Having spent last season at the helm of a very promising Bohemian under-17 side, Alban Hysa has found himself thrust into the limelight after the sudden departure of last year’s Head Coach Ken Kiernan to Dundalk in the men’s First Division, writes Tony Magner.
Alban has W.P.D. experience of course having previously managed Treaty United in the 2023 season and has coached underage at Peamount as well as here at Bohs in a previous spell.
Alban hails from Kosovo (Albania) and has been living in Ireland for more than 25 years. As a player he has played L.o.I. football for now defunct Dublin City and Monaghan United.
At Treaty he worked with a number of the current Bohs side like Orlagh Fitzpatrick, Sarah Power and Aoibhe Fleming, as well as having coached quite a few more during his spells at both Bohs and Peas. An eighth placed finish last term saw Bohemians develop a promising and youthful side, some of whom like Savannah Kane and Aoibhe Brennan are now embarking on a second season at senior level.
Starlets like Emma Gaughran and Leiagh Glennon look primed for an emergence this term and Alban confesses that he is excited and honoured to get the opportunity to take this squad on and build on the foundations already in place from previous years. Hopefully, the squad will continue to flourish and grow under the care of Doctor Alban.
“It is an honour to be asked to manage this team,” he smiles. “Actually, Bohs were my first stop when I initially arrived in Ireland. Roddy Collins was the manager, and they were playing Dundee United, in a friendly at Dalymount. I walked up to him, I just thought to myself, ‘Why am I not playing football considering all the years I spent doing so before I came to Ireland.’ I just told him he needed to see me play! He told me to go up to the ALSAA Complex, which I did, and he offered me a Fás contract on £80 a week. But I got a job at I.B.M. and had a decision to make; stay full time or to go working. I chose to go to I.B.M. and play part time elsewhere. So, even though I disconnected from Bohs, the club were my first Irish love, my first opportunity in this country. So when I say it is an honour to manage at the club, it is exactly that, as I love the place. I love what Bohemians does in terms of helping in the community and those in society who really need it.
“We want to bring the best that is out there to this club,” he says matter-of-factly. “Nowadays the younger kids are being coached better than ever before; they are more technical and tactically aware. We need to continue to bring them on in terms of the psychological part, diet and conditioning. We want also to produce players ourselves in this club and build the pathways going forward. In terms of style, I want us to become a possession based team and to be able to manage the games. Of course at times depending on who you are playing and the type of game, we might have to adapt our style accordingly.”
Alban is only too aware of some of the quality players he has at his disposal this term and is guardedly confident that they can all develop still further as the season pans out. As well as the young guns that have been brought in or promoted from within,Alban has recruited some notable additions to the squad over the winter.
Experienced former DLR centre-half Róisín McGovern has arrived back from the U.S. to replace the departed Players’ Player of the Year, Tiegan Ruddy. Big shoes to fill, but Alban is more than confident that he has found the perfect replacement for Tiegan who had been such a key player. “Róisín has got a presence at the back, she is very physical, she is hard to play against, good on the ball and excellent in the air. Realistically we have gained a player with a lot of experience, who has played in the U.S for a few years, something that will stand to her, as well as having played in this league too, something that will serve us well as a team throughout the season.”
Perhaps the most notable arrival of all is the mercurial Hannah Healy [pictured left] from Shelbourne, one of the most promising young central midfielders in the country. Hannah has excelled in pre-season games and the prospect of a midfield made up from Aoibhe Brennan, Katie Lovely, Aoibhe Fleming, Fiona Donnelly, Mia Dodd, Savannah Kane and Hannah cannot fail to ignite the imagination.
“Hannah is an underage international and a brilliant player to get. She is a great prospect, an exciting player and one who will add a different dimension to our midfield, a player who will bring us further in terms of our ability to play a certain style and score more goals, all part of the plan to hopefully make progress on last season. It is great to see her in Bohs colours as I think she can offer us a lot going forward. She is hard-working, technical and a good finisher. I believe she is going places. Added to the other players who’ve come in and to what Bohs had last term, Hannah will make our midfield a force to be reckoned with, I’m sure.”
Mia Dodd who was superb in her first spell at the club has returned, also from Tolka, to bolster the midfield and attack. No doubt she will be keen to pick up from where she left off, top scoring as she did for the club in the 2023 season. “We’re delighted to have a player of Mia’s calibre and she gives us serious options in midfield and in attack. She scored a lot of goals in her first spell and I would hope that she has a great chance to add to that now.”
Katie McCarn, an exciting, dynamic forward talent has also arrived from Shelbourne to add width, pace and hopefully goals up top. “Katie loves to take players on and then they can’t keep up with her pace,” Alban smiles.
“She loves an open game and she has the potential to be absolutely lethal. She is a fine addition to the squad and we’re delighted to have her.” Jenna Willoughby has arrived in goal to provide competition alongside captain Rachael Kelly. She’s an under-19 international, joining yet again from Shels, and adds even more depth and quality to the squad in such a key position.
“Jenna will work hard to challenge Rachael Kelly. As well as being a brilliant keeper, she is very good on the ball, so unbelievably calm that at times I’m having a heart-attack looking at her, but then she pulls out a great pass! She is another great prospect.”
