Damien Duff doing more than anyone to promote League of Ireland - Mark Coyle

Mark Coyle says becoming a League of Ireland Premier Division winner with Shelbourne is still sinking in. 

The modest Burt native won’t admit it, but the feat must have felt all the more special given the fact that he captained the club to its first title win since 2006 - bridging an 18-year gap in the process. 

Shels were a huge 25-1 before the start of the season but with Irish legend Damien Duff at the helm, they upset the odds in brilliant fashion on the very last day of the season. 

Coyle and his teammates travelled to the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium last Friday night with their fate in their own hands. 

Win and they’d be champions but any kind of slip-up would open the door for Shamrock Rovers to complete a famous ‘five-in-a-row’. 

Johnny Kenny put Rovers 1-0 up on Waterford after just four minutes and Dylan Watts doubled that advantage on 55 minutes.

Meanwhile, Shelbourne were up against it in Derry, where the home side saw Danny Mullen head off the crossbar with Ramelton's Ronan Boyce supplying the cross.

Rovers weren't home and hosed and Padraig Amond's goal on 69 minutes pulled one back for Waterford, who created chances afterwards.

However, Harry Wood's golden goal came for Shels on 85 minutes, who held on through seven minutes of injury time to win the title. It was Shels' eighth 1-0 win of the season their 13th single-goal victory.  

“Looking back now, the drama of it all was unbelievable,” admits Coyle.” But if I was asked before the game I’d have rathered it much more comfortable in those last few minutes. 

“But how we won it sort of epitomises how we did this year.  It was whirlwind stuff those last moments in the Brandywell. It’ll take some time to fully sink in”.

Immediately after the final whistle, Coyle managed to make his way towards family and friends in the crowd that had made the short trek towards Derry hoping and praying to see one of their own get over the line. 

Again, the fact that Coyle was able to lift the title just a few short miles in the road from his own front door, it’s just the way he’d have scripted it had he penned it himself. 

“The way it worked out - it couldn’t have worked out better. So many friends from home were able to get in and watch the game. I got a picture with them all after and it’s one I’ll treasure. 

“It was very special, extra special in fact for that. It’s fairytale stuff really”. 

It’s old water now, well under the bridge at this stage, but Coyle has more than most to weigh up when he first signed for the Tolka Park side back in 2022

At the time, he was a medical scientist at Letterkenny University Hospital and juggled his commitments at Finn Harps on a part-time basis.

The offer from Shelbourne was a full-time gig so there was plenty to consider. But, in the end, he went with his gut feeling because he didn’t want to look back on the opportunity with any kind of regret.

“I’d made peace with all of that a long time ago - packing things in at home and coming down here I mean. 

“At the time I made the decision, it felt big.  But I just remember thinking the biggest regret would have been not doing it”. 

Coyle is still settling back down after an enjoyable few days celebrating Shels’ title win. 

He’ll make his way back up to Donegal in the next few days and the hope is, at some stage, to be able to bring the league title to Inishowen.  

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“I’d love to have the chance to maybe take the trophy up home, back to my old school, St Aengus’ in Bridge End, things like that maybe. 

“I still remember Shane Bradley bringing the First Division trophy to my old primary school when I was just a wee fella - that still sticks in my own mind. 

“I still have that same picture and it’s framed. It felt so special at the time so something like that would be lovely”. 

There is no doubt boss Duff’s profile and the compelling way he’s gone about his business has not only transformed Shels’ fortunes but also jolted interest in domestic club football in Ireland. 

“He’s such a factor in all of this,” Coyle explained. “And so many people ask about him, what he’s like and how he works. 

“I said it at the homecoming, the only reason we are league champions is because of him and his belief in the group. 

“He cares so much about the club but also the lads as footballers. He cares about Irish football as well. 

“He has a voice that carries. To me, at the minute, he’s doing more than anyone else in the country to promote football in Ireland.” 

The former Harps Player of the Year was also recently named in the Premier Division Team of the Year for 2024. 

And Coyle is quick to reference the impact his time on Navenny Street had had in helping him reach the pinnacle in League of Ireland football last Friday night by the Foyle. 

“At the end of the day, I’m a Donegal man through and through. I know exactly where I’ve come from. 

“I’ll be eternally grateful to anyone who’s helped me along the way. And I’ll also always be grateful for my time at Harps as is Boydy (Sean Boyd). 

“He’s the first to admit he’d a very bad injury and no one was willing to take a chance at the time. 

“But Harps did and he’s put in savage work since and he got his reward too this week. 

“Harps with Ollie Horgan and Higgs at the time, were shrewd enough to know he was worth the punt”. 

As fate would have it, Paul Hegarty, is now Ruaidhri Higgins' assistant with the Candystripes and had a front row seat to see his former players just get over the line in what was a seriously competitive Premier Division title race.  

Late on, on Friday night, as the Shels team coach finally pulled out of the ground, Coyle reveals that a familiar number flashed up on his phone for the first time in quite a while. 

“Both myself and Boydy got texts from Ollie not long after and it was really classy of him. Going back on the bus it was nice to see that flash up and to send a few words back. 

“I thanked him for the message but I also thanked him for the part he played in me getting to this point. 

“He brushed it right off, like only he can, and just told me ‘don’t be making a show of yourself now in the next few days!” 

“That’s typical Ollie, but he’s a top, top man”.