The new SSE Airtricity League season starts this Friday and with it comes more stories of new beginnings for young Irish players returning from England.
Some return after just a couple of years, up against the odds from the start of their spell across the water, but for Conor Clifford, it had been a decade of trying to reach the potential of such a promising start.
Joining Chelsea at just 15, the Dubliner progressed to captain their youth side to Cup glory, training daily with the likes of Frank Lampard and John Terry, and even getting influence from three-time Champions League winning-manager Carlo Ancelotti.
The journey to the Premier League giants started at just 13.
“I was with Cherry Orchard first,” Clifford told RTE Sport.
“Then I moved to Crumlin and played for them before I moved away. Paddy Waters was the scout that saw me play. He came to watch me a few times. I started going over when I was 13. I used to fly over every second Friday with my Dad. I'd play a game there on a Saturday and fly home. I used to love it.
“I moved across when I was 15. It was really tough at first. The first couple of months were really hard. I was in digs with a family. I found it really hard. If it wasn't for my Dad I could have come home. He reminded me what it was what I really wanted. As soon as I got through the first six months I was flying. I loved it.
“When Ancelotti was there I was training with the first-team every day. Lampard, John Terry, all of them. Lampard really took me under his wing when I was there. I looked up to him and I used to speak to him and ask him a lot of questions.
“We'd sit down together at lunch. I'd try to get in his ear and talk to him. I did a lot of staying back with him and finishing and all of that stuff. It was a brilliant experience to have that. I was telling my friends back home and they would think I was having them on.
“John Terry was the main man there. Even down eating his lunch he would have a brand new knife and fork brought over to him every day. He was the king of the place.”
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If Terry was king, Clifford was the closest thing to prince, afforded such treatment thanks his progression in the youth-team.
He was made captain of their underage and reserve side, continuing to climb the ranks.
The pinnacle came when he scored the winner in the Youth Cup final, all the while when the Blues had eyes all over the world looking for the best talent.
“I knew when I went over there I would be playing with the best players in the world and that I would improve.
“Obviously they had the best facilities and I really loved it over there. It was tough as every day there was a new Spanish or Brazilian kid coming in on trial, but it kept it on your toes. And it was nice to be the only Irish lad there.
“I used to watch the Youth Cup when I was a kid. I remember watching Christy Fagan on TV with Manchester United and I thought ‘When I go over to England that I would love to play in the Youth Cup’.
“‘I would love to win it.’
“It was always my goal to get in the team, play in the Youth Cup. That was all the talk every day in the dressing-room. The first-team players come and watch you and you get to play at Stamford Bridge.
“I was made youth team captain when I was 17. I was reserve captain then. Winning the Youth Cup as captain was a great night for me. All my family were there, 30 or 40 of them in the stands, so it was a great night."
The next step was obvious. Breaking into the first-team at Chelsea was always going to be a huge ask, but hopes were high. Loan spells were going to be the key.
“I went to Plymouth firstly, Peter Reid was manager. I loved it there. But the club went into administration and had an embargo on them so I had to go back to Chelsea. I was shipped out on loan then again to Notts County. Paul Ince was manager and he got the sack so I had to come back again. So it was a real stop-start. I had no real momentum and I think that's what hindered me a bit.
“I had nine different managers at Chelsea. You get momentum and then the manager gets sacked so you have to start all over again. Then you get sent out on loan.”
In the meantime, the Dubliner continued his progression with the Republic of Ireland underage teams, and it even led to senior call-ups under another veteran boss.
“I loved playing for Ireland at all levels. I used to love when I was called into the office in Chelsea and be told you’re selected for the trip. There is no better feeling that standing for the national anthem. I like to think I played with the best all the way up. I won the Under-19 Player of the Year award, it was on TV and it was a great night for my family.
“I remember being away with the Under-21s and Noel King called me over after training and told me I had been selected. I thought it was a bit of a wind-up. I didn't think I was anywhere near that. I wasn't playing first-team football. I was on loan in the lower leagues.
“I didn't feel I deserved to be call up but I was delighted to get there. The lads really looked after me. Glenn Whelan in particular, his wife used to babysit me when I was young so I knew him well. All the lads were great and it was great to be part of it. Giovanni Trapattoni was brilliant. The lads seemed to really love him too and he was a great character.”
Five loan spells later, Clifford was released from the Premier League side and following a short spell with Leicester that failed to yield a first-team appearance, he finally got to experience senior football that wasn't a temporary switch at Southend in 2013.
In the last two years he has plied his trade with Boreham Wood in the National League, all the while looking at Dundalk’s rapid rise from relegation strugglers in Ireland to group stage European football. It caught his attention, as did thoughts of finally coming home.
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“It was a tough decision [to decide to leave England]. It took a long time to think about it. I spoke with my Dad for quiet a while and I just felt it was the right decision to come home and be with my family. I was away for 10 years and that was tough.
“I just felt that a fresh start was needed. I have seen how well Dundalk have done. It’s a great set-up and I just wanted to be part of it. I wanted to come home and give it a good go. I watched all of the Dundalk games in England on BT Sport with my friends.
“A lot of my friends in England didn’t realise the standard was so high here and seeing Dundalk doing so well shut a lot of people up over there!”
The question remains will the former Chelsea man ever see the English scene again? At 25, he is up against the odds. He speaks of his admiration for Daryl Horgan and friend Andy Boyle on how they have made such a transition in a short space of time.
Keith Fahey was one such example in recent years of returning to Ireland and soon finding England calling again – and the thought remains with the former Ireland Under-21 star.
A decade on from when he started, the midfielder says his fire is still burning.
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“The dream definitely isn't over. I'm hungrier than ever. I have a point to prove, to myself and other people as well. I really can't wait to get started and enjoy my football again.
“I'm not really thinking about [going back to England]. If it happens I'd be so grateful to go back over to play at a top level again. But I'm so happy to be back here playing because this is a top level.
“The league is going to be so strong this year. My aim is to get in the team, do well and help Dundalk win trophies. Cork will be right up there again. Shamrock Rovers will be strong this year. It's going to be a really competitive league this year.”
Conor Clifford was speaking to RTÉ's Group Soccer Correspondent Tony O'Donoghue
Words by Rory Houston
