David Connolly - A Retrospective

I have vague memories of watching Ireland when I was growing up, but the one that sticks out is the image of a baby-faced assassin wheeling away with the ball tucked under his shirt. It was his third goal in 13 minutes, against the might of Liechtenstein. It was none other than David Connolly.

That night Ireland had disposed of a team who, 23 months earlier, held them to a 0-0 draw. Liechtenstein are minnows but big wins come few and far between for the Irish national team. David came along and buried a hat-trick that got the 1998 World Cup qualifying campaign back on track. It was his 5^th international goal in less than a year, and Irish fans could allow themselves to believe that we had a hero in the making. Maybe, we had finally found a successor to John Aldridge and Frank Stapleton? Maybe we found a genuine goal-scoring prodigy that would see us win games by 2 goal margins at major championships every 2 years. Maybe we had found the perfect foil for Niall Quinn upfront. The name David Connolly has stuck with me ever since that night. Last week, he retired from professional football. His final act in football was to score a crucial last minute winner for his newest club AFC Wimbledon. Yet, despite that goal, he felt his body was no longer able to cope with the demands of professional football. Along with other personal circumstances he decided it would be wrong to take the money the club were paying him and decided to retire. His manager, Neal Ardley declared him as one of the best strikers he ever played with. High praise indeed, but this writer wonders what could have been for this cult hero.

Born to Irish parents, Connolly’s professional career began at Watford in 1994, making his debut at just 16 years of age towards the tail end of the 1994-95 season. The following year, Watford were relegated to Division 2 but Connolly still managed to score 8 times in 11 league games. His league form slumped the following year but he still showed enough potential to catch the attention of Mick McCarthy, the Republic of Ireland manager. McCarthy had just taken over from Jack Charlton and he was faced with the task of rebuilding an aging Irish team with new blood. Connolly was one of many new young faces alongside Shay Given, Kevin Kilbane and Gary Breen that were capped at this time. He made an immediate impression with a couple of goals in friendlies. He was raw, with lots to learn but the early signs were promising that this was a lad that Irish fans were going to see more often for the next 10 years. He was not even 20 years old at the time.

Despite the early promise, his international career never took off and his name never garnered the iconic status of those gone before him. The 1998 World Cup qualifying campaign would culminate in a play-off against Belgium. The first leg in Dublin finished 1-1, and despite going a goal down in Brussels, the legendary Ray Houghton equalised with a deceptive header across the goal. However, the Belgians re-took the lead via a dubious throw in decision, leaving Ireland chasing another equaliser that would see them qualify for France. With 15 minutes remaining, Connolly was given his chance to endear himself to the Irish fans. 7 minutes later he was shown a straight red card, for kicking out at an opponent. It’s something that still annoys some Irish fans to this day. A year later, another young striker made his international debut for Ireland. His name was Robbie Keane. And 17 years later, he is still playing for his country.

Despite this outburst, Mick McCarthy remained faithful towards him. He was a regular feature in his squads during his time in charge of Irish national side. However, the emergence of Keane would stifle any chance Connolly had of maintaining a starting place in the team. McCarthy opted to go with a target man-poacher partnership upfront. Quinn and sometimes Tony Cascarino were the perfect foil for a natural goal poacher like Keane. Connolly, would remain in reserve but he offered a decent alternative to spring from the bench. This was no better demonstrated in the first leg of the Euro 2000 play-off against Turkey. Ireland struggled to break down a resolute Turkish defence in their home ground and McCarthy made a change. Replacing veteran Cascarino, it was Connolly that cut open the defence with a lovely reverse cut-back that allowed Keane a sight on goal. He made no mistake, and he immediately recognised the contribution of his strike partner. Unfortunately for Ireland and Connolly, Turkey would equalise with a valuable away goal minutes later. Keane would miss the second leg and Connolly took his place alongside Quinn. However the Turkish defence remained unbroken throughout that night, qualifying for Euro 2000.

