SHAMROCK
ROVERS64 March 2018 FourFourTwo.com
W
hat Stephen McPhail and Stephen Bradley
have had to endure over the past two
decades is a tale of glory and triumph,
tragedy and despair.
Both seemed destined for stardom and were
praised or pursued by the Premier League’s
top managers. But then came the brutal
stabbing which almost took Bradley’s life,
never mind career, while he was an Arsenal
apprentice, and the cancer battle that shook
former Leeds United prodigy McPhail to his
core – a battle that began in November 2009
and that, ultimately, he has been able to win.
McPhail, now 39, is the sporting director of Shamrock Rovers,
Ireland’s most successful club, where he works in tandem with
Bradley, 34, the Hoops’ head coach. They’re united by a desire to
help change the landscape of Irish football by using their shared
experiences for good.
FourFourTwo meets the duo at the club’s training ground. The shared
facility on the outskirts of Dublin, within the grounds of a social centre
belonging to a national building company, belies the club’s ambitions.
There has been a significant seven-figure investment in facilities
and operational costs in recent years, with an emphasis placed on
a burgeoning academy that is spearheaded by former Rovers
midfielder Shane Robinson.
The club is owned equally by its supporters and by multi-millionaire
benefactor Ray Wilson, a Dublin-born Rovers fanatic who lives in
Australia. Billionaire businessman Dermot Desmond, a prominent
shareholder in Celtic, has also been strongly linked with a takeover to
help take Shamrock to the next level.
And for much of this season, which runs from March to October,
Rovers had been neck-and-neck with reigning champions Dundalk at