Conor Hourihane retirement: Barnsley FC legend puts focus on new passion over chasing past glories
At 33 years-old, the former Ipswich Town, Plymouth Argyle, Aston Villa, Swansea City, Sheffield United, Derby County and Republic of Ireland midfielder says he could have carried on playing but wanted to throw everything into his passion for coaching.
"It's very disappointing that I'm at this stage after all the years," he admitted. "It's a little bit emotional thinking about all the fond memories and how quick the years have gone. I'm very frotunate to have done oaky in the career I've had and it's huge excitement at the same time.
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Hide Ad"I'm very fortunate to have been given this role to go straight from retiring into the role I've been given.
"I can only thank Neerav (Parekh, the chairman), Mladen (Sormaz, the sporting director), Darrell (Clarke, head coach), of course, for trusting me in this role to hit it head on."
Hourihane returned to the club for a second spell in the summer, but says those expecting a fairytale Indian summer on the pitch were perhaps unrealistic. He only made two appearances on his return, totalling 84 minutes of League One football in June and is now mentally ready to pass the torch on.
"I was slowing down, I wasn't getting to the levels where I wanted to get to," he says. "I'm big on giving everything.
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Hide Ad"Playing and coaching I couldn't do both roles. The fans remember a 25, 26, 27-year-old Conor Hourihane playing out of skin, especially towards the end of my Barnsley time and that player just isn't there any more.


"I'd love to be living in the past but that was never going to be the case.
"It's about creating new good days with the coaching side of it.
"When I came on for them few games it was nice to get out on the pitch but I was coaching for half of the week leading into the games, I didn't feel like I was prepared, didn't feel like I was fit enough and it was really difficult to balance both things at 100 per cent.
"I'm very honest with myself and self-aware.
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Hide Ad"And there were better players around me as well – Philo (Adam Phillips), Luca Connell, Jon Russell's playing really well, Kelechi (Nwakali)'s coming into the frame now. I wouldn't be putting in better performances than they are. I might have done at 25, 26, 27 but not as a nearly 34-year-old.
Hourihane is set on this journey ending in management and has been putting in the hours since the Covid lockdown, not only studying for his badges and taking training sessions away from the public gaze in Barnsley's academy and elsewhere, but also speaking to those within the game about what they expect from coaches and job interviewees.
"I like to earn something and put in the hours," he said. "I like to learn, I like to see – long car journeys or deep thinking time or phonecalls that make you think, 'What am I doing this for?'
"I like going out and earning something and not being given it because there's more value in it. It was the same as my (playing) career, going from League Two into the Premier League and putting in the work. No one knocks on your door and gives you a ticket to where you want to go.
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Hide Ad"So when you get to where you want go there's satisfaction from that."
That groundwork has made an impression on the Oakwell hierarchy.
"Conor really impressed in his coaching duties over the summer and at the start of the season, the number of hours he was putting in was massive," said Sormaz. "Secondly, after the opening games, he had felt that he wasn’t able to play to the level he demanded from himself and this coincided with Dean Whitehead’s departure – therefore it made perfect sense to give Conor more responsibility as a coach and call time on his playing career. The club and Darrell collaborated on the decision.”
Clarke called Hourihane a "top coach but also a mentor to a lot of young men within the club looking to replicate the career he has had."
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