Mohill manager Padraic Davis.
By Cian O'Connell
Three years ago Mohill Chairman Padraig McLoughlin made a call. Mohill were looking for a new manager, former Longford player and selector Padraic Davis was identified as a leading candidate.
It has been a silverware laden stint for Mohill since Davis took charge. Two Leitrim Championships and three League crowns have been accumulated.
While Mohill face a seriously tough task against Castlebar Mitchels at Elverys MacHale Park on Saturday, success has been achieved.
Significant underage work is being carried out in the club, but Davis' rich contribution shouldn’t be underestimated according to McLoughlin.
“There is great work going on from Under 6s up, the park could have anything from 80 to 100 youngsters on a Saturday morning,” McLoughlin explains.
“That is going on the last number of years; we have a great underage structure, we have won a lot of minor and under 16 titles. We won the Under 21 last year. The biggest thing in the whole lot of this is the man we have there, three years ago Padraic Davis took over as manager of the senior team.”
Small, but important steps were being taken by Mohill as Davis implemented his methods on and off the field.
“There is no team in the country that could have a better or more professional set-up,” McLoughlin states. “I'm not just saying that lightly, the man is a complete and total genius.
“Everything he does, there is just no stone left unturned. He came in the first time, he wanted a gym put in place and at the moment we are looking for Leader funding to put in our own gym. We used to use one in Longford so we hired a facility in Mohill. He had a strength and conditioning coach, he had a stats man with him, he brought his own team with him.
Mohill have won two of the last three Leitrim Championships.
“It is no surprise, this is his third year, out of six trophies he has won five of them. We were unlucky to be beaten last year in the Quarter-Final of the Championship, due to players being out injured. We were beaten by a point by the eventual winners, Aughawillan. He won five out of the six and along with that he won the Under 21 competition last year.”
Those triumphs suggest the future is bright for Mohill, but Davis imprints have been left on the club, who have enjoyed his work. “Unfortunately he is leaving us when this year is finished, he is going to do the Under 21s with us,” McLoughlin remarks.
“I can guarantee his name will come up with some county in the near future because he is that professional in the way he does his job. Once he was with our players, we have a lot of talented lads, in the three years there hasn't been a word in the line of discipline or anything because they respect him and the way he operates so much. We've had no problems and he gets the very best out of the players.
“Great practices have been established. He would be looking for different things for the team naturally, but we have a lot of teams to look after.
“What he set about, though, was that he got the players into a mindset that they had to look after themselves. So the players have done their own fundraising, they went away for a bonding weekend training which they funded the majority of themselves.
"It is a great way to get players thinking because there wasn't a pool of money to just throw out. They funded that themselves and going forward that will be in their minds. It brought the players closer together when they went out to do their own fundraising.”
McLoughlin, who has spent six years as Mohill Chairman, is encouraged by these successful times for Mohill. “It is unbelievable, five or six thousand was spent in Mohill on Mohill gear,” McLoughlin adds about the current interest in all matters football in Mohill.
“Everybody loves to be in the colours. The youngsters are looking up to these senior players. They went into schools after and they are like stars. We won the League again this year, that is three in a row in Leagues, we still have a relatively young team with nine or 10 Under 21s.
“The future is good, but it will be very hard to replace Padraic Davis and the lads. That is the only downside, hopefully we can get somebody in to build on what we have.” A solid foundation has been constructed.
