A new era beckons for Finn Harps after relegation
Ryan Brolly
After a truly horrific season in the League of Ireland Premier Division, Finn Harps are looking for a new face in the dugout after parting ways by mutual consent with club legend Ollie Horgan. Horgan joined the club in 2013 after a strong spell with Fanad United in the Ulster Senior League, the semi-professional defacto third tier of the Irish football pyramid. Horgan made a storming start to life in Ballybofey reaching the semi-final of the FAI Cup in 2014, Harps’ furthest venture into the competition since 1999.
Under Horgan, Harps became somewhat of a yo-yo club bouncing from the League of Ireland First and Premier divisions, but with the resources available to him that was to be expected. He therefore did an impressive job in securing various promotions considering there were teams around him with far superior structures and investment.
Club legend Ollie Horgan moves on to pastures new following a nine-year spell in charge of the Harps
Horgan had lots to deal with. There were the false dawns of the new stadium projects which failed to get off the ground time and time again, going through the COVID pandemic where Harps desperately needed to raise funds to build an external dressing room to abide by league regulations as well as having high squad turnover year on year, meaning he couldn’t develop a cohesive unit or build for the long term.
The 2022 season was arguably a good time for him to end his reign at the club. The club finished the season rock-bottom, with just four wins. They were six points behind second-from-bottom UCD, who survived via the play-off.
Horgan brought some good times to Finn Park, like when they became ‘Kings of the Play-Offs’ winning the two-legged promotion-relegation ties each time they contested it, no matter what division they were in. Now however, the club seem to be stagnating and he has built a solid reputation where he can go elsewhere and achieve good career progression or re-enter a position in the FAI, where he spent some time previously working in the youth set up.
Where do Finn Harps go from here though? The rumour mill has begun with two candidates standing out more than most. Former Donegal GAA boss Jim McGuinness, who brought the top prize in Gaelic football back to Donegal in 2012 with an All-Ireland triumph over Mayo is one front-runner. He has been completing his football coaching qualifications with Derry City and has expressed interest in the role at Galway United in the past.
The other contender seems to be club legend Kevin McHugh who is the League of Ireland’s fifth-highest goal scorer of all time with 174 goals, 162 of which were scored at Finn Park across two spells. He is currently managing within the club with the under-15 side.
Overall, it was probably the correct time for a refresh in Ballybofey with a new stadium finally ready to move into and a strong youth academy setup appealing for whoever comes in next. Perhaps a new name at the top can bring Harps back into the zenith of Irish football and finally bring some success to Donegal, which has been starved of footballing glory for too long.
Ryan Brolly is a History and International Relations student at Queen’s University Belfast and a Sport Reporter for The Scoop.