Where are they now – Andrew Rohan

Have you ever watched a football game and see a player get a yellow card for mouthing at a referee?.. Ever watched a game with a lanky, awkward looking, right-footed left full?… Well, no me neither, but every time I see a player needlessly booked for mouthing at a ref I think of only one person, Andrew ‘Rover’ Rohan. Over the course of nearly a decade with DCU Soccer, Andy and his antics with referees became a thing of folk lore. The statistics have him as having 11 yellow cards and 1 red over the course of his DCU career but that number is most definitely not accurate.. 100% mainly due to the fact that Andy himself maintained the stats for years!

With 146 appearances, 14 goals and 14 assists to his name, primarily from the center half and left full positions, Andy is among the leaders in all categories in DCU Soccer history. Andy has kindly agreed to be the first member of the DCU Soccer Alumni to sit down with our website guru, Gary, and talk about his memories with the club.

You may know him from newspapers like 'The Irish Times'

Name: Andrew Rohan
Knickname: Rover
Position: CH/LF
Appearances: 146 (138 starts, 8 subs)
Goals: 14
Assists: 14
Yellow Cards: 11
Red Cards: 1

Gary: So Andy, It’s great to have one of the all time heroes of the club back for our first in a series of chat’s with past legends.
Andy: Thanks Gary, pleasure to be here. Comfortable seat I must say, and the scotch isn’t bad. Lagavulin?

Gary: Only the best for the best. Anyway, let’s start at the beginning. When did you join DCU and why?
Andy: Well it’s a long time ago at this stage but it would have been when I started college in DCU in September 2000. After enduring ‘The Dark Years’ in Botswana I came back to Ireland and resumed my football at Castleknock Celtic. After a few successful years there our team unfortunately fell apart due to one too many on-field fights and the management team decided they had had enough.

Gary: Wow…
Andy: Yeah, unfortunate but that’s life. One door closes etc etc. Anyway, by the time I started in DCU I was looking for a club so I decided to go down to the first training session and try my hand.
Gary: And the rest as they say is history.
Break to refill Andy’s glass

Gary: So, you’ve been involved with DCU for quiet a while. You must have amassed a few highlights in that time.
Andy: And low-lights, but that’s another story!
Laughs.
Andy: I mean Gary, when you’ve been playing as long as me you tend to play your fair share of memorable games. There was the time we played Trinity in their own back yard, literally. Out on the cricket crease in front of all those Brits. We were massive underdogs Gary, but we didn’t let that stop us. Barry ‘Modo’ Cronin got himself a brace, 2 stunners. Game ended up 3-3. Took them back to St. Clare’s and beat them. Even BJ Fanning got a goal in that one. Great team we had back then. Scuba Steve Campbell is his prime. Rory O’Driscoll on the other wing. Good times.

Gary: A ‘Classic’, as they say..
Andy: Indeed. And who could forget the times we took the show on the road. 2001 when we toured Australia with basically a bunch of boozers. I mean you had Dan Lyne who in one game literally couldn’t see the ball. And in the same game a car smashes into a tree on the road beside the pitch. It’s trips like that where you make true mates. The fabled ‘F*CK OFF boys’ group was formed on that trip. Not sure if you were aware of that or not.

Gary: I was not, you learn something new every day!.
Andy: Yip. Blair Fanning, Niall Curran, his Jason Bourne persona had not come to light at this stage, ‘Young’ Al McCormack and myself. With an honourable mention to Modo of course. I could go on but I’m not sure your readers want to hear an old man reminisce.

Gary: Oh I’m sure the readers won’t mind.
Andy: Well, there was the trip to Barcelona, again to represent the university. Ronan Reilly coming off the bench and running so fast he fell on his face trying to reach a ball over the top. Maxi was in charge in those days. We won sweet f*ck all but we have a great time doing it! Then there was the day out against RCSI, still boils my blood thinking about it.

Are these my feet?

