How ‘box office’ Damien Duff invigorated League of Ireland to set up thrilling title decider

Damien Duff could break a few trends this week, some of which might surprise those who knew him from Chelsea. One of those is speaking to the media, but that isn’t because of any old reluctance. The Shelbourne manager stopped having regular pre-match press conferences, because he couldn’t stop himself saying exactly what he thought. One such comment was in July about the Football Association of Ireland’s base, when he said he “would raze Abbotstown to the ground”.

Refusing to speak is not an option this week. That’s because Duff has certainly lit a fire in the League of Ireland. The former Chelsea winger is one game away from the title, and the first major honour of his managerial career. His Shelbourne travel to Derry City on Friday, where they have to match whatever Shamrock Rovers do at home to Waterford. Since Rovers are the repeat champions and will probably win, at two points behind Shelbourne but with a superior goal difference, Duff’s side likely have to claim victory in one of the most difficult fixtures.

That is only one of many elements that has invigorated a league often derided in its own country. The majority of Irish football fans prefer to watch the Premier League, while big events in Gaelic Games and rugby have far bigger audiences. Friday night, however, is potentially the League of Ireland’s equivalent to May 1989 or 2012. Shelbourne have led the table for almost 90 percent of the season, to come to the brink of a first title since 2006. That was also the year they became victims of Irish football’s wider issues, with overspending bringing financial problems and a fall to the First Division. Hunting Shelbourne down are Shamrock Rovers, who are Ireland’s most successful club, aiming for a fifth successive title.

It has all the ingredients of one of those vintage last days, but also something extra. That is Duff himself. It is the league’s good fortune that the best title race in years has been driven by one of its biggest-ever figures. Duff brings much more than the legacy of 100 Republic of Ireland caps, or a goal in a World Cup that eventually saw him play for Jose Mourinho’s first great Chelsea team. There is his managerial effect and personality, which can be intensely captivating.

“He’s box office,” says Luke Byrne, Shelbourne’s current technical director, who also played for Shamrock Rovers. “He gets the most clicks, the most views.”

Duff is so compelling to watch and listen to that you would almost forget there’s another element to this story, which is that of a wealthy former star choosing to drop to a much lower level. Many former teammates wouldn’t dream of it. Duff, who had already coached Shamrock Rovers’ and Shelbourne’s underage sides with Byrne, has absolutely thrown himself into it.

In one of his early media appearances on being promoted from Shelbourne’s under-17s in 2021, an interviewer spoke of how Duff referred to the club as a “sleeping giant”. Duff sternly corrected the reporter on air, “I said giant, not a sleeping giant.”

“That’s a good point,” came the response.

“Yeah, it is.”

He has been determined to prove that. Shelbourne were at that moment in the second tier after 15 years of drift, but Duff was immediately talking about challenging for titles. He showed why. Shelbourne were promoted that very season, and qualified for Europe the next, while reaching the FAI Cup final.

“It is definitely ahead of schedule,” says Byrne. “That’s all down to Damien. He never hid what his ambitions were. He changed the standards that people are expected to meet, on and off the pitch. It’s not through a huge budget, it’s the manager creating the culture and an environment.

”Players bought into it straight away because of the trust he built and the quality of coaching.”

The influence of Mourinho is obvious, especially in the use of words. Duff can cut someone down with a line, or raise a room in laughter with another.

When goalkeeper Scott van der Sluis left for Love Island (yes, really) last year, Duff said: “I was shocked and saddened that Scott chose a villa in Mallorca full of beautiful, single women over myself, the staff and the players.”

Unlike Mourinho, though, none of this is calculated. “It’s completely authentic,” says Byrne. “He’s not the loudest man, but he’s just got an amazing way with words.”

It’s why he had to stop himself with press conferences.

There are traces of Mourinho in his tactics, as Shelbourne are always well-structured. As a senior figure at one rival says, “you’re guaranteed three things when you play Shelbourne: an attritional game, physical intimidation and a fight between the benches”. That has evolved this season, however, with a much more possession-based game building to Sean Boyd’s goals.

“He wants aggressive football, people to always press and win duels,” Byrne says. “Everyone knows their role to a tee, due to the level of detail.”

Duff can still be manic on the sideline, as seen in how a recent goal celebration went viral due to a comical slip. Such activity can aggravate opposition benches, with confrontations occasionally extending into the managers’ offices.

That’s partly why, despite the romance of Shelbourne and the domination of Rovers, many in the League of Ireland want Duff to fail. Duff himself has spoken of “upsetting the apple cart”. There is even a sense of snobbery about how Rovers are perceived to play superior football.

“A lot of the opposition, they would admit he’s brilliant for the league but they’d probably love to see Shels fail,” one league figure says.

Duff doesn’t care about that. Some people talk of the freedom that comes with how much money he earned in his career. That has possibly translated in other ways. Duff has paid for big nights out for the team when they have met certain targets, with his musician brother performing. On qualifying for Europe, then, he paid for the staff to go on a tour of elite Champions League games.

There is a real human touch to go with, well, the intensity. When the son of Rovers coach Stephen Bradley was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2022, Duff put in a four-figure donation.

The two are close friends, although a distance has inevitably grown now that they are in direct competition.

“It’s us or them,” Byrne says. “Even in our first year, we were ultra-competitive against them, so there’s been a rivalry building. And it’s going to culminate on Friday night.”

That will be a marquee night for the League of Ireland, to mark a period where attendances have boomed. Some of that is down to wider factors. As elite football has become ever more complicated and elusive, people have gravitated towards the local. Duff has had a distinctive effect on the area around Shelbourne’s Tolka Park, too.

“He’s just galvanised the community,” Byrne says. “I was there six years ago and we’d have 8,000 – 9,000 people, where we could have had 7,000 last week easily.

“Pubs and restaurants are full, people can’t even drive to the game. That wasn’t the case when I was a player.”

This is all very different to Duff’s time as a player, too, given the level he performed at.

“I’ve some nice memories along the way,” he said last week, when asked about winning this title. “Winning trophies, playing some good stuff, 100 caps for Ireland blah, blah, blah. But it’d be the absolute pinnacle, blow everything else out of the water.

“It’d be the pinnacle.”