Sean Maguire has been basking in the glory of Cork City winning the League of Ireland on Tuesday night, despite that, the striker will not be in attendance to witness them lift the trophy at Turners Cross tonight.
The striker was instrumental in Cork's march towards the title, going 22 games unbeaten in the Premier Division, and yet despite leaving the club in July, Maguire sits top of the League of Ireland goalscoring charts with 20 goals.
The Kilkenny man was speaking in a brilliant article he wrote for the Irish Examiner today about his former club and he left no doubt as to who he owes his success to, John Caulfield.
The Cork manager made contact with him while at Dundalk and since then, he has never looked back,
I remember the first phone call from him very clearly. I knew I didn’t want to sign back with Dundalk because of the way I’d been treated up there. I wasn’t in a good a place, didn’t really know what I was going to do next, and when I got that phone call asking me to meet up with him, I jumped at the opportunity.
And when we did sit down to talk, he made it all seem so simple. He said: ‘We know you’re lacking a bit of confidence at the moment but you’re a good player and we want to bring you to Cork’.
As we know, things went pretty well for Maguire at City. It was there he realised his potential and became the player who is now an Irish international a striker for a top Championship side.
Getting the move to Preston, making my Ireland debut — if it hadn’t been for Cork City and John Caulfield, none of this would have happened. I feel I owe everything to them. I might be a Kilkenny man but Cork and Cork City will always be a home from home for me.
It is no wonder to hear him speak glowingly of the Cork manager, having returned to Dundalk from Accrington Stanley in 2015, Maguire made just one start in the league for the Lilywhites, Caulfield put his faith in him and did he repay him he scoring 38 goals in 51 appearances for Cork.
Despite scoring a last minute winner in extra-time against rivals Dundalk to seal the FAI Cup for Cork in the 2016 final, a personal highlight for Maguire was the hat-trick he bagged in Cork's 3-0 victory over Dundalk in Oriel Park earlier in the season in front of Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill, his performance on that day sealed his move to Preston North End.
Read the full Sean Maguire column in today's Irish Examiner here.