In the meantime, Connolly secured a move to Dutch giants Feyenoord in 1997. Irish footballers playing in continental Europe is something of a rarity but it was his early international form that prompted the Dutch giants to sign him. This was a big step up for the striker, not only because the stature and expectations of the club but of who had gone before him. That same summer, Feyenoord sold Henrik Larsson to Celtic after 3 years at the club. Time would prove that decision to be the wrong one. Connolly would never reach the same heights for his new club that Larsson did for his. It started off well, scoring on his debut and featuring in the group stage of the Champions League for his new club. However, the manager who signed him, Arie Haan, was sacked in October. He would ultimately fall out with his replacement Leo Beenhakker and was sent to train with the youth team. He would spend the majority of his 4 years not at De Kuip but on loan at other clubs. Despite this, he was reportedly the highest paid footballer in Holland.

His first loan spell was at Wolves, where he would link up with his international team mate Robbie Keane. Much like his international career, it was Keane who was number one and Connolly would finish with 6 goals in 32 games, 10 behind the total Keane achieved that year. He would then spend the following two seasons on loan at Excelsior, who were playing in Ereste Eredivise, the 2^nd tier of Dutch football. It was his time at Excelsior that Connolly would begin the most prolific spell of his career, scoring 42 goals in 48 appearances for the club. It was such form that saw Feyenoord fans calling for his return, and they would not be disappointed. Bert Van Marwijk was now in charge and he recalled Connolly from loan and threw him into the first team side for the tail-end of the 2000-01 season. He continued his excellent form until the end of the season, scoring 5 times in 15 games, enough to propel Feyenoord into the group stages of the Champions League at the expense of their bitter rivals Ajax. Connolly had excelled in what was a true Klassieker derby encounter at the Amsterdam Arena. He scored twice in a 4-3 victory and assisting the other two. Despite the prospect of a return to the Champions League and the offer of a new contract, he decided to return to the UK at the end of the season.

Irelands 2002 World Cup is best remembered for Roy Keane and Saipan, Robbie Keane and Germany and Connolly’s near miss in extra time against Spain. You don’t remember that? OK, so I watched highlights of our last 16 tie against the Spaniards to re-jog my memory but Connolly had the best chance in that period. Replacing Ian Harte after 81 minutes, keen to avoid any repeat of what happened in Brussels 5 years earlier, Ireland were on the verge of going out, losing 1-0. His strike partners Keane & Quinn combined to get Ireland’s equaliser in injury time and force extra-time. In the second period of extra time, a marauding run from Damien Duff saw the ball arrive at Connolly’s feet 25 metres from goal. He let the ball roll across his body and struck a shot that had Casillas beaten. However it could only skim the outside of the net. I watched that shot over and over, convinced it will roll in the corner. Inches was all that separated Connolly from national redemption. However, his reputation would suffer another blow moments later as the match went to a penalties. The standard of penalties in this shoot-out ranks as some of the worst ever taken, as five consecutive efforts were missed. Connolly’s was one of these efforts, hitting a tame shot straight at Iker Casillas. Ireland lose the shoot-out 3-2 and haven’t reached a World Cup tournament since.

Despite his form in Holland and Feyenoord’s qualification for the Champions League, Connolly decided to join Wimbledon FC. The Dons had been relegated from the Premier League in 2000 and struggled to bounce back immediately. Off the field, the club announced to relocate to Milton Keynes, despite huge opposition from the fans, the Football League and the FA. Inexplicably however, an Independent commission appointed by the FA ratified the move and the club became the MK Dons in 2004. All this drama didn’t impact on Connollys form however as he scored 42 goals in 68 games over his two seasons at the club. He left Wimbledon in the summer of 2003, as they entered administration. West Ham United purchased him for what seemed like a great bargain at £285’000.

