Non-League and Academy football writer

FC Irish of London play their football at step 8 (the 12th tier of English football) of the non-League pyramid, in the Middlesex County Football League Premier Division One North & West. Founded in 2011, FC Irish of London (the club have a lot of first and second generation Irish players, who play for them) have a very important league match on Saturday afternoon, when they face Celtic FC, in their final league match of the 2023/24 season. If they win by six clear goals, then they’ll be the champions of their respective league/division. I recently spoke to Daniel Howlin, a player and secretary at FC Irish of London, to find out more about the club, and also about their current 2023/24 season.

Could you talk me through a bit about your background in football?

Daniel: I’ve always grown up playing football, and it’s always been my main sport. I’ve always played football along with Gaelic football and hurling, so sport has always been a massive part of my life. But football was always the predominant sport in my life, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve had a Liverpool jersey on. I’ve played football all of my life, but I’m still 27, and so I haven’t really got into coaching just yet, even though I have done a bit of that at the club (FC Irish of London), as well as playing.

How did you come about joining FC Irish of London?

Daniel: The person (James Minihan) who founded FC Irish of London, I’d actually played Gaelic football with him. During my first year in London, and after my Gaelic football season had finished, I asked him if he knew of any soccer leagues around, and it was then that he told me that he actually ran a club. And so that was how I came about joining FC Irish of London, which was maybe four years ago now. I’d played with them for four years, and then I kind of took over as part of the management team last season. James Minihan and Sean Ryan had set the club up in 2011, and they basically ran the club as players and managers, up until the stage when I joined the management staff. James and Sean are now in their mid 30s, and so last season they were very busy with other stuff in their lives, on the weekends, and so they just couldn’t commit to running the club.

Me and Cathal Nevin took over the running of FC Irish of London, after James and Sean had left. 

Could you talk me through a bit about the background of FC Irish of London, as a club?

Daniel: So it was set-up by James Minihan and Sean Ryan, in 2011. From memory it came about from some school mates, who I believe had set the club up as a rival club, to a club called Springfield, who they knew well. The lads set the club up when they were in their early 20s, to just basically have their own club, that they ran with their mates, as they were all playing with different teams at that stage. And from what I’ve heard over the years, they were a very good side. I think that the whole idea of setting the club up, came from a conversation in a pub one day.

What have you made of the current 2023/24 season, for FC Irish of London?

Daniel: This has been my best season with the club, since I’ve joined. So it’s definitely been our best season so far, but in regard to the squad, such as the commitment from the lads over the course of the season, it has all been amazing. Beating London Cheetahs 4-2, that was a very good achievement, and it was their only loss in the league this season. We had a couple of games where we were missing some very important players, but we still came back to get the result. Harrow United are quite a good team in this league, and we’d beaten them previously in two other games, and in this league game this season, we came back to 2-2 from being 2-0 down. The lads showed quite a bit of strength to come back to 2-2 in that game. 

In that game against Harrow United, we were really up against it, and we had no subs, but the lads showed real grit and determination to get back into the game. Obviously our game with UKTSU FC was just incredible, to win that game 18-0. We thought that our league title hopes were over, but I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing! Conor Farrell got a triple hat-trick in that game, and he is a player who we brought in this season, who has been phenomenal. This is Conor’s first season here, having played football previously in Ireland. We’ve also brought in some of the Springfield lads this season, who have also been quality, such as our captain – Ben O’Mahony. A lot of our players are first or second generation Irish.

What have you made of the 2023/24 MCFL Division One North & West season, as a whole?

Daniel: It’s been a good league season, and we expected that London Cheetahs would be there or there about, in the league title race. They’ve got a lot of good players in their squad, and there’s also some new clubs in the league, such as Celtic, who are third, and also there’s Harrow United, who are quite a good side. We’d obviously played Hillside and UKTSU, last season, and I actually thought that Hillside would’ve done better than they have done this season.

In your opinion, who has been the toughest/most difficult side that you have faced this season?

Daniel: London Cheetahs are a very good side. We’ve had a couple of games against other sides, where we’ve struggled a bit. Harrow United gave us a good game a couple of weeks ago, as did Eagles Land, who we beat 1-0. We actually really struggle to play on 3G pitches, and we always have done.

For those who haven’t seen FC Irish of London play, could you describe to me what style of football they like to play?

Daniel: If you’ve ever heard the saying about can you do it on a wet and windy night at Stoke City, well that’s how we play. We play quite route one football, but we’ve got big players on the pitch, such as Ben and Shaun, and also Pat Phillips, whose a big player, but also probably the most gifted player that we have. Pat can literally control a ball anywhere. We’ve also got the likes of Conor Crossan and Conor Farrell, and also Nathan Dean. They can play one-twos on the wing and just play tiki-taka football, out of nowhere. So to be honest, we don’t really have a style, as we have players with very different skillsets, but the best way to describe it, would be that saying about Stoke City in their prime.

Could you talk me through a bit about what the squad at FC Irish of London is like?

Daniel: They’re a great group of players. We’ve had a lot of depth in the squad this season, which we’ve been very blessed with, but we’ve also had a couple of hiccups along the way, when we couldn’t field our strongest team. In the reverse fixture with Celtic, earlier in the season, we only had ten lads in our squad. But with the commitment that the lads have shown this season, we wouldn’t be in the position where we are now without them.

What are some of your standout memories from your time with FC Irish of London, so far?

Daniel: Standout moments would include beating Springfield twice last season, which was always a good contest. We’ve had a similar rivalry with Harrow Bhoys, this season, which is always good. They always give us a difficult game, even though we’ve beaten them twice this season.

What would you say has been FC Irish of London’s best team performance (so far) of the 2023/24 season?

Daniel: It would definitely be the UKTSU game (18-0 win), by far. We played some outrageous football that day. We were thinking that London Cheetahs needed to slip up in their final league game, so we thought that the chances of us still winning the league were very unlikely. But after that result versus UKTSU, winning the league is still in our hands, even though it’s still a big ask to beat Celtic 6-0 this weekend, but there’s still a chance. 

What are some of the club’s aims for the future in non-League football?

Daniel: We’d love to go up to step 7, we really would. But this club is run by the players, and the players pay a membership fee every year, to play. So we wouldn’t think that it was fair to up that membership fee any higher. So it’s hard for us to progress without any sort of sponsorship, and if we were to go up to step 7, then you’ve got added costs, without a full-time sponsor. I would say that it is more about the enjoyment of playing, but of course we would love the opportunity to go up and play football at a higher level, and I do think that we’d do quite well at that level. If the lads do want to play at step 7, then we would try and make that possible.