Finn Harps FC were delighted to give a warm welcome to a group of students from the Royal and Prior Secondary School in Raphoe who attended last Friday’s match. We hope you enjoyed watching the game. This school like many others across the Northwest continues to forge strong links with Finn Harps FC. They have a number of students playing for various Finn Harps academy teams and many R&P students, their families and staff are keen supporters of the Harps.
They have been watching former Royal student and first team player Max Johnson’s progress in the Harps team with great interest over the past few years and seeing him make the step up from the academy into the senior team in 2023 while he was still a student at the Royal was a cause for great celebration in the school as he followed in the footsteps of the likes of Keith Cowan and BJ Banda who had done so previously. We all know that Max suffered a very bad injury in our last game against Athlone at the end of March that required surgery. Everyone at Finn Harps and all members of the Royal & Prior School community would like to wish Max all the best with his recovery over the coming months. We all look forward to seeing him fit and well again soon and continuing to play his part in this exciting young Harps team under the direction of manager Kevin McHugh.
There are four students from the Royal currently playing for Harps academy teams including Hannah Goudie for the WU17s, Olivia Maxwell for the WU19s, her younger brother Reuben Maxwell is on the MU15s and Thomas Maxwell is with the MU17s. We spoke to all 4 of them this week to find out how they are enjoying their experience of playing football for Finn Harps in the League of Ireland.
Hannah Goudie signed for Harps in 2024 along with a teammate from Raphoe Town and she said that playing with so many great players and all the top class coaching has really improved her game. She is enjoying the experience and is learning loads playing at centre midfield and said that getting the joint player of the match award in their recent 5-0 win away to Mayo was a real highpoint. Hannah has settled in well since joining Harps and has been made feel very welcome by everyone at the club.
Olivia Maxwell has been at Harps for a few years having played for the U17s first and is now with the U19s. She received the joint player of the match award two weeks ago in Harps fantastic 5-0 win against Longford Town and had a couple of assists playing on the left wing that day. She also scored a great goal from a free against Sligo a few months ago and says that there is brilliant team spirit and friendship among all the players. Olivia said that playing for Harps has been a fantastic experience and opportunity for her to improve her game by working with top level coaches and players who have all been a great help to her. She also enjoys getting to travel all over the country for matches.
Both Hannah and Olivia were instrumental in their school football team winning the U17s Ulster title last year and the Senior Ulster title this year. In recent times, female football teams at the Royal have enjoyed a good deal of success in schools competitions by reaching and winning Ulster finals and All-Ireland semi-finals in various age groups. With the profile of women’s football now at an all time high, it is great to see Harps represented and doing so well in the Women’s National League at underage levels and we all look forward to supporting a senior Harps Women’s team in the very near future.
Olivia’s younger brother Reuben Maxwell is a promising young goalkeeper who was part of the Harps Under 14s team that won the Galway Cup in the Summer of 2024, in what was a very successful international tournament for a number of Harps teams. Reuben joined Harps in 2023 and finds the goalkeeping coaching here to be excellent, he thinks it has brought him on really well as a keeper and has given him more confidence as his skills have improved. He won a player of the match award against Dundalk and featured on the Harps underage team of the month recently too. Reuben says that they work very hard at training but have good craic too. He had to do the ice bucket challenge for being half an hour late for training a few weeks ago, it was good fun but he said he won’t be late again.
Thomas Maxwell joined Harps Under 14s in 2022 and is now with the U17s. He says the quality of training they do at Harps is at a very high level and the many coaches that he has worked with have all been top notch, they are always on hand to offer help and give good advice and encouragement to all the players. Thomas has been out injured for the past few months but is hoping to return to playing for the team again soon when he is fully recovered. Two of the highlights for him at Harps so far were making it to the League of Ireland U14s final against Shamrock Rovers in 2022 and scoring a fine goal with his left foot against Derry City.
An excellent recent article published on Donegal Live by Chris McNulty spoke of how nearly every part of Co. Donegal as well as many parts of neighbouring counties are represented among the Finn Harps academy and first team players these days which is fantastic to see. Our manager Kevin McHugh spoke about a clear pathway within the club for academy players to graduate to the first team which is clearly happening with academy players making up almost 50 percent of the current senior squad. McHugh said that our academy players represent almost every school in Donegal which is again brilliant to see. Maybe you would like to write or help us to write a short article like this one about the players from your school who are playing for Finn Harps teams at the moment, if this is so then please get in touch with us by email: [email protected]