'I have to prove myself all over again at Derry City' says Robbie Benson

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ROBBIE Benson reckons he has to prove himself all over again as he prepares for one last shot at winning the league title with Derry City.

The 32 year-old former Dundalk and St Pat's midfielder agreed a one year contract with Tiernan Lynch's new-look Brandywell outfit and is eager to impress his new teammates and the City boss over the next few weeks of preseason.

As he was officially unveiled at the club's temporary new training base at Derry GAA's Centre of Excellence in Owenbeg on Monday morning, Benson insisted he was taking nothing for granted despite his wealth of experience and his highly decorated career in the League of Ireland for the past decade.

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Benson admitted his phone wasn't exactly red-hot after his departure from relegated Dundalk at the end of the season but when the opportunity arose to join Derry City it was the challenge he'd been waiting on.

“It's always the same for that and especially as you get later in your career, my phone wasn't exactly ringing non-stop, so it was kind of have to re-evaluate things and where you're seeing what other people view you as in the league and what sort of player you are.

"That's what I'm looking to do again just to try and help the team. I've always been a team first player and I'm just hoping to win silverware in whatever capacity that may be in whether I'm starting every week or if I'm playing here or there it'll be up to me to show which side of that coin I'll be in.”

The three-times League of Ireland champion believes he must start from scratch and attempt to win over Derry fans and his new boss with his performances in the red and white Candy Stripes this year but is confident he can become a 'big asset' to the club.

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“It's a young man's league, I think the age profile league is getting a lot younger and just for my own sake having been relegated last year with Dundalk wasn't a nice feeling and I'm looking forward to the challenge here but I have to prove myself again," said the Athlone native.

Derry City's new signing Robbie Benson with manager Tiernan Lynch. Photo by Kevin Morrison.Derry City's new signing Robbie Benson with manager Tiernan Lynch. Photo by Kevin Morrison.
Derry City's new signing Robbie Benson with manager Tiernan Lynch. Photo by Kevin Morrison.

"My last stint in the league was ultimately getting relegated but I still feel that I can be a big asset to Derry and I'm just really grateful for Tiernan and all the staff here for putting their faith in me and I hope to repay that over the year."

He's been a thorn in the side of Derry teams over the past 10 years during spells at UCD, St Pat's and Dundalk. In fact he's scored 10 times past Derry - seven of those in Dundalk colours!

“I've always had great games up here and at the Brandywell and I’ve scored a couple of goals when they were playing in Buncrana too.

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"I scored a few goals against Derry in my time so I'm looking forward to hopefully scoring a few goals for the red and white this time," he smiled.

Robbie Benson was unveiled as a new Derry City signing at Owenbeg. Photo by Kevin Morrison.Robbie Benson was unveiled as a new Derry City signing at Owenbeg. Photo by Kevin Morrison.
Robbie Benson was unveiled as a new Derry City signing at Owenbeg. Photo by Kevin Morrison.

Benson joins former Dundalk teammates Pat Hoban, Michael Duffy and Cameron Dummigan in the Derry squad and last week's preseason training camp in Cork was the perfect way to integrate into the squad.

“It was probably the best introduction I could have hoped for in terms of being down with the group 24-7 and just getting to know the lads outside of football.

"There were so many training sessions that you're building relationships and seeing how players like to play and playing off people as well which is good. I've played with four or five of the lads before so it was easy enough to get settled in and they were a big help in that as well.”

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The dynamic midfield man certainly has goals in his game and he's still got that hunger for success.

“I played plenty of games, a couple of injuries a year before, a couple of freak ones and just a little bit of overuse ones where we could have got something sorted earlier but I played on to try and help the team as best I could and paid the price for that then maybe in the long term but I'm feeling great.

“Pre-training week last week was very intense and I’m feeling fresh and feeling hungry so that's where I am at the minute.”

With the arrival of his child, Senan last October with his wife Dearbhla who he's recently bought a house with, his move north was a huge decision for the Benson family and one he believes will be justified come the end of the season.

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“Yeah, big changes, I bought a house as well so this move definitely wasn't on the horizon a couple of months ago but I just have to thank my wife as well for being so supportive and making sacrifices. It's not easy to be partnered with a footballer at times when things like this come about so I'm very grateful for that side of things as well.

“I have to do my best to justify why Tiernan has brought me up and why I'm making a sacrifice to move my family are moving up with me here so I want to get kind of ingrained in the city and learn about it and really buy into what they're doing here and figure out what makes people tick up here and showing that on a Friday night will come out in my game hopefully.”

Brandywell boss Lynch expressed his satisfaction at securing the signature of the midfielder; “Robbie is gonna be an unbelievable asset to this club and probably might not get the attention of others, but I think he’s one with a vast amount of experience in the League of Ireland , has league/cup medals already in his pocket and has played in major games.”

“He’s a great character, a lad that’s a real winner and he’s here for one reason, he wants to win and he sees Derry City as a good opportunity to do that.

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