Gill delighted with Ireland call-up

Dundalk boss John Gill on Tuesday afternoon received yet another boost with his call-up to the management team of the Republic of Ireland Under-23 squad, who face Northern Ireland in Lurgan on Tuesday 13 May. Gill earlier this year completed his Pro-Licence, and has guided Dundalk to a five-point lead in the eircom League of Ireland First Division after only eight games. The announcement is another recognition of Gill’s growing status, and speaking last night, he expressed his delight with the news.
 
“I’m absolutely thrilled,” Gill admitted to dundalkfc.com. “It’s a great honour. It’s an honour for the club, and it’s a real testament to the players here, because they have got me the chance by doing their work on the pitch. It’s a nice honour, but at the same time, it’s an honour for the club, not only me. This is why you’re in football; these are the good times. My dad said ‘always remember the good times, because the bad ones are only around the corner’, and I realise that.
 
“The game is against Northern Ireland in Mourneview Park (Glenavon’s home ground) on Tuesday 13 May. It doesn’t interfere with any of my work here – I wouldn’t do that. We assemble actually in the Ballymascanlon Hotel, I think, on the Sunday, which is the Sunday after the Shels game. We’ll train Sunday morning here in Oriel, and then I’ll go out and join the squad there. We train on Sunday in Bellurgan, and again twice on Monday there, as well as on Tuesday morning, and then we go up to Mourneview for the game.
 
“It’s a personal honour for me and my family, but also, it’s a great honour for the football club. We’re lucky as well, because Tommy Connolly is involved with the under-19 international team, and he’s actually going across to Turkey to help the under-17 international team out there. So, Dundalk are lucky with some of the people that we have involved, and maybe it’s about time that the club got some recognition for the good work that we’re doing, on and off the pitch.”