BY KIERAN McCARTHY
IN the summer of 2022, Conor Hourihane was a free agent after leaving Aston Villa and had a few offers to choose from.
He could have opted for a deal with a Championship club, but instead decided to step down to League One with a Derby County team that had just been relegated. Why? The Bandon man wanted to be part of a project that had the target of getting the Rams back up into the Championship.
Two years later, and now as Derby County captain, it is mission accomplished for Hourihane.
‘Getting Derby back to the Championship was the main reason I signed for the club two years ago,’ Hourihane told The Southern Star after the club’s automatic promotion was confirmed last Saturday.
‘I could have stayed in the Championship with smaller clubs but I wanted a challenge at a big football club. I wanted to be a part of something, and Derby were going through a rebuilding process after administration; the big goal for me was to help the club get promoted.
‘In the first year it wasn’t to be. In the second year, I became captain so it was extra special to achieve that goal; it really is something amazing. When you get that little bit older you cherish it a bit more because you know this doesn't last forever.’
Hourihane knows better than most how difficult it is to win promotion through the ranks in England, and this latest success is his THIRD promotion having captained Barnsley to League One play-off final glory in 2016 and then playing a starring role in the Aston Villa team that won the Championship play-off final in 2019. This time he enjoyed going the direct route, as Derby’s 2-0 home win against Carlisle guaranteed the Rams the second automatic promotion spot.
Conor Hourihane won promotion with Aston Villa in 2019.
‘They are all special, to be honest. I have been lucky enough to get promoted twice in this league and once in the Championship,’ he explained.
‘Obviously winning promotion from the Championship to the Premier League is special because you’re getting into the biggest league in the world. With Barnsley it was a play-off final win at Wembley whereas with Derby it was automatic; all promotions are special. What I’m delighted with now is that I’ve got an automatic promotion as a top two; my other two promotions were through the play-offs at Wembley. So to get the automatic promotion and a bit of extra time off when you’re getting older is quite nice too.’
Former Republic of Ireland midfielder Hourihane is 33 years old now, and that experience counts on and off the pitch. He’s played at the top four levels in England, from League Two to the Premier League, and is still producing – he played 41 times for Derby in the Championship, scoring five goals and providing eight assists. In the run-in Hourihane was used as an impact sub, and he took the role in his stride.
Conor Hourihane captained Barnsley to League One play-off glory in 2016.
‘I feel I contributed a lot on the pitch in the first 40 games. In the last six games I probably didn’t play as much as I would have liked but I know I have had a huge role to play in terms of my experience around the lads, making sure they were okay,’ he said.
‘I got left out of a game around six games ago, the lads did well and they’ve got the good results we needed in the last six games, and that’s absolutely fine. When you get that little bit older you understand that when the team is doing well, that’s the main thing. If this was a 25-year-old Conor I would have been gutted with the last six games but to be captain and know there is a much bigger picture, on and off the pitch I know I have played a big role and that’s been brilliant.’
He’ll take huge satisfaction, too, from achieving the target that was set when he joined Derby two years ago. Job done.
