 months later.
He is fulsome in his praise of Doyle and believes he can be a shining example to the younger players within the Saints’ squad.
“Eoin spoke there and he was saying what he brings to the table. I think it’s probably the most praise you can ever give a player, but I think Eoin has maximised his ability and the career he’s had is probably the best he could have had,” Clancy said.
“I think that’s probably the best thing you can say about any player. You bring that back here and there’s quite a young squad at Pat’s. Hopefully the young lads take heed of what needs to go in place to get to where they want to go.”
