Debut Boy Looking to Make Right Impression

Charlie O'Loughlin

As featured in last month’s edition of The Harp, promising youngster Charlie O’Loughlin had been selected to represent the Republic of Ireland at under-16 level. Charlie was selected in the squad to face Austria on 27 October in Dublin.
The game was played in atrocious conditions on a wet and windy night at Whitehall, the home ground of Dublin City FC (formerly Home Farm FC), and in a close contest, Ireland were narrowly edged out 3-2 by their Austrian counterparts.
Speaking after the game back in Birmingham, Charlie was pleased with his performance and also enjoyed his experience of International Football.
“It was a bit disappointing really to lose on your debut. I actually started the game and played sixty minutes at centre-half. It was a close game and I was happy enough with my performance despite the result. The weather was absolutely awful which didn’t help the game either,” said Charlie.
“I found out that I had made the starting eleven, when the manager, Vincent Butler, announced the team just after our afternoon meal and that’s when the nerves started to kick in and I started to feel nervous, which I don’t normally do before games for Blues.
“When I was with the rest of the team, lined up and singing the national anthem, that’s when it brought it home to me that I was about to play for Ireland, which was a dream for me since I was a kid.”
Domestically, Charlie curr-ently ply’s his trade at the Birmingham City Football Club Academy and is a regular centre-back in the Under 18 team, but how did he find the step-up to international level?
“I thought that the game is played at a much faster tempo and the speed of the game never seems to drop. When I play for the Blues, the first fifteen minutes of the game is normally played at a fast pace, then the game settles down and it becomes more open. Against Austria, as soon as I was getting the ball, I was looking for a pass straight away as there was always someone closing you down.
“The level of play was really high and technically, it was very good. Playing for Ireland has given me confidence when I’m playing for the blues in holding onto the ball during a game and will hopefully develop my overall game further,” he explains.
Reflecting on his international call-up, Charlie says that he is looking forward to being involved with the Ireland set-up for some time and is looking to be selected for as many squads as possible.
“I was really happy to become an international – it’s the start of something for me, and I’m looking to get into the squad and stay in it for the foreseeable future. It was a landmark moment in my career, but I don’t see it as a one off event as I want to be someone who plays at the highest level that I can for Ireland.”