Keith Fahey's return to Ireland in 2013 was lauded as one of the biggest signings that a League of Ireland club had made in quite some time. A return to St Pat's, five years after he left Richmond Park for a crack a spell in England with Birmingham was understandably welcomed by fans.
However, fast forward two years and Fahey is not exactly an Inchicore hero right now. He may have won the Cup but his move to Shamrock Rovers not long after that left a sour taste in the mouth for quite a few fans. The League of Ireland is not like other, more financially lucrative, leagues. Loyalty to a club is rare when you're struggling to make a living out of football.
Players leave every year, often for rivals, and fans regularly accept the realities of that. However, given his high profile and the fact that last season ended on such a high, Pat's fans were certainly taken aback, to put it lightly, by Fahey's decision to make the move to Tallaght.
That long awaited Cup win will ensure that it's a season Pat's fans won't forget any time soon, but Fahey doesn't have quite such good memories of the year. Speaking to The Mirror yesterday, Fahey summed up his feelings regarding last year's campaign.
It wasn’t an enjoyable year, no.
Nice and blunt so. The 16 time Ireland international then went to on to state that, despite the Cup win, he was very happy to be able to make the move to Rovers before explaining the differences between Pat's and Rovers.
Training is more enjoyable. There’s more organisation around things and things seem to be done to a higher spec here, to be honest.
Fahey made his League debut for Rovers against Longford last weekend and he will be hoping to help extend their 100% start to the season against Cork on Friday night.
