“I’m a fan of the League of Ireland,” says McMahon on this week’s House of Football Show.
“I think the League of Ireland is like Ballymun.
“The League of Ireland has been neglected by the FAI for years.
“That’s what’s special about the League, you’ve clubs that are really up against it. Like I love what Drogheda do. They fight against it every time, I love what UCD do, Finn Harps, they keep coming back for more,” says McMahon.
Philly’s soccer coaching journey began almost a decade ago when, as an S and C coach, he took on players such as Jack Byrne and Enda Stevens on an individual basis. It was through his connection with Stevens that he got to know Shamrock Rovers manager Trevor Croly, who appointed McMahon in that role in 2012.
“I was training a couple of lads individually at first, I had a couple of agents sending their players to me to be training them before they went over to England.
“So I had Jack Byrne, Alex O’Hanlon who was in Liverpool, Enda Stevens before he joined Villa. I was training a load of them lads.”
He moved onto Bohs in later years, as a performance coach, where he focused on changing the mindset among the team’s players.
“I stayed connected with Trevor, we’d meet regularly and talk about sports performance. Trevor is always trying to learn and look at different angles. In 2018, he asked me to go in and do a bit of work with the team.
“In 2021, when I went in full-time, it was mostly work-shops, where we’d build a connection.”
To this day, McMahon retains a strong connection to the League.
“Look, everyone in the League of Ireland has rivalries – like those Bohs-Rovers games, wow. But for me, no matter where you go, you will notice the difference between a League of Ireland fan and someone that’s maybe an English football fan, or just followes the international stage.
“They just love League of Ireland, regardless of the club.”
McMahon is an Everton fan himself and says that, from a coaching perspective, he’s been asked to go over to England on a couple of occasions.
“I was asked to go over to two clubs in England but it wasn’t for performance coaching, it was for strength and conditioning. But I’ve a young kid now, Lennon, he’s 16 months old.
“I’ve always been that person from a very young age that, with my club and with Dublin, I’m going to help them, so if anyone’s listening from Everton, let me know,” he joked.
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