Ryan Cassidy, remember the name.
Another St. Kevin’s Boys product, the Irish striker has built an instant rep for himself across the water.
Having signed for Watford only months ago back in July, Cassidy, at just 16, is on the radar already for the Premier League club as he leads the scoring charts of the under-18 league.
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The Castleknock native started with St. Kevin’s Boys in Dublin at under-9 level. He, like so many others, came through the small-sided games system and developed into a prolific 11-a-side footballer who’s now banging in goals for fun.
Last year, Cassidy was on the Republic of Ireland under-16 team that won the Victory Shield but didn’t play international ball this season due to injury. The way he’s going though, he’ll be called up any time he’s half fit.
As a first year scholar with Watford, the striker’s performances and his deadly results with the London club are precocious. Watford under-18s operate in the tier below the U18 Premier League and they have two games to jump back into the promotion reckoning of the South division.
Cassidy? He’s the most in-form player of one of the league’s best sides.
After 14 games, the Dubliner has already racked up 12 goals for himself and he leads the way in the goalscoring charts for the entire division.
But what he’s doing, even at this level at that age, is no big surprise to Alan Caffrey.
The Head of Youth Development at St. Kevin’s Boys FC watched and worked with Ryan Cassidy for eight years and he knows full well the extent of the teenager’s potential.
“Ryan was always a goalscorer here. He was always one of the top goalscorers in this country and he has continued that so far over in Watford,” Caffrey told SportsJOE.
“He scores all sorts of different types of goals – outside the box, inside the box, he can score with his head. He’s just always been a goalscorer, the sort of player you need when a game is tight. Even if things aren’t going his way on the day, you just always believed that he could get a goal, which he always did in fairness to him.
“He’s started off well and everybody’s always looking for a goalscorer – the prices they pay these days for a goalscorer. If he can continue that for the next three or four years, he’ll soon quickly get up the ladder and make headlines.”
When Cassidy was ripping through football pitches in Ireland, there were always English clubs sniffing around for him but it was Watford who wasted no time in putting a contract on the table and, because of that, it’s Watford who are benefitting from one of the most exciting prospects in the Irish underage system.
Another St. Kevin’s product showing all the signs that he can be the real deal. It’s going to be a hell of a few years for Cassidy if he keeps up this sort of form. Watch this space.
