New Jersey native will never forget club’s support during father’s illness

Shane Doherty says he will never forget the kindness shown to him by Galway United when he decided to leave the club midway through the 2019 season to spend time with his terminally-ill father in his native New Jersey.

Doherty had joined United at the start of that season, and had featured in 17 of their first 21 games when, after talking with his family, he made the decision to return home to spend valuable time with them, and especially his father, whose health had taken a turn for the worse.

“I will never forget the way the club rallied around me and took care of me at that time. The people at the club, the players, the staff, the volunteers, they were there for me when I needed them, they were there to put a hand on my shoulder and make sure I was doing okay.

“It was a bit of a journey but I had to leave. I have absolutely no regrets about coming to Galway and none about going back home to spend time with my dad, time that I will always cherish. The club was very good to me and will always hold a very special place in my heart because of that.

“Obviously I would give up playing football for ever just to have another 10 minutes with my dad, but that can’t happen, so there was only ever going to be one club I would go to when I went back playing after my father passed, and that was Galway United,” says Doherty.

Return he did, in July of last year, which was just two games into the season. He went into an immediate two-week quarantine before making his return to the pitch in the 2-2 draw away to Cobh Ramblers in early August, and went on to make a total of 15 appearances.

“I am so grateful to everyone in the club for giving me a second chance, for welcoming me back. I suppose you could say it was a vote of confidence in me that the club wanted me to come back, and that means a lot to me.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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