Mark’s fork in the road - from Keane to Keadue

Mark Forker has been to some exotic and quaint locations during a football career that has taken him to the United Arab Emirates.

Forker had two spells at Finn Harps and was at Heart of Midlothian as a teenager. A stint at Letterkenny Rovers included an FAI Intermediate Cup final appearance in 2016.

After returning home to live last summer, having been in Dubai, Forker was recruited by his native Keadue Rovers and is in his first season sampling the Donegal Junior League. Before going to Hearts, a 16-year-old Forker played for the Gulls in the Ulster Senior League.

Under John Francis Doogan and Pat Ward, Keadue have been competitive in the Premier Division this season. Points are a precious commodity and a 4-1 win over Convoy Arsenal on Sunday began 2022 in good fashion, teeing them up for a crack at in-form Donegal Town this Sunday. It is certainly a change from his time in Dubai.

Among his team-mates at Dubai Irish were Ian Selley, a Cup Winners Cup winner with Arsenal in 1994; Paul Barrett, an FA Youth Cup winner with Liverpool and former League of Ireland players Brian Cleary and Barry Andrews. Jordan Mustoe, who was at Finn Harps in 2021, trained for a brief period with Dubai City.

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The 29-year-old is much travelled and has played in Bulgaria and Italy.

They played friendlies against Qingdao Huanghai, the club of Yaya Toure, and Forker lined up against former Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane, who was then with ATK of the Indian Super League - the club where Carl McHugh from Lettermacaward now plays. They also faced FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk of Bulgaria during Forker’s time in the Middle East.

“It was surreal to play against Robbie Keane,” Forker says. “It was a brilliant experience in Dubai. I went out first just thinking I would play a bit of ball. I sort of resigned myself to that, but then a new tier, a third tier, formed in the UAE. The Premier Division and First Division have a rule in place where teams can only have three foreign players, but the third tier was opened up and a new club, Dubai City FC, was formed.”

Keadue Rovers Manager Pat Ward presenting new training tops to captain Chris Greene before Sunday's game against Convoy Arsenal.

Forker was joined by former Finn Harps team-mates James Doherty and Gary Whoriskey - who are both now at Kilmacrennan Celtic - at Dubai City.

“The standard was good and it was really well run,” he says. “The club was brilliant. They had teams from under-6 in the academy and their model was basically to send players to England or Scotland or to America on scholarships, but there was then the added incentive of first team football.

“For me, I was 31 and thought that that opportunity was gone. We trained three nights a week and played at the weekend, traveling all over the UAE.

“We were in the top four in the first season and then we won promotion. The play-off final was live on TV and it was a brilliant experience. The next season, the sad thing was that the squad broke up because of the rule kicking in about the three foreigners.”

Forker is one of the few over-30s in the Keadue squad. His former Finn Harps and Letterkenny Rovers team-mate Christy Connaghan, David Ward and goalkeeper Christopher Sweeney are the others. Chris Greene, the captain, is the next in the age line at 27.

“We could be doing with one or two more experienced players,” Forker says. “We’re learning all the time. The biggest positive for me is that we’re improving. We play a good brand of football.

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“We have to give credit to John Francis and Pat, they put a lot of effort into it. They plan the sessions well and all the information is shared about what we’re going to do. They’ve added professionalism to training. There is a difference between training and training properly. A lot of the young lads here wouldn’t have been exposed to that before. We train at an intensity and at a high level.

“The lads are buying into small things, like discipline, being there on time and things like that. The club has put a massive effort in over the last few years and they’re getting the rewards now. We've got a ton of good young players coming through.”

Former points to the likes of Ethan McCaffrey, Oran Fallon, Jay Doherty and Jordan Saville. The likes of Danny McGlynn and Callum Boyle featured with Derry City in the SSE Airtricity League of Ireland Under-17 League.

“We have some real talent there,” Forker says. “This is a tough League against real experienced players. You look at Kildrum with the ikea of Matthew Crossan and Kevin McHugh or Kilmac’ with James Doherty, Gary Whoriskey and Caolan Kelly. It’s a real learning curve.

“We’re coming up against what I’d call crafty sides who have been together for a long time and have a bit of nous. These teams haven’t changed much and they have that consistency.

“I feel that there has been a filtering in Donegal. The Ulster Senior League has fewer teams now and there are more players in the Donegal League who could play at intermediate level. The Premier Division has definitely strengthened and in general the League is strong.

“It has been tough for us, but we do have a very young team and the age profile of the squad is very good. We’re excited about what we could do.”