Sean Kavanagh revealed he has Damien Duff to thank for helping to pave his way to Shamrock Rovers.
Hoops ace Kavanagh capped a fine individual season by nailing down the left-back slot in the PFAI Premier Division ‘Team of the Year’, and now he is hoping to play his part in ending Rovers FAI Cup hoodoo having last lifted the famous trophy 32 years ago.
Living just a stone’s throw from the Aviva Stadium in Irishtown, Kavanagh can’t escape reminders of Sunday’s big game.
“I’m local,” he laughed yesterday, at an event in the stadium itself.
“I can see the stadium from me Ma’s! It’s only down the road in Stella Gardens.
“Growing up and seeing the stadium here and coming to the old Lansdowne, it’s huge for the family,”
And he will have good company down the left flank as Dundalk right winger Daniel Kelly and fullback Sean Gannon are both Ringsend lads.
“They’re both very quick, they could catch pigeons!
“But it's nice for the area for three local lads to be playing in the stadium so I'm sure you'll be getting loads from the area coming to watch.
“I’m good friends with Dano’s brother, Dean, and any event with our friends he'll be there and we're in a WhatsApp group - he’s giving me a bit of stick.”
Kavanagh was signed by Fulham as a 17-year-old and was a Championship regular at one stage before returning home at the start of last season.
Ireland legend Duff was a team-mate at Craven Cottage and when he himself signed for Rovers, he helped snare the youngster for the Hoops.
“I was over there a couple of months and Martin Jol had me in training with the first-team but I probably didn't do myself any justice as I was nervous," said Kavanagh.
“I came from playing with Belvo a couple of times a week to full-time training and you had internationals there like Duffer.
“I went into a shell but he was good to me and spoke to me and gave me pointers on my game.
“I was originally supposed to join Derry and Duffer rang me and asked would I be interested in speaking to the manager here, Stephen Bradley.
“I was a Dublin lad and it worked out.”
