Season Preview 2008: Wexford Youths

The Club

The torrent of euphoria and approbation which attended Wexford Youths' accession to the eircom League in 2007 was perhaps more reflective of the sporting public's fascination with Mick Wallace than its sense of pragmatism. It was with just such a sense of pragmatism, however, that the construction millionaire (better renowned for his personal foibles and eccentricities) steered the club through a season which was as trying as discerning observers might have predicted.

In accordance with the principles familiar to any builder worth his salt (and Wallace's saline value is higher than most), the bemulleted pioneer has focused on establishing firm and secure foundations rather than adorning the edifice with unnecessary baubles and arabesques. It could be argued that the deepest of these foundations were laid long ago by the thriving youth structure which gave the senior club its name. With Wallace as manager, mentor and benefactor, Wexford Youths captured two national Under-18 championships. The club's Wexford Youths Football Complex at Newcastle in Crossabeg is a community facility which happens to house a League of Ireland franchise rather than one built for the purpose.

Wexford's fortunes were always going to be circumscribed by the ad hoc nature of the squad's formation and Wallace's avowed policy of recruiting only local players (and amateurs at that.) Seven victories, thirty-one points and 9th place (ahead of the doomed Kilkenny City) constituted a respectable return in the Youths' inaugural season. Attendances were encouraging but diminished markedly in correlation with the club's novelty value. More perturbingly, Wallace's application for planning permission to improve the club's facilities was halted on the desk of Wexford County Council's Planning Section. A setback, to be sure, but the response posted by Wallace on the club's website, replete with half-elucidated conspiracy theories, references to himself in the third person and an implicit threat to take his ball to the land of calcio, is perhaps more perturbing still for Wexford's long-term security.

The Italianate pretensions may be grating at times, and Wallace's repeated downplaying of the senior team's importance may suggest that the A Championship is Wexford's natural habitat, but neither the experiment nor its execution to date are without merit. The community-based template Wallace has developed for his club is an intriguing one which may yet prove ahead of its time. If nothing else, it's impossible not to admire the man's dogged adherence to his principles. The road to hell may be paved with good intentions, but Wallace has paved plenty in his time and they have a tendency to take him precisely where he wants to go.

The Manager

Master builder, polymath, devoted Juventino and football coach, Mick Wallace's credentials are diverse and impressive. His charisma and stature in the local area alone command the respect of his players (locals one and all) but the extent of First Team Coach Pat Dolan's input remains uncertain to those on the outside looking in. Wallace is certainly no neophyte or mug, having led Wexford Youths to two national underage titles, but senior football is an altogether different and more fickle beast. Perhaps in recognition of this fact, Wallace has made public his plans to abdicate after a season or two at the helm. He has, in any case, bigger (and, paradoxically, smaller) fish to fry.

The Squad

As expected, Connor Sinnott and Thomas Hawkins were the standout players for Wexford in 2008, with Sinnott contributing eight goals and featuring in the PFAI First Division Team of the Year. The former Reading wunderkid will again shoulder much of the creative burden in 2009, although the rumoured arrival of Willie Doyle from Monaghan United should enhance the team's firepower. Tom Eimes, Lloyd Colfer, Ben Brosnan and Daryl Margolin have left the club, but those departures are offset by the off-field appointment of the respected fitness coach Dave Mahedy.

Prospects

The squad is small in number but contains few slouches. Wallace's priorities may lie elsewhere, but the backroom line-up of Dolan, Noel O'Connor and Dave Mahedy is as enviable as any in the First Division. Togetherness and familiarity count for a lot in the First Division, but not enough to infringe upon the promotion party. Wallace has set a target of a top-six finish and it's far from unrealistic. Taking all considerations into account, however, one is forced to conclude that the Youths will fall just shy of that position.