Mick McCarthy resigned two games into the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign. His replacement Brian Kerr, would face Scotland in a friendly for his first game in charge. With Quinn now retired, the battle to play alongside Robbie Keane upfront (absent for this friendly) now seemed to be between Connolly and Clinton Morrison, who also went to the World Cup in 2002. However, while Kerr chose Morrison in his first game in charge, he opted to play Gary Doherty in the Irish attack that night in Hampden. Kerr, like McCarthy and Charlton before him, preferred a target man up front. It wouldn’t be the last time Doherty, a recognised centre-back and cult figure amongst the Irish support, would play in attack. Even with the absence of Morrison in games against Georgia and Albania, Doherty remained the Plan B alternative from the bench. Kerr also opted to start with Duff and Keane upfront. Connolly would only feature twice in that campaign in games against Georgia at home and the crucial final game away to Switzerland at Basel. Needing to win in Basel to secure a play-off spot, Ireland went behind early. They almost equalised immediately when Connolly laid the ball off for Colin Healy to shoot, but he dragged his shot wide. He would have another chance himself to restore parity close to half-time but sent a header over the bar. The Swiss doubled their advantage in the second half, winning 2-0 in the end.

Despite his excellent club form at the time, Connolly struggled to replicate it at International level. The Plan B approach with Doherty and Kerr’s preference for Morrison did him no favours but when chances came his way, he didn’t take them. This was no better demonstrated in a negative incident that did nothing for Connolly’s reputation for the fans. Before Kerr took over permanently, Don Givens took charge temporarily for a friendly away to Greece. His original squad for this friendly did not feature Connolly but Givens later called him personally to arrange a late call-up. Connolly was none too impressed with Givens due to his initial omission. When Givens was questioning his fitness and availability, Connolly asked why he wasn’t in the original squad. According to Givens, Connolly stated that “I should be the number one striker for Ireland, not number five”. Givens then said he asked him if he wanted to be part of the squad and claimed Connolly said “No”. With that, the phone call ended, and with it, any last hope of Connolly becoming a key player for Ireland He insisted afterwards that he was injured and wasn’t given a chance to explain this to Givens. It’s been lost to time which version is correct but it only served to enhance a less than pretty reputation that Connolly had with Irish fans. Maybe his form at the time did merit an original call-up but it’s at the discretion of the man in charge to pick the squad. If Connolly wasn’t injured, he should have bit his lip and taken his chance to prove that he was number one. If he was injured, he should clarified this immediately in a much more polite manner and left his opinions to himself.

His prolific form at club level began to fade upon joining West Ham, where he spent a solitary season. He got off to great start scoring on his debut but ultimately finished with 14 goals in 48 appearances, one behind top goal-scorer Jermaine Defoe. The season ended in disappointment however as West Ham lost the play-off final to Crystal Palace. Leceister City then paid £500’000 to sign Connolly that summer. Despite scoring one goal less than the season before, he finished as the clubs highest goal-scorer for the 2004-05 season. He began the start of the following season in superb style, scoring 4 times in 5 games. This early season form was enough to prompt newly promoted Wigan Athletic to pay £2 million to make Connolly a Premier League player for the first time in his career. After many seasons spent scoring in the Championship, he had finally reached the top tier. And he made an immediate impact, scoring an injury time penalty to give Wigan a 2-1 win against West Bromwich Albion.

I felt Connolly had the ability to make an impact at top tier with Wigan. Talking about this in school one day, this idea was shot down by my French teacher who laughed at the notion Connolly would deliver in the Premier League. Before he could prove him wrong and give me timely ammunition to hit back, he struggled to reach the same heights as that late winner as injuries disrupted his time at the Latics. He would end up only starting seven games in 19 appearances, and added only 2 more goals to his tally, both in cup competition. Wigan would survive their first season in the top flight, which increased the initial fee paid to Leceister City by an extra million, but his statistics did little to justify that fee or his status as a Premier League striker.

