The battle is already on, within the League of Ireland, to secure the services of Derry City goalkeeper Brian Maher for next season.
But the Dubliner says that he has parked any talk about contracts and his own future to concentrate on the mission of landing the FAI Cup for his club. Derry take on Drogheda United in Sunday’s Final, needing a win not to only qualify for Europe next season but also to give some sort of a positive finish to a campaign which had disappointments like a European exit to opposition from Gibraltar and a fourth-place finish in the Premier Division.
Retaining the out of contract players who are wanted by rival teams will be more difficult if Derry are not in Europe next summer and as Maher has already been linked with the likes of Shamrock Rovers, an exit could happen, though he says he’s more concerned about bringing a trophy to Derry than his own future.
“The honest answer is I don’t know, I have spoken to the club and people around me, I told them I didn’t want to do anything until after the season was over,” Maher said when asked where he will be in 2025.
“I didn’t want to be locked in contract talks and worrying about contracts when, at that stage, we had three games left to win a double and I didn’t want to be worrying about contracts, I wanted to be left alone to focus on the pitch.
“It’s the same this week, I didn’t want to be doing anything in Cup Final week, I wanted to be left to focus on the football, that’s what I have always done. I have heard a lot of noise for a while, it’s just rumours, we will see what happens when the season is over but there’s no stress from my end. I want to see the season out and see what happens.”
In contrast to any possible caveat that a contract extension at Derry would hinge on European football next year, Maher says that silverware is more important to the club.
“This talk of getting into Europe through the Cup, it’s not been spoken about, we want to win the Cup, winning the Cup is bigger than getting a day out in Europe in my eyes,” he said.
“It’s the bonus of winning the Cup now for us, which wasn’t the case the last time (2022), we’d get into Europe without it. Me coming to this club was about winning trophies, it wasn’t about getting into Europe or finishing third or fourth and having someone help us get into Europe.
“I came here to win trophies, it’s why I stayed here at the start of the season as well, I wanted to win more trophies with this club. We have a massive chance on Sunday, we had a tough run in the Cup so to finish on a high would be brilliant.
“It’s a big reason why we were all here, to try and win the League, and the Cup, it would be disrespectful to the Cup as it’s something you aim to win at the start of the week, just because we haven’t won the League doesn’t mean the Cup means any less or more. It’s still a massive trophy in this country, the day that every player looks forward to at the start of the season, you look to see when the Cup Final is and just because we’ve had a few disappointing results that doesn’t change.”
Maher lost out to rivals like Brendan Clarke — a big influence on Maher’s career — and Conor Kearns in the internal battle of the LOI Keepers’ Union for most clean sheets in the League (Maher had 13, the other two both had 16) but his season included the high of a spell training with the senior Republic of Ireland squad under caretaker John O’Shea, working with fellow keepers like Caoimhin Kelleher under coach Rene Gilmartin.
“Caoimhin’s older than me but I did spend a bit of time in the squad with him, he’s been amazing. When I was in with the senior team I got on really well with him, just a really calm guy and the quality is there for all to see. He’s the type of fella you want to see do well, the way he is about the place and how he treats people,” he added.