As a player you played for Derry City, Institute, Finn Harps and Coleraine. How do you reflect on your playing career as a whole?
“I was like every player, I imagine, in the sense that I wanted to win medals and be successful because ultimately, that is why we’re in the game.
“Winning the Cup with Derry City in 2002 was obviously a career highlight. I won a couple of championships with Institute, and I won a promotion with Finn Harps.
“I also got to an Irish Cup final with Coleraine, so there were good, big moments at all the clubs. But if I had to pick one, I would say winning the FAI Cup in 2002 with Derry City, my hometown club and the team I supported as a boy, would definitely be the highlight of the playing side of things.”
Was making the transition from playing to coaching always on your mind?
“It wasn’t, no. I just sort of fell into it. I was coming to the end of my playing career, and I was helping out the coaches and the manager at the time as I had returned to Institute which is where I ended my playing career.
“At the start, I was just doing warm-ups and running exercises in the morning for some of the players who weren’t working. Institute was part-time, so it was two nights a week.
“I knew a lot of them were keen to come in during the mornings if they weren’t busy. So I just sort of fell into coaching. I started taking a few exercises with the boys in the mornings, and then when the opportunity came up to get into coaching, I took it.
“I started doing my coaching badges just to back up what I was already doing. It wasn’t anything I had planned; it just seemed to come my way step by step. I was lucky enough to work with a good group of young lads who were eager to participate.
“That gave me a bit of an appetite, a bit of hunger, to continue on, and that was the start of my coaching journey.”
You take over as Institute manager in 2017 and in your first season as a manager, you win promotion to the Irish Premiership. Then, when you got there, you had your team playing attacking football.
How do you reflect on such a rollercoaster start to life as a manager?
“Ah, it’s quite a story. In my first year, there was one home fixture we played, and then there was the infamous flooding of the Riverside Stadium, where we played. After just one game in the new season, our ground was completely wiped out. No one has set foot on it ever since.
“We lost training gear, kits, balls, and everything we had. We were left with absolutely nothing after only one game in charge. So, the managerial side of things didn’t start off too well. We were almost on the brink of going out of business and becoming extinct. It was remarkable that we even sustained ourselves as a club and survived.
“The fact that we won the league that year is a story on its own. We just had that never-say-die attitude from the first week of the season after nearly being put out of business. We fought back throughout the season, knowing we were lucky to still be here, so we just enjoyed every game.
“We had to share grounds and training facilities with local teams, so we appreciated everything we had that season. That mentality carried into the Premiership. We knew we might never get another shot at it if we got relegated, so we decided to enjoy it and make the most of every minute. That attitude paid off for us.
“The attacking brand of football we brought into the league took a lot of sides by surprise, including some big teams. We played some brilliant football, and we were almost safe by Christmas. Sometimes when you get promoted, it comes down to the last week to secure survival, but the brand of football we played and the results we achieved had us nearly safe by Christmas. It was a brilliant couple of years at Institute as manager.”
You were linked with various clubs during your time as manager at Institute, but when Cliftonville, the team you eventually joined, approached you to take over, what was your initial reaction?
“I was obviously excited. Cliftonville is a massive club, with a lot of history, and even at that time, they had some of the best players in the division.
“The opportunity to work with that level of quality at such a prestigious and famous club was too good to turn down. It was really difficult leaving Institute because they had been good to me as both a player and a manager. They gave me opportunities to play and to manage.
“It was a hard decision to leave them and the players, especially since I had played with some of them before transitioning into management. That made it difficult in one sense, but joining a club like Cliftonville was an easy decision, given what they had then and what they continue to have, growing year by year.
“The fan base, the players, and especially Gerard Lawlor, who was the chairman at the time—he was really, really good to me and gave me the opportunity to go to Cliftonville, which I will always appreciate.
“So, while it was an easy decision to join Cliftonville, it was a difficult decision to leave Institute.”
You won the League Cup as manager of Cliftonville with victory over Coleraine at Windsor Park in 2022.
What are your memories of the final itself and what the success means to everyone at the club?
“Yeah, we didn’t do anything the easy way during that time. There was always drama, always something dramatic happening. One example was the sudden turnaround that we had in the County Antrim Shield final against Ballymena when we turned the game around to win the trophy in injury time.
“We also had to do it the hard way in the League Cup final too as we went 2-0 down against Coleraine, and we hadn’t been playing anywhere near our best.
“After about an hour, we reshuffled the pack and made a triple substitution. The boys who came on completely turned the game on its head. The change in formation was adapted to right away. Despite being 2-0 down, and with no complaints because Coleraine were the better side, the substitutions made the difference. The boys who came on changed the game, and in the end, we won comfortably.
“With 30 minutes to play, you wouldn’t have thought we were going to win comfortably when we were 2-0 down. But drama and theatrics are normal when Cliftonville are involved. What a game, what an atmosphere. The crowd at that League Cup final were tremendous and there was a lot of extra attention and focus on the game as it was the first final to be held on a Sunday. However, the atmosphere was unbelievable, with the supporters, especially the Cliftonville fans, making it one of the best occasions I’ve ever experienced.”
You came very close to winning the Irish Premiership title by taking it to the last game of the season in 2022.
Given the fact that Linfield and Larne have bigger budgets than Cliftonville, how proud were you of getting so close to the league title?
“People will say we were punching above our weight in terms of our budget, and they’re probably right. However, I never thought, felt, or believed at any stage that we were punching above our weight in terms of our league position.
“I think we were as good as anybody, and the league table showed that. We didn’t finish above Linfield, but we were leading them at one or two points during the season. Over the course of the season, I don’t think we were out of our depth. The players were fantastic. Like you said, a lot of people said we shouldn’t have been there, but we deserved to be there because we were good enough.
“We deserved to take it down to the wire, and it probably should have gone down to the wire. Looking back at some games, if we had flipped one or two results, we would have won the league. It was an incredible season, and the boys deserve all the credit in the world for what they achieved that year. They’ve carried on and had a lot of success, and they’ve maintained their standards. They’re still top players.
“People may say we punched above our weight off the pitch, but definitely not on the pitch. I thought the players we had were as good as anybody—probably the best team in the league that year. We were just very unfortunate to lose the title by a point.”
Finally, Paddy, you spent time as an assistant at Derry City after leaving Cliftonville.
Are you now hoping to get back into management again soon?
“You want to go somewhere with potential for development and challenge. You don’t want to jump in for a short time, only to leave or dislike the job after a few weeks. I need to be cautious about my next move, but I’m also eager to return as the break has been long enough.
“Since the end of the League of Ireland season last November, nearly a year has passed—probably the longest break I’ve had in 25 years. I’m well-rested, and the break has been long enough, so I’m keen to get back. However, it has to be the right move and the right club. If the opportunity arises, I’ll be more than eager to return to working on the pitch with the players.
“I’ve been observing a lot during this time, which has allowed me to take in new information that might not be apparent while actively managing. The intensity of the role can sometimes make it hard to notice certain things, but stepping back has given me a broader perspective. I’ve learned a great deal from watching other managers and clubs, and I’m eager to apply that knowledge in the future.”
Featured image: Cliftonville FC
Callum McFadden 