The following season would see Connolly play with a fourth club in as many seasons, when he joined former international team-mate Roy Keane at Sunderland. Many wondered if the reason Roy signed his former team-mate was down to the fact Connolly was one of the few Irish players who visited his room after the Saipan incident first occurred. It was little more than speculation I believe. Roy said as much in his recent book that Connolly was a “goalscorer”. His time playing in the Championship proved that and at Sunderland, that would be no different. He scored 13 goals in 36 games, finishing as the clubs highest goalscorer in a season where Sunderland were promoted to the Premier League. However, much like his last spell in the Premier League, Connolly struggled with injury again, making only 3 appearances that season. He wouldn’t feature at all the following season and was released at the end of the season.

For the 2006 World Cup campaign, Connolly was no longer a regular call-up to the Ireland squad. Kerr much preferred Keane and Morrison up front. It was under Kerr that Morrison would enjoy his best form, scoring 6 of his 9 international goals under Kerr. Connolly would only manage one in a friendly against Turkey, which would turn out to be his last goal for his country. An injury withdrawal for a friendly against the Czech Republic pushed him further down the pecking order with Ireland. It took his great start to the 2005/06 season and the suspension of Morrison before Connolly was selected again for Ireland, this time for a crucial qualifier away against Cyprus. He was desperate for a call-up, citing his passion for the team, and understanding why maybe Kerr had left him out until then. Questions remained about his commitment and ability, but for Connolly he never doubted himself or his desire to play for Ireland. He wouldn’t feature against Cyprus, or for the final game against Switzerland as Ireland missed out on the play-off spots by a solitary point.

A change of manager brought no change to his status in this regard either, as Connolly never featured in any of Steve Staunton’s squads during his time in charge of Ireland. Staunton decided to introduce new blood into the mix Kevin Doyle, Shane Long, Alan Lee and his team-mates at Sunderland, Stephen Elliot and Anthony Stokes all saw game-time ahead of Connolly. His international career looked over at 30. A new era of strikers had arrived. I’m not suggesting Connolly would have made a tangible difference to Ireland’s fortunes during the ill-fated Staunton era. Yet I feel a player who was in form at Sunderland and international experience to his name was worth a call-up. This much was proven when Giovanni Trapattoni named Connolly in his first Irish squad for a training camp in Portugal and friendlies against Serbia & Colombia. It would the final act of his Irish career, as he failed to make an impression struggling with injury.

In 2009, Connolly joined Southampton where he spent the next 3 years of his career. While he still scored goals, time was now catching up on David and his body as injuries were beginning to take their toll. His 2^nd season at the club saw promotion to the Championship, where he contributed vital goals in the run-in to the season. He started the following season in fine form, before injury again intervened. Southampton completed back to back promotions and would be returning to the Premier League. However, Connolly would not be joining them as he was released that summer. He scored 17 goals in 67 games for the Saints, and feeling his career was not yet over, he moved to their South Coast rivals Portsmouth. This was a club that has experiencing a rapid fall from grace. A Premier League club in 2010, and FA Cup winners in 2008, the club suffered 3 relegations and 2 periods in administration over the course of 4 years. Connolly still managed an average of a goal every 3 games for Pompey despite their problems. A loan spell at Oxford in 2014 would be split his time at Portsmouth before he moved to Wimbledon at the start of this year.

It was a career that showed a lot of early promise, and flashes of brilliance, but Connolly probably never lived up to expectations. He did himself no favours with his behaviour early on in his career. The fall-outs with managers, the decision to leave Feyenoord in 2001. With the benefit of hindsight, who knows what he could have achieved if those things turned out differently. At the same time, while it’s easy to say he had the misfortune of emerging at the same time of Robbie Keane, Keane was simply a better player. They were too similar to ever forge potent attacking double act so it often came down to the choice between the two. Keane won that choice and regularly justified it. However, in saying that, it would be harsh to call him a wasted talent. He was reportedly the highest paid footballer in the Netherlands, his career lasted nearly 20 years and his record of 188 goals in 475 games are decent statistics. It’s a career that had its up and downs and tales to tell. The man himself said he did things in his career he never even dreamed of doing. He’s enjoyed a career far more eventful than most Irish footballers. And if David Connolly ever wants to write it down in the form of autobiography, I’d be willing to get it.