Good evening and welcome to a very special Monday Player’s Voice this week featuring Gavin McAteer.
McAteer burst onto the scene last season at 15-years-old and has not looked back since showing his talents against all comers and being capped by Ireland at under-17 level.
I got the chance to chat with him about his career so far. Beginning at the start with his experiences in the Harps Academy.
McAteer said about his time, “Yes I loved playing in the academy for Harps, I signed when I was 9 and I’ve worked under some really good coaches. I think it’s clear to see that players are developing and long may it continue.”
On signing his pro-deal the midfielder revealed what it meant to be offered that position at such a young age.
“It was a great feeling, I think it showed how much faith Murph and the staff had in me.”
When speaking about the current season Gavin commented on the differences between Murph and McHugh when it comes to management. He notes how both coaches have improved his game.
“It’s been a tough season so far. We would have hoped to be higher in the table but there’s still a lot of games to be played and I think we are improving as a team. Playing under two different managers has been good. Murph and Kevin are top managers and have really good staff and they all know the game so they have helped me a lot so far.”
McAteer has also been starring on the national stage recently playing in Ireland’s preparation games for the u17 World Cup. I asked him what it is like to switch environments from club to country.
“Playing for Ireland is an honour. I love going away with them and learning things from top coaches. The preparation for the World Cup in Qatar has been really good so far.”
Not only has the player grabbed attention on the international stage he has also caught eyes across the water with Premier League club Nottingham Forest and Scottish champions Celtic offering him trials. He noted this experience for its value to his development.
“I really enjoyed my time in Nottingham Forest. It was a really good experience and I learned a lot from it and more recently was Celtic which I really enjoyed especially being a Celtic fan it was a really good experience.”
Finally, despite his young career McAteer has played a lot of football, I asked who he considers to be the best players he has shared a pitch with.
“The best player I’ve played with is Tony McNamee or Jaden Umeh and the best player I’ve played against is Greg Bolger for Cork City.”