Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories David Harrington (file pic)Tom Maher/INPHO 'I hated it. Every morning he’d bring me to training, and I'd be almost terrified to go out' Irish goalkeeper David Harrington on the influence of his father and Cork City legend Phil. 8.01am, 18 May 2025 Share options Paul Fennessy DAVID HARRINGTON admits he could never have achieved what he has in the game were it not for his father, Phil. There was no pressure when he started playing football at four or five. David initially opted not to follow in Phil’s footsteps — the latter established himself as a League of Ireland legend, known as ‘Biscuits’, while playing in goals for Cork in the late ’80s and ’90s. David played as a midfielder and also partook in Gaelic football and hurling, growing up in Cork. But one fateful day, around age 14, the goalkeeper for his local team (Douglas Hall) was on holiday. Phil just happened to have a pair of gloves in his car — David went in goal for the first time of many. As he began to excel at football, David opted to drop GAA. At 17, he signed for Cobh Ramblers. It was then that his dad’s attitude changed. “When I did commit to football, that’s when not the pressure, but the sacrifices I needed to make [were emphasised],” David tells The 42. “He always watched over me, what I was eating, what I was doing with my spare time and stuff like that. “And he’d never tell me what I can and can’t do. But he’d always just give me guidance on stuff. “‘If you want to make it, this is what you need to do,’ and you either take his advice or you don’t. “I’d come in with a bag of sweets, and he’d say: ‘Footballers don’t eat that.’ And then it’s up to me: ‘Do I want to put them in my gob, or do I want to put them back in the cupboard?’” David eventually signed for Cork City, where his father was first-team coach. Other experienced goalkeepers were at the club — including Mark McNulty, Alan Smith and Peter Cherrie. “Just because I was his son and because I was younger, the standards were still there for the first team. I had the same standards as Mark,” he recalls. “Mark was playing every week in a double-winning team, and I was 17-18, but still, he wants me to do the same thing as him. “If I dropped the ball, I’d repeat the set. He’d be harder on me than he would the other two. But he just set a standard — he needed it to be met for the session to run smoothly. “And I think that’s why the goalkeeping department at Cork City at the time was so good, because there was no drop off and there was no laugh and a joke.” David's father Phil is a Cork City legend. Although it stood to him in the long run, David admits there was an element of dread about competing in this intense environment. Advertisement “I’d come in every morning with them, and I’d be sitting in the changing room on my phone, and he’d come up and go: ‘What are you doing? Why can’t you go down to the gym?’ And he’d bring me down, he’d lift weights with me and make sure that I was doing it right. “I think that’s where my love for the gym came in. I developed a bit of a drive then, him bringing me down every morning. And I hated it [initially]. Every morning, he’d bring me to training, and I’d be almost terrified to go out on the pitch and not want him to come pick me up and bring me in. “Every time he’d come up to the changing room, I’d hope every morning that he wouldn’t come up to bring me down to the gym, but it was all for the better of me. “It was only to improve me in the long term and give me a taste of what I needed to do if I wanted to succeed.” Phil may have been a tough taskmaster, but David gradually bought into his methods. “We would be driving home from training, and I wouldn’t speak to him in the car, because he’d been giving me such a bollocking that day. “He wasn’t being an arsehole to me. He was telling me: ‘This is what needs to be done.’ “Yeah, he was probably harder on me [than others], but what he was saying was right. And then the sooner I understood that, the sooner I learned.” David ultimately believes being the son of a footballer brought more positives than negatives, even if there was the inevitable weight of expectation that came with it. “When I was coming through the academy at Cork, I’d always get the one: ‘Your dad was a great goalkeeper. Your dad was this, your dad was that.’ “You get the negatives: ‘Oh, you’ll never be as good as your dad.’ And, you know, the jokes and stuff like that. But my dad never put pressure on me, and I never listened to the outside noise of: ‘Will he be as good as his dad?’ “I always wanted to be better than my dad. I always had an image of going further than my dad in terms of what I wanted to do.” David’s career has continued to progress since those days when his father coached him. After breaking into the Cork City first team, his performances began to attract attention across the water. In December 2022, a move to Premier League outfit Everton fell through because of an ill-timed shoulder injury. Instead, Harrington penned a three-year contract with Fleetwood Town. Harrington has had bad luck with injuries in his career.Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Unfortunately, the 24-year-old’s bad luck with injuries has continued since then. At the start of the season, David established himself as the League Two side’s number one goalkeeper. He made 21 appearances before suffering a campaign-ending injury during a 2-0 win over Chesterfield on St Stephen’s Day. His dad still watches every game. If he’s not there in person, he will be looking on from the family home in Douglas. Needless to say, Phil remains David’s “biggest critic” despite the progress his son has made. “I’ll play a game and I’ll think I’ve done okay, but I’ll ring him and he’ll say the complete opposite, and then you get brought back down to earth, and you get a bit of a humbling, but that’s okay as well. “I just think he’ll always have something to say, and he’ll always have a small critique. But it’s only to better me because I’m still young for a goalkeeper, and I’ve still not played many games. “I remember at the start of the season, I’d play a game, my dad would tell me one thing, I’d go in and say it to my goalkeeper coach to go: ‘Look, this is what my dad thinks. And then my goalkeeper coach will go: ‘Yeah, I think so as well.’ And I go: ‘Okay, fair, I’ll try to take it on board, and work on it.’ “So even though he’s living in Cork, I can’t really get away from him.” Before matches, Phil will be in touch with David, invariably with a simple message. “Every single game before I’d play, he’d always send me a text, just being like: ‘Concentrate.’ That was the main thing for some reason. “He’d always say: ‘The best ‘keepers are always tuned into the game. Never switch off.’ He’d say: ‘The higher you go, the second you switch off, you’re done.’ “And even the bad games, I remember one day he was over here — he was just looking at me for the whole game, being like: ‘I saw you look into the crowd there.’ And I’m like: ‘What?’ He’s like: ‘It’s a lack of concentration. You’re tuned out of the game. You need to be tuned in.’ That always stuck with me. How much he just wanted me to be so zoned in.” While David can be relatively pleased with his first season in the Fleetwood starting XI, Phil is not letting him get carried away. “He was like: ‘Yeah, there are games where I haven’t done well,’ or whatever. “But he was like, you have to look at it as an overall and go: ‘It’s your first season, really.’ And he was like: ‘A lot of positives to take.’ “But there’s always a ‘but,’ you know? And then he goes: ‘But you have to get better. ‘ He was like: ‘You have to improve. Next year is a big year.’ “There’s never too much praise from him. But you know, when he gives you a small bit, he genuinely means it.” Ireland's David Harrington, Interim Head Coach John O'Shea and Bosun Lawal in June last year ahead of the Hungary game.Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO The end of the Football League season has coincided with David’s return to full fitness, giving him a clear run to prepare for the forthcoming 2025-26 campaign. “When I get back home in the off-season, he’ll be coming into my room every morning to check I’ve left the gaff at nine o’clock to make sure I’m in the gym, or something like that. “I went home for the weekend [one time]. I was in bed at 10 o’clock, and he was looking at me, shaking his head.” Meanwhile, there is one big upcoming decision for David. It has been almost a year since his first call-up to the Ireland senior squad by interim boss John O’Shea before friendlies with Hungary and Portugal, both of whom the Boys in Green will meet again in the World Cup qualifiers later this year. Harrington was not capped in either of those games, and last November, he was called upon by Wales boss Craig Bellamy for the Nations League matches against Turkey and Iceland, but again, the youngster did not play. David was born in Cork, while Phil is from Bangor, Wales. In terms of David’s career, it is one of the few issues on which his father maintains a diplomatic stance. “Even though he’s Welsh, he’ll never tell me which way to go or whatever,” David says. “He just leaves things up to me — whatever’s best for me. “Obviously, I chatted with him about things. But either way, he’s happy. I could play for Zimbabwe, and he’d be happy. He’s quite good that way. “No one in my family will force a decision upon me, and I wouldn’t want them to either. They wouldn’t want me to force it if they were in my shoes.” So, has a definitive decision been made on which country to declare for? “I’m just focusing on getting back fit, really, and hopefully, more international call-ups [will come] in the future.” Paul Fennessy Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “'I hated it. Every morning he’d bring me to training, and I'd be almost terrified to go out'”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “'I hated it. Every morning he’d bring me to training, and I'd be almost terrified to go out'”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy before taking part. 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