FOOTBALL has taken a back seat these days, even for the obsessive figure of Finn Harps manager Ollie Horgan.
Amid the coronavirus crisis, there has been no other choice for the Harps boss, who is spending his days in his native Galway now, to be near to his parents.
“It’s something I wouldn’t be used to and I don’t tend to get used to it,” Horgan, who can be known to pop up at random match locations on a regular basis, told Donegal Daily/Donegal Sport Hub.
“The last couple of weeks have been something completely different. All of us, we go from one job to the other. There wouldn’t be a whole lot of downtime. I certainly won’t be complaining about no downtime when it re-starts.
“It is certainly an eye-opener. You talk about football being the most important thing in your life when it’s on. It certainly fades into the distance when you have a scenario like we’re in at the moment.”
Harps’ players from outside Donegal who are living in the county have been permitted to return home.
Strength and conditioning coach Pierce Lafferty and dietician Nina Singaroyan continue to work remotely with the players with Horgan and co hoping that the June 19 return date set by the FAI remains a realistic target.
Horgan said: “Football goes out the window at times like this. The importance of it fades into the distance at times like this. The sooner the country and the world can recover the better.”
Horgan recounted his days at Fanad United as the Triagh-A-Loch club celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. As a player and manager, Horgan fondly remembers and is fondly remembered in Fanad.
The interview began with paying tribute to ardent Finn Harps supporter Frank Larkin, who sadly died last Friday.
Horgan said of the Letterkenny man: “He is a huge loss to us. He Finn Harps man through and through. He was popular with all parts of the club.”
Listen to the full interview below …
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