He adds, “We have Hannah O’Brien too arriving from Shelbourne and Michelle Muddiman from Athlone. Hannah is exciting like Katie McCarn, and is really good technically. She will have a big role to play I’m sure. I love Michelle’s physicality as she has played for an Athlone side that thrived in battling in games. She has presence, like I mentioned about Róisín, and I think she will be important for us this season. Leiagh Glennon is another one who has really impressed and changed the game when she came on at Linfield recently. She is most certainly an option for us and in contention this season. Aoibhe Brennan and Sav Kane are stand-outs from last year and Emma Gaughran too, a player who could have possibly played last week in Sligo but she was away on international duty. Emma has signed with the first team and it’s great to have a player of her quality in the fold. We’ve so many good players in the squad and in the underage teams that it’s impossible to mention them all here, but having emerging talent like we do is what makes any club successful, so I’m really excited for the season ahead.”
Continuity is also a massive thing and the vast majority of last year’s squad have been re-signed, experienced players like Rachael Kelly, Fiona Donnelly, the evergreen Lisa Murphy, the always smiling Abbie O‘Hara, Katie Lovely (the only survivor from Bohs’ inaugural WPD side, in 2019) top scorer Katie Malone, flying wingers Sarah McKevitt, Orlagh Fitzpatrick and Shauna Carroll, the ever mobile Alanna McEvoy and the emergent Sarah Power to pick out only a few we’ve not mentioned already. For Alban this has been as important as the in-coming.
“It is good to have that continuity, he agrees. “All those players are top quality and have been added to by the newer arrivals. They are all one more year experienced in the league as well and will be better players for it. I had Sarah Power, Orlagh Fitzpatrick and Aoibhe Fleming at both Peamount and Treaty so I know how good they are, though Aoibhe has a longer term injury and is sitting her Leaving Cert so we mightn’t see as much of her until the second half of the season.”
Off the field it has been just as important for him to surround himself with good people who will help bring the girls on.
“It has been crucial to keep Alan Murphy as assistant, Emma, Oran, and Adam from last year and add on the likes of Ciaran Fadden (set-piece coach), Tomo Moritani (ball mastery), John Deegan (goalkeeping coach), Tristan Kennedy (Sport Psychologist) and Alan Dooley (Physio), as a good backroom staff is absolutely vital to the success of any team. Different voices and ideas are always a help, and it freshens things up.”
He continues, “I’m a strong believer in Logotherapy, a field developed by Viktor Frankl that has a meaning-centred approach to life. It holds that life always has a meaning despite challenges, difficulties or circumstances.”
“I am sure we are going to have our own fair share of challenges this year but given the right conditions and support I am convinced players, staff and teams will develop to new heights.
I always look at trying to give the people opportunities, let them know what is needed and give them the freedom to express themselves and learn, then give them feedback and see if they can adapt and improve themselves. So, players have got a chance to thrive under these conditions, to be willing to learn, be motivated and find meaning even when there seems to be no way out.”
Pre-season has gone really well and there have been big wins over Treaty and Sligo, a come-from-behind 2-1 defeat of Linfield inBelfast and a 2-0 win over the same opposition in the OTC two weeks ago. Results are not what it’s about in these games of course, it’s all about gelling new players, new styles and developing the fitness and tactics of the team. In that respect, Alban has been more than happy with how things have gone as he continues to make his mark and shape a side in his image. It promises to be as competitive as league as ever this term and our new manager is under no illusions about the size of the task ahead of him and the players, and how small the margins for error are likely to be.
“We’ve had a great pre-season, the girls are bonding and getting to know each other. Although the core of the group from last year are still here, there are quite a few new faces too and quite a few youngsters. It takes time to get where we need to be and like all pre-seasons it is all about a work in progress, and like any other year you can’t read too much into those good results.
We have a tough run of games as we get into the season, Galway today, then Wexford, Athlone and Shels. It’s a crazy start, and we will have to hit the ground running!”
With last week’s game in Sligo under their belt (although we had to have this chat before that clash!), Alban is preparing for his home début as Bohemian senior manager today against a top-class Galway side. He knows that Phil Trill’s troops will provide a stern test having come so close to league glory last season and clinching the Avenir Sports Cup, but he is relishing the challenge, both in terms of what today poses and as he looks ahead to the season as a whole.
“Galway are a good side and have signed Ceola Bergin who I’ve always been a big fan of as well as a couple of top keepers from Wexford. I think they have a team which has the potential to compete for the league again this year and will be pushing all the way. They are a strong side and we will have to be at our best to beat them and do the business.”
He continues, “From my perspective, we have to be looking to develop players, the team and try to win something this year. In football you don’t always get what you deserve, however our aim will be to win every game even though that is an almighty task to achieve. But it is vital that we start well, that much I do know, and we’ll see where a good start might take us. As I said, I admire what this club stands for, how inclusive it is and one of my biggest aims is to try to continue to build this club the way so many managers and coaches that have been here since 2019 have done. This growth has been done one step at a time and so many have done so much. Now it’s my time to contribute again. Hopefully this year the women’s side of the club continues to grow, is competitive, is challenging for honours at all levels and that I can play my part in that.”