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Colin O’Connor Bohemian FC Kitman “The biggest ga
mes are always the Rovers and Shels games,” Colin O’Connor, the Bohemian FC kitman, tells me. “The week up to that, you can tell there’s a derby, the training is sharper and the atmosphere is just different – with the players and the fans.” O’Connor is wearing his army fatigues when I meet him at a Rathmines café. He now works full-time in the nearby barracks. “I started with the club in 2003, 15 years ago, just as a young fella helping out,” he says. “Stephen Kenny was the manager at the time. He had a lad doing the kitman and I was just helping him. When Stephen left the lad went with him, so I just continued on then. I went full-time with the club in 2007. We were all full-time back then, the staff, the players, coaches, the whole lot of us. I stayed full-time then until 2010.” When the club began falling further into debt and cost-cutting measures had to be implemented, O’Connor joined the army but stuck with the club on a part-time basis. “That was probably the lowest moment for me during my time at Bohs,” he says. “We were reverting from full-time to part-time and that was the year we lost the league on goal difference.” “I decided to leave then and find a more permanent job in the army. It’s good for me because I can still stay involved and do part-time while having job security.” Although O’Connor is technically the kitman for Bohs, he explains that often, the washing of the jerseys is not the only responsibility that lies at his feet. “It would be that sort of club that you would get roped in to doing a bit of everything. I would be in charge of looking after the bus for away trips – hotels and pre-match food would also fall on my head. I would look after the u19s as well, regarding away matches and whatnot.” Part of O’Connor’s role with the team would be to lend an ear to any grievances that the players might have. “I would be the middle man,” he says. “I would get along very well with the coaching staff and players. I like to have a laugh with the lads and if they have a problem, they might come to me and tell me what’s on their mind. So, I would act as the mediator sometimes – between the players and the coaches.” Although O’Connor admits that it was a time of over-spending, he still says that his fondest on-pitch memory since he began at the club would be the double-winning season of 2009. Shortly after the glory years, O’Connor remembers the financial fallout and the very real possibility that the club would go bust. “I’ve been there on a couple of days where we thought the club was going to fold,” he says. “I was in the office and people were just coming donating money – it was a bit surreal.” Now, he says, with the sale of Dalymount Park to Dublin City Council and the introduction of community programmes, the club is in a much better place. “They’ve taken away some of the overheads from Bohemians and that’s helped us a lot, and they’re looking after the maintenance of the place.” he says. “Things such as showers breaking and lights not working just because it’s an old ground. In that sense the Council taking it over has been a great help.” “It needs to be done. It’s badly needed,” he asserts when asked about the upcoming redevelopment of the stadium. “It has a lot of character and history and when you think of all the players that have played here and the concerts etc. But the facilities aren’t up to scratch and it’s not nice for people coming to the games and the facilities just not being there,” he says. “It’s an aging ground.” Talking about the upcoming year, O’Connor seems hopeful that the team can pull off something worthy of “Dalyer’s” penultimate season. “I don’t think we’ll be challenging for the title, unfortunately because we just don’t have the squad. I do think we can go on a good cup run, however,” he says with a smile. 24