THE FEEL GOOD FACTOR
Brother’s joy at Rory Bohemians move
By DAIRE WALSH
RORY FEELY’S move from St Patrick’s Athletic to Bohemians was warmly received within the defender’s household.
Feely’s older brother Kevin – an established Gaelic footballer with Kildare – previously lined out for the Gypsies before sealing a cross-channel move to Charlton Athletic in November 2012.
Rory said: “He was pretty happy when I told him. He was kind of pushing for it in the last few years. Obviously not forcing me, but he was always on the Bohemians side of the equation whenever they were interested in signing me. He was happy enough this year.”
On a part-time contract at Bohs, Kevin was free to play for his local GAA club Athy and very often featured for both sides at the weekend. However, Rory’s status at Dalymount Park will prevent a similar juggling act.
“I’ve signed a professional contract at Bohs now. I don’t think it’s even possible that it would be allowed at this stage. Especially with the amount of games that we have coming up with Europe,” the former Kildare underage star said.
“I don’t think Gaelic would unfortunately be able to come into the equation until my soccer boots have been hung up. Which probably isn’t going to be for a while, but you never know. This year anyway I can’t see myself doing both.”
Feely does have one eye on life outside of sport and as a PE and maths teacher, he has been contemplating a side move into the education sector. If he does go down that route, he will do so with the full blessing of his new employers.
“They’re very positive towards that and they almost accommodate lads having a part-time job as well as the football. That’s another reason why they train in the evenings. Higher than 80 per cent of the lads on the team would have a part-time job during the day. Just to keep their minds from wandering or just keep themselves away from boredom during the day,” he said.
While Rory was only a year into a second spell at Pat’s, the lure of European football was a major factor behind his latest League of Ireland transfer. Bohs’ second-place finish in 2020 was their highest in 10 years and guarantees them a spot in the first qualifying round of the inaugural Europa Conference League in July.
Feely added: “That’s always an incentive looking at clubs and it’s obviously going to be a huge occasion and a huge milestone for a lot of the players. Myself included. I only got a bit of a taster at Pat’s when I was first there.
“I got to be on the bench for a couple of games over in Luxembourg and Belarus, but I never actually got to play. It will be a really good occasion and good opportunity for us to impress on a European stage.”