Tell us a bit about yourself and the ELOI Ryan?
My name is Ryan Duffy and I’m from Monaghan. I am a student teacher at the minute currently doing my masters and stream in my spare time along with playing Gaelic. Unlike the majority of the other competitors, I am on the other end of the spectrum when it comes to age with me being 30. Fifa 98 would be when I first got introduced to the game and haven’t looked back its an extension of my life at this stage unfortunately ha ha! In terms of the competitive scene, I am a relative newcomer to it with ELOI 2022 being my first competitive tournament where I represented Waterford FC. Ciaran Walsh, who is one of the big faces of the Irish scene, is the one I credit with getting me into play competitively from years of playing friendlies against each other.
How did you end up representing Harps in the ELOI?
With Waterford last year I was assigned to a team so I didn’t have much a say, but this year we were more active in discussions with teams and I have had a soft spot for Finn Harps for many years down to managing them in football manager and getting them to the Champions League so I have always followed their results, so when I seen Finn Harps was looking for a player I made sure not to miss my opportunity and its been nothing sort of an great experience at the minute representing them.
How has the competition been going so far?
At the minute we are top of the group with 7 points from our first three games. Our group has been dubbed the group of death with EFAI cup champion Owen Mulligan (Drogheda) in the group but also one of the best newcomers to the scene in Conor Dooley (Cobh Ramblers) who has exploded onto the scene along with two other seasoned pros. The format is 4 groups comprised of 5 teams with each team playing each other twice. We play with our ultimate teams but there are restrictions with each team needing current or ex LOI players and also two Irish Players so 4 in total. Each matchday is settled over two legs to give the best entertainment value and two teams from each group qualify to the live event in Dublin on April 18th with the expectation of it to be shown on Virgin Media as they are the sponsors of the tournament.
What are your hopes for the rest of the competition?
We try not to look to far ahead at the minute by just taking it game by game but we have put ourselves in a great position with being top to get to the live event which is the first aim. If we reach that goal, then I fancy my chances against anyone in a live event to go all the way and bring home silverware for Harps.
Favourite Finn Harps Player?
At the minute I just can’t see past Success Edogun he looks to be an animal of a player with the start he has had and just could be the missing ingredient for the promotion push.
Tell us about your relationship with football?
I am a lifelong Arsenal fan so I am enjoying football at the minute with recent results which is a change from the suffering for so many years. Dundalk and Finn Harps are the teams I follow in the League of Ireland. Now in terms of the top level, I have a passion of dislike how far its gone to just being a business for many teams and not caring about the fans which should never be the case as the fans are the heartbeat of every team no matter how big or small the team might be.
Best of Luck to Ryan in the rest of the ELOI! You can follow him on Twitter via https://twitter.com/ItsDuffyyyy