Derry City must 'take the handbrake off' says 1997 league title winner Sean Hargan

​The City legend who was part of the last Candy Stripes' team to be crowned league champions during the 1996-97 season, was an interested spectator at the Sligo Showgrounds last Friday as the Brandywell outfit fell to a frustrating 1-0 loss to a plucky Bit O'Red side.

He felt it was a missed opportunity to close the gap on four-in-a-row seeking Rovers who dropped points to relegated UCD at the Belfield on the same night.

With five points the difference between the two sides going into the final five matches, 'Hargy' reckons Derry have 'nothing to lose' and must roll the dice to keep their fading title hopes alive.

"You can definitely be over critical," began Hargan who was speaking on the Journal's 'Talking Derry City' podcast this week. "We're sitting in second, five points behind Rovers and it has been a good season but the higher the levels you go, the more expectations there are, especially at Derry City.

"And it's because it hasn't been won for so long and it's well overdue," added Hargan who made 429 appearances for Derry, scoring 55 goals.

"We've all had our day back in '96/97 and it's time for a new generation to write their names into it. I'm sure the players that are there, especially the players from Derry, would love nothing else than to be the next group to do it.

"Hopefully they can. There's still a few games left and Rovers are nearly crawling over the line to win their four in a row. It looks as if no one else really wants it."

Derry didn't play with the attacking swagger we've grown accustomed to watching under Higgins in Sligo on Friday night and Hargan believes they should be playing with freedom and without fear in the final five matches if they're to take Rovers all the way.

"It was very disappointing, especially the second half. I just thought they couldn't play with that freedom and go forward and try and go for it.

"There's a league title at stake here and it just seemed like the fight wasn't there. Sligo came out in the second half and I thought they kind of steamrolled them a bit.

"It's a massive opportunity. It hasn't been done in almost 30 years, let the handbrake off in the last few games. You have nothing to lose! We're five points behind."

The Waterside man who finished his career at left-back with Derry after 13 years unbroken service, scored 14 goals in Derry's title winning season - his first full campaign at his hometown club.

And he believes any title winning side must have players chipping in with goals from all over the park.

"Obviously the lack of goals in the team is a big issue. Now, we're still sitting second and there's still a possibility we could win the league but it's definitely a worry.

"And I don't just think it's the strikers. Other areas of the squad, there's just not enough goals coming from midfield either.

"I'm not sure if it's a bit of nervousness creeping in now with these last few games obviously it's high stakes, you're trying to win the league but that's when you're looking for your senior players to step forward.

"I know a few of them are out injured at the minute but even still they can still be there in the background helping the boys that are on the pitch. It was just so disappointing because it was there for the taking.

"Between the four forwards I think they've scored eight or 10 goals this season. You look at (Chris) Forrester St Pat's who has scored something like 13 from midfield this season.

"We probably haven't scored 13 between our centre forwards and one or two of the midfielders.

"Peter (Hutton) scored 18 or 20 goals from midfield when we won the league. Obviously Liam (Coyle) was chipping in, (Gary) Beckett might've scored one," he laughed.

"There just seemed to be goals coming from everywhere and at crucial times in games when you needed it and it just helped with all the camaraderie and bring the team on.

“It is a bit of a worry regarding the lack of goals and I don't know if it's because they're holding back or holding positions on the pitch. Obviously we don't know. We're not in the background setup but I would like to see them really going for it."

Should they win their five remaining games starting against UCD at Brandywell on Friday night and go on to bridge that 26 years gap, ‘Hargy’ insists it will be 'an unreal achievement'.

"I'm sure for local lads, Ruaidhri and the guys who came up from Dundalk, winning it with your local club would be an unreal achievement.

"If you could go on a wee run now it would be a great time. If they had of gone on it last Friday it would've been even better because it would've put more pressure on Rovers and you don't know what's going on in their camp there could be problems or stuff going on behind the scenes that no one knows about. There always are at big clubs.

"Who would've seen them drawing with UCD? Derry hit them for five. You would've never seen that result in a million years.

"For Derry, if you don't beat UCD on Friday, listen, forget about it. You wouldn't deserve it. I think Derry will beat UCD.

"If you look at us, people are still talking about the 1997 team winning the league or the treble winning team in ‘89. This is now 2023. If those boys could do that now . . . it's nearly like the Gaelic, it hasn't been won since 93. It's like a hoodoo. When's it going to happen?

"Obviously the 97 team was a great team and that was my first real season and I was thinking 'it must be like this all the time'. “We never won a league after it and I was there for 13 years. That year, looking back on it now, that was special. We won the league with three or four games to spare and I played with some of the greatest players to ever play for the club.

"All the managers that have come in after Felix (Healy) and all the expectations and Philip (O'Doherty) putting his money into it, everyone is just waiting and waiting and hoping that this is going to happen and I'm sure it will, if not this year then next year or the year after if that's the way we're going and he's going to invest and bring players in.

"And it will be brilliant whenever it does happen but it would be good to have a mix of Derry players in that team at that time.

"If they can get that first one over the line, and obviously they have those boys who have come up from Dundalk and been successful, they know what it's about. It might not have meant as much but when you're here it definitely will mean a whole lot more."

Listen to the full interview on the Talking Derry City podcast, wherever you get your podcasts from.