Declan Devine: "It's something Derry City should be extremely proud of"

Former City player Aaron McEneff became the latest Derry man to receive a call-up for the Republic of Ireland this week while FIFA ‘red tape’ is holding up ex-Candystripe Michael Duffy’s introduction to the Ireland fold.

Another graduate from the Brandywell club’s production line, Ronan Curtis was handed his full competitive debut for Stephen Kenny’s side against Bulgaria in the Nations League on Wednesday night while James McClean has over 70 caps for his country.

And City boss, Devine is hoping the club can continue that trend with full focus on the development of its successful youth academy in the coming years.

“When you look at the club, it’s been so instrumental in the development, not only of players for the Republic of Ireland, but also players in the Northern Ireland set-up over the years,” said Devine.

“There have been so many opportunities for players who have represented the club to go on and play international football.

“The boys like Ronan Curtis, Aaron McEneff, Mickey Duffy, I’m absolutely delighted for them.

“To see Aaron McEneff there last night warming up, it was something everybody connected with Derry City and Shamrock Rovers should be extremely proud of.

“Obviously James (McClean) has achieved marvellous things with the amount of caps he’s earned.

“You look at the likes of Niall McGinn playing for Northern Ireland as well who came through the system at Derry and got his first taste of professional football here.

“And there’s also people like David Forde who was let go at West Ham and came back to relaunch his career at Derry City.

“People like Paddy McCourt, let go at Rochdale and came back and gave himself a platform to move on again and played for Northern Ireland.

"So the club has a magnificent history in terms of producing players and helping players progress in their careers.

“I was fortunate enough to give Micky Duffy his debut against Trabzonspor in the Europa League. I also worked with him at the U21s with N. Ireland and he’s obviously been very unfortunate not to be in that squad last night.

“Fair play to every single one of these players. They’ve really pushed their careers on and went to the top level.”

Of course current City players Eoin Toal, Jake Dunwoody and Nathan Gartside are regular members of the N. Ireland U21 squad and Devine is confident the club can continue to provide a pathway to the top level.

“From the club’s point of view, it’s something we should be extremely proud of seeing players that have represented the club, especially local players, that have really pushed on their careers and who are now at the top end of international football. It’s brilliant,” he added.”

"It's something we have to continue and strive to get better. All those guys have come through a real high level of youth football in Derry. And one of the concerns for me at the moment is that there doesn't seem to be that influx of players coming through a really strong D&D set-up.

"The Academy in Derry is going really well at the minute in terms of the players we have. Our U19s were pushing hard this year for the Championship.

"It's something we have to keep evolving because that's the lifeblood of the club and it's something we have to strive to get better at over the coming years."