IN the end, Conor Hourihane was comfortable with how it all unfolded. He knew when he rejoined Barnsley as a player/coach last summer that he had started the countdown timer on his playing days. While the closing of that chapter looked to be in the distance, it all happened faster than he had envisaged.
‘I probably didn’t realise in the summer how quickly I would move towards the coaching side,’ Hourihane admits.
But when the stars aligned, he grabbed his coaching chance.
In September Barnsley first team coach Dean Whitehead left the club to join Stoke City. Suddenly, there was an opportunity for Hourihane. The 33-year-old Bandon man had featured twice in Barnsley’s opening three League One games, but the lure of a more hands-on coaching role was impossible to resist.
He took it, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to balance both playing and coaching. Something had to give.
Conor Hourihane is the new assistant head coach at Barnsley.
‘I came as a player/coach, and my focus was more on coaching than playing at the time. My body was slowing down. Don’t get me wrong, I still could have played, but given the preparation and work I have put into coaching over the last three or four years, when the opportunity came up it was something I jumped at,’ Hourihane explains.
‘I took a lot of coaching at the start of the season and it was very difficult to balance both, to be honest. If you want to do something to the utmost standard, and that’s what I expect of myself, then it is difficult to balance both.
‘When the assistant manager left to join Stoke in September the club asked me to step up – they were impressed with my work and wanted me to take on more. When that was confirmed, I jumped at the chance; it was another little stepping stone and another compliment to myself on the work that I do.
‘After that I completely came away from the playing side. This is the road I want to be on, and I’m enjoying it.’
Conor Hourihane captained Barnsley to a 3-1 victory against Millwall in the 2016 League 1 play-off final at Wembley.
Late last month the news was made official: Hourihane is the new assistant head coach with Barnsley.
Without fanfare, that was it: his playing days were over. Hourihane announced his retirement from playing on December 20th. After over 600 games, the chapter of his story has closed. In the end, a home game against Northampton on August 24th proved to be his last, perhaps fitting it was at Oakwell where he holds cult status. His legacy is locked in, though. As are the memories.
Conor Hourihane, pictured with his dad John, was named in the Sky Bet League One Team of the Season for the 2022/23 campaign after starring for Derby County.
The greatest ever West Cork footballer. The first West Cork man to play – and score – in the Premier League. The first West Cork man to play – and score – for Ireland, and he played 36 times for the Boys in Green. He played in all four top leagues in England, rising from League Two with Plymouth to League One and the Championship with Barnsley, and eventually to the Premier League with Aston Villa. Promotions with Barnsley, Villa and Derby County. Hourihane captained Plymouth, Barnsley and Derby, leading the latter to promotion from League One last May. The midfielder with an eye for goal racked up almost 580 games in English football. The boy who left Bandon when he was 16 did it, he lived the dream. But only 33 years old, he felt comfortable to close that particular chapter, knowing that coaching is where his future is.
‘I have been very fortunate to have had a good career, play in a lot of big games, got to the Premier League, played for Ireland, and captained clubs that I have been at. I am very content with the career I had. Would I have liked to have done more? Of course, but that’s just the type of guy that I am,’ Hourihane reflects.
‘There are thousands of players who have done a lot less so I am very happy with what I have done, what I have achieved, and all the hard work, sacrifice and dedication to get the most I could from myself.
‘This coaching role came a little earlier than I anticipated, but when it came I jumped at it because you never know when you’ll get an opportunity like this. With the focus and success I want to have in coaching and management, it was a good time to start and learn, and get on the pathway.’
Conor Hourihane celebrates scoring a goal for the Republic of Ireland against Georgia in 2019.
Now, it’s coach Conor, and that’s what he wants. He has been working towards an opportunity like this for years. It’s the unseen work that prepared him for this moment. He has his UEFA A and B badges and is hopeful of starting his journey to a pro licence in 2025; that’s the highest coaching qualification in world football. He is currently on the manager’s diploma course with the LMA (League Managers Association). As a player, his preparation was the rock on which he built his career. It will be the same as a coach, then manager.
In these first few months at Barnsley, he is like a sponge, soaking it all up. Learnings everywhere he looks.
‘The organisation around the coaching sessions is critical – the weekly sessions, the monthly sessions, planning ahead to make everything run as smoothly as possible. You have to have top-level organisational skills, that’s for sure,’ he says.
‘You can’t miss a trick; if you do, players will sniff it out. On top of structuring your training sessions it’s just as important to have structure and organisation around many other things off the pitch as well, that all small things add up to big things, to make sure the machine works smoothly.
‘The job is the full package. It’s constant. It’s relentless. You have to do it to the highest quality that you can, otherwise players will sniff that out. If you’re not prepared or are half-hearted, people will recognise that and catch you. Having that pride and top-level organisation is key.’
Hourihane’s excited by the future, and that made the transition from a player to a coach smoother than he imagined. As a player he made an impact, and he plans to do likewise in this new world.