Gary: What happened there?
Andy: Well I like to pride myself on my knack of reading the game and not having to go to ground, sometimes its a necessary evil. Howling gale blowing and rain teeming down. Their big striker, Axel…
Gary: Axel Foley?
Andy: No Gary, not Axel Foley. Anway, Axel has a ball played down the side of the box which he’s running onto. I’m by his side and time the tackle perfectly knocking it out for a throw. I get off the deck and hear the ref’s whistle behind me thinking maybe he’s saying its a corner. I wheel around to complain that it was a definite throw and see him pointing to the spot. “NEVER” i shout at him. He tells me “Look you broke his leg”. And I turn around and sure enough the chaps’ shin is hanging at 90 degrees. Now, I won’t say I have remorse for it because frankly it was a perfect tackle and these things happen in football but I did feel somewhat bad for the position I had put the team in.

Gary: Ouch! One of those things I guess. Any memories from your time with the LSL sides?
Andy: Of course Gary. Knocking myself out cold and suffering a second concussion springs to mind. Played a cup final the following weekend mind. Waking up in hospital without a Scooby Doo of where you are is never fun. Especially when you haven’t been on the sauce getting there! Looking back on it despite the promotions and Cup runs we probably should have won more. But you know how it is sometimes trying to get lads out of bed on a sunday morning for a game. Curse of amateur football I guess! After one night on the tiles I remember getting from my place in Castleknock to St. Clares in 9 minutes. Lead foot! But they were happier times in Ireland, pre-IMF.

With technique like that, no wonder he was dropped for this cup final

Gary:We certainly have gone backwards in Ireland.
Andy:That we have. Don’t get me wrong Gary, like i said earlier there are moments which still have a bitter taste from my time in DCU. Getting sent off in the final league game of the season with a Cup final 2 weeks later against UCD. We managed to get the suspension postponed and Maxi still doesn’t play me. If i hadn’t played every other game that season it wouldn’t have bothered me so much you know….
Awkward silence

Gary: So… like you played inter-varsity and LSL football for DCU, a great achievement.
Andy: Thanks Gar, any chance of another top up?

Gary: Sure. So what had you been studying in DCU back then? It is a university after all.
Andy: That it is, and a mighty fine one. I thought it would be a great idea to study computing so that’s exactly what I did. I can’t complain too much I suppose, it’s been good to me. Also it allowed me to go on and study monkeys for a year. Well, to be fair that’s making my studies sound a lot cooler than they actually were. I did a masters in Bioinformatics, which is basically the boring part of monkey study, i.e. DNA analysis.

Gary:Not exactly rock and roll, but I guess it allowed you to prolong your college career. How about now, what are you doing with yourself? Still playing football?
Andy: I sure am. I guess at my age you’d be thinking of winding down but that’s just not me. I jumped ship from paying that bloody levy at home to try make my fortune in Canada. That’s still a work in progress to be honest but the football is still going strong. I’m playing with Ulster Thistle in the Ontario Soccer, that’s football to you and me, League…
Gary: You do remember that we’re called DCU Soccer right?
Andy: Whatever Gary… I won the OSL Rookie of the Year award last season, I’ll have you know.
Gary: Rookie? You’re 29 at this stage right?
Andy: Mine is not to reason why Gary. But yeah, nice to get a little recognition of your hard work you know. A couple of runners up finishes too help keep the enthusiasm up.

Gary: We wouldn’t mind one of them this year ourselves!
Andy: Yeah, big year for the club this year. I tell you DCU’s results are the first I look for when i get up on a Sunday morning, after the Premiership and my fantasy team obviously but you know what I mean.

Gary: Good to know we have your support. Well Andy, it’s been an absolute pleasure getting to chat with you.
Andy: All mine Gary, all mine. I’d just like to say it’s been a great privilege to have been involved with DCU and best of luck to the entire club for this and future seasons.

Gary: One last question before you go.. Do you remember Anto Moyles?
Andy: Yeah..
Gary: Was he any good at soccer?
Andy: No, not at all.