Mayo man Ruairi on the mark on his return to the north-west
Conall Collier
Cork City striker Ruairi Keating was on the mark for Cork City at The Showgrounds last night in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland to give his side a 2-0 lead, but hosts Sligo Rovers scored two late goals to earn a draw.
Conall Collier interviewed Ruairi for the Sligo Rovers matchnight programme and discovered how he almost gave up in football until a phone call from Micky Adams brought him to the south coast of England six years ago and a stint at Torquay Utd.
THE INTERVIEW
Ruairi Keating returned to The Showgrounds with an in-form Cork City side that got their first Premier Division win of the season last weekend where he scored in the 4-0 victory against UCD.
Ruairi scored his first goal for Sligo Rovers in the final game of the 2015 season against Limerick during the brief spell that Micky Adams had as manager at The Showgrounds.
But Adams would play a big part in rekindling Ruairi’s interest in football after he almost gave up the game.
“It’s a journey from Sligo to Cork, but via a few unusual destinations including Torquay in England where I met my partner, Emily, and we now have two lovely children, a boy and a girl,” remarked Ruairi.
“It was meant to be,” he suggested, and then added that this weekend’s game against Sligo Rovers will be his first game at the venue since he departed in 2016.
“I loved my time with Sligo Rovers. Gavin Dykes was great; he had me in the Academy and I was top goalscorer in the Under 19s for two seasons. We won the Northern Section competition.
“I think it’s a great club, there are some great people involved, lads like Feo (Colin Feehily) and others all do a great job, I really can’t wait to get the chance to play there again,” he added
Although born in Dublin, he is a Mayo man, having grown up in Westport.
He has had an eventful career in the League of Ireland and then in England, where he spent three seasons with Torquay United followed by a stint with Gateshead before rekindling his interest in the League of Ireland on that journey to Cork via Galway.
Ruairi met his partner Emily while playing for Torquay, a town more famous for the 1970s sit-com Fawlty Towers that for the exploits of the team that plays at Plainmoor. Now the couple have two children and are loving life in Cork.
After coming through the Academy with Sligo Rovers, there was that step-up to the first team and a memorable part for Ruairi in what was a famous European victory for Sligo Rovers in 2014 against Rosenborg in Trondheim.
“It was my debut in Europe. It was a great moment, it was unbelievable. John Coleman was the manager at the time and he gave me a chance, he had me training with the first team,” recalled Ruairi.
“He brought me on with about 25 minutes to go in that game against Rosenborg. I remember I put pressure on their centre-half from a goal kick and took the ball off him, brought it into the penalty area and had a shot, but the ‘keeper just got his leg to it.
“I should have scored, but it was a great experience and one I will always remember.
“There was a great atmosphere on the flight home. We had our own charter flight from Trondheim, John Coleman started the singing, Jimmy Bell (assistant-manager) got into it, he sang 'Sweet Caroline' and then I was called on.
“I suppose I was the youngest player so I got up and started to sing, it was probably a Boyzone song, a kind of tribute to my uncle (Ronan Keating) but I can’t remember rightly, I made a good effort anyway and it was appreciated by everyone.
“It’s actually something I get asked about a lot, but to me it’s a family thing – Ronan is my uncle and he’s able to talk about his talented nephew, the League of Ireland footballer with top Premier Division side Cork City, what else could he say?
“I suppose Ronan tells people that he’s Ruairi Keating’s uncle, that’s his claim to fame,” he suggested.
“After the highs of Rosenborg, John Coleman left the club and Gavin Dykes took the reins. I continued to get game time, but then in 2015 Owen Heary got the manager’s job and I ended up going out on loan to Finn Harps for the first half of the season.
“I came back from Harps and the manager was gone. Eventually Micky Adams came in and I was in the matchday squads again. He gave me a run in the last game of the season, and I scored my first goal for Rovers in that game against Limerick as the club survived in the Premier,” he added.
Changing managers can have a serious impact on players and Ruairi discovered that after Micky Adams departed from The Showgrounds.
“I was hoping to stay with the club but Micky Adams left and the next man in was Dave Robertson for 2016. I met him but he just didn’t really seem interested in me or indeed many of the younger players.
“I was 21 at the time and I wanted to play regularly, but it didn’t work out so I went back home and started working with my dad, Ciaran, in his business. I sort of gave up on football.
“That was going fine, there was no football, but one day, out of the blue, I got a phone call from Micky Adams who wanted to know what I was doing. He got me the ticket and I was on my way to the south coast of England where I signed for Torquay United. I went over on the Sunday and I signed on the Tuesday. My career just took off after that.
“Torquay were in the National League at the time, the tier below League Two, but they were actually in a relegation battle with 15 games remaining in the season,” he said.
Ruairi scored his first goal for Torquay in a 2-1 away win against Southport despite a bout of food poisoning. That lifted them out of the relegation zone, but as the season went on, they needed nine points from their final five games.
The target was achieved and Ruairi scored in two of the games, against Aldershot and Lincoln. National League status was retained and Ruairi’s reward was a two-year contract.
He takes up the story again: “I really enjoyed almost three years with Torquay. I suppose it’s more famous for that comedy series Fawlty Towers, there is a tourist attraction there and it’s hugely popular, but I was there for the football.
“In January 2020 I went up to the north of England to Gateshead, but a month later Covid arrived and that put a stop to everything, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen and I had a baby to think about as well so I went home to Mayo with my partner, Emily.
“I went back to Gateshead when things eased a bit on the Covid front and managed to finish the season with them and was getting ready for the new season with Gateshead.
“Another phone call, this time from John Caulfield who was after taking over at Galway, and he wanted me for the 2021 season. At that stage I was ready to come home anyway and I went to Galway.
“I had a full season with Galway. We were unlucky to lose in the playoffs, but then there was another phone call, this time from Colin Healy wanting to know would I go to Cork City for 2022.
“It turned out well. We won the First Division, I was top goalscorer and now I’m getting ready to return to The Showgrounds and I’m really looking forward to it,” Ruairi concluded.