Caoimhín Kelleher is the gift that keeps on giving for his former club Ringmahon Rangers.
Confirmation of the 26-year-old’s move from Liverpool to Brentford on Tuesday was a happy occasion for the club, seeing one of their own sign the dotted line to become a first-choice goalkeeper at the west London club.
But the news was made all the more sweet by a windfall which will now be making its way to the Cork club thanks to a sell-on clause in his original deal signed with Liverpool 10 years ago.
Liverpool are reportedly in line to receive £12.5 million (€15 million) for Kelleher, which could increase to £18 million (€21 million) with performance-related add-ons. Twenty per cent of that sum will go back to Ringmahon.
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“It’s going to be substantial,” Ringmahon chairman Paul Higgins says. “Exactly how much, we don’t know, but’s it’s going to set us up for long into the future.”
“I’m very happy. Very happy for Caoimhín himself, first of all, and his family,” Higgins says, adding it’s a very proud day for the club.
Ringmahon, which boasts almost 500 members, has made significant investments in its facilities in recent years, but this windfall will give the club more scope to provide for its burgeoning numbers.
“Over the last few years, we’ve had kids coming into our academy and they want to be the next Caoimhín Kelleher, or they want to be the next Alan Browne [Sunderland], the next Franco Umeh [Crystal Palace], Jadon Umeh [Benfica]. It’s great.
“It’s easy for us to go back to the kids and say, if you work hard, you have a chance at that. We have photos of the boys when they were younger in teams, working hard. [Current players at Ringmore] see all that and it’ll drive them all on to bigger things.”
And the Kelleher-effect hasn’t gone unnoticed. “It’s bringing numbers in their droves,” Higgins says. “It’s brilliant. And it’s huge numbers that want to be goalkeepers, which is probably a problem position for everyone for years.”
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“We always believed that [Caoimhín] would be a success,” he adds. “But I don’t think anyone could have expected him to be so successful to the extent that he is, because he’s well thought of and well regarded among all his fellow players.”
And Higgins feels now is the right time for Kelleher to leave Merseyside. “He’s after winning every single trophy he can at Liverpool. At Brentford now, he’s going to go in, he’s going to be number one, he’s going to be Irish number one. It’s a great stepping stone for his future, so it’s huge for him.”
Wherever this stepping stone may lead for Kelleher, his loyal Ringmahon supporters will follow. “My daughter texted me, she’s only 11, and she says, ‘Dad, you have to get me a Brentford jersey now’,” Higgins laughs.
Cork will surely soon be awash with a red and white jersey of a new kind, one proudly bearing the Brentford bee.
