'He just went for gold': When Liverpool ace Conor Bradley starred for Finn Valley AC

The first time they saw Conor Bradley, they just knew.

Conor Bradley was first spotted running while a pupil at St Patrick's Primary School in Castlederg.

Finn Valley AC immediately earmarked him as a talent they had to get a hold of. Like countless others, Bradley was netted at schools level and his talents were obvious to those who knew what they were watching.

“I haven’t seen many like him,” says Patsy McGonagle, who led the Irish athletics team to four Olympic Games, six World Championships and six European Championships.

“He was a natural athlete. He just had brilliant endurance. Conor just tore into it. The first day I saw him, I knew he could run and he could win – he just went for gold.”

This Sunday, Bradley will play for Liverpool against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.

Bradley's rise has been meteoric, forcing his way into not just the plans, but the team of Jurgen Klopp.

Bradley, from just outside the village of Killen, scored his first Premier League goal in last month's win over Chelsea. The 20-year-old full-back is playing like a seasoned pro these days.

In his school years, Bradley was a multi-faceted sportsman. He could turn his hand – and his legs – to anything.

“He liked the running, but he was football mad,” says Mairead McGrath, a key figure in Bradley linking up with Finn Valley AC.

“Conor had no running done one time and we took him to an Ulster and he won it. Conor just went and run straight out. He was always football mad and even then he was already approached by Liverpool; they knew they wanted him.

“Conor was able to win with no training. He was naturally gifted. If he had stuck at it, he would've been an All-Ireland champion, no doubt.”

There is an image now ingrained on the minds of those down Stranorlar's Millbrae. It is that of a passionate McGrath shouting a young protégé to victory.

Mairead McGrath shouts Conor Bradley on to victory

The Donegal juvenile cross country championships of 2013 represented a big milestone for Bradley, but he came to Porter's Field in Castlefin and delivered gold.

He followed up a few months later at the 2014 school sports at Finn Valley, winning the 600m, staving off Letterkenny pair Liam Hannigan and Joseph Aidoo

Oisin Toye was a Finn Valley AC team-mate of Bradley's around a dozen times.

Toye has had success on the football field too and represented Finn Harps at underage level for a time.

A silverware winner with Drumkeen United, his big focus has become running. A scholarship student now at ATU Donegal, the former Deele College Head Boy won the recent Ulster Intermediate Cross Country title.

Toye ran with and against Bradley in club and schools events.

“He was very good, very strong and really competitive,” Toye says. “Conor just ran to the front and he always ran with a smile on his face – that's something my dad always says about Conor, how he ran with a smile.

“Conor ran, he just turned up and did the business.”

McGrath's daughter, Aoife, was in the same class at school so she took a keen interest in his exploits.

Finn Valley AC was a fairly easy sell for the Bradleys. Conor's mother, Linda (McMenamin), who hails from Aghyaran, won medals on successful Finn Valley teams in her own youth.

“Conor ran so well with us, but we always knew that he was going to go to the football,” McGrath says. “He didn't stay very long, but he had good success while he was here.”

Conor Bradley celebrates scoring for Liverpool 

Bradley, who has been capped 13 times by Northern Ireland, initially joined Liverpool FC’s Academy in 2019 and in May 2021 he signed a three-year pro contract.

He made his senior debut in a Carabao Cup tie against Norwich in September 2021 and Klopp has spoken in glowing terms of the right-back.

After Bradley's recent goal against Chelsea, Klopp said of the youngster: “I think he is flying at the moment. He is working hard. He is a good footballer and has helped us so much. It is incredible.”

Bradley was fast-tracked through the Christian Brothers Grammar School in Omagh, skipping year 10 to go straight into GCSEs to facilitate his move to Liverpool.

Several clubs, among them Manchester United, Chelsea and Southampton, chased his signature and it provided neat banter for he and Toye, a Manchester United fan.

“Conor was always a mad Liverpool fan,” Toye said. “Once the Liverpool scouts showed the interest, I think that's where he was always going to go.

“The last time I ran with him was on the schools track and field. He sort of just wanted one more race before he was going to Liverpool to live

“We were a duo for some Ulster events and we did well. We won quite a few medals.”

Conor Bradley (centre) with Oisin Toye and Jack Holian after a race at Finn Valley AC

The young Bradley played for St Patrick's FC in Castlederg and his talents stood out before Dungannon Swifts came calling. He is also a product of the IFA’s ‘Club NI’ programme.

By the time those in Dublin shook their heads to heed the raised hands attempting to draw their attention, Bradley was firmly ensconced in the NI system. As well as trying to alert the FAI to a prodigious prospect, some St Patrick's FC members also implored some at Finn Harps to have a look, but with the club's academy still in infancy the chance passed and he headed for Stangmore Park and Dungannon Swifts.

Bradley isn't the only player to make a successful transition from the blue and white Finn Valley AC singlet to another sport.

Georgie Kelly, now with Carlisle United after moving recently from Rotherham having been Bohemians' top scorer in the 2021 League of Ireland Premier Division, ran for Finn Valley.

Current Finn Harps player Shane McMonagle was also an All-Ireland gold medallist.

“It bears out for me what I have always said: it would be to the advantage at a young age that everyone does some sort of athletics,” McGonagle says.

“When I see Conor now, I can still see the athlete in him. He still hasn't lost that athleticism. He worked hard and he was focussed. We always knew that his heart and soul was in football, but we worked with that.

“We were just glad to have him leading our team at times.

“His mother was an every-present and she had ran as part of good Finn Valley teams. That gave us an advantage in that Linda had knowledge of what this was all about and of who we were.

“At some points along the way, we rearranged timetables to make sure that Conor was able to run the race before going away to football. Mind you, it helped that I was the starter!”

The Bradley family was plunged into grief in early February following the death, after a long illness, of Conor's father, Joe.

The family retain strong links in the Finn Valley area.

Conor has returned to the Liverpool side after a small period of compassionate leave and is almost certain to be handed a starting berth at Wembley on Sunday.

“It's great to have an association with someone like Conor,” McGonagle says. “Conor's mother, Linda, always endeavoured to bring him to competitions here. He was prominent and it was so obvious that he was good.

“He was just a natural, but he was on a pathway in football.

“I have no doubt, none, that with his physical development he would have been a very successful 800m or 1500m runner. We retain a great interest and of course we're so proud of him.”

Avid football fan Toye treasurers the old photos from their formative years and wonders where the journey might've taken them had Bradley's talents not been so obvious to Liverpool's talent scouts.

“It’s kind of weird to think you know him because he's doing so well,” Toye says. “A lot of footballers, you just think they're superstars, but I knew him, I ran with him a good bit. He was just so nice and so genuine.”