Colm Ó Tuathail
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Colm Ó Tuathail | ||
| Date of birth | 26 March 158FE | ||
| Place of birth | Wynleth, Kelssek | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Playing position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Wynleth Flyers | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 173–175 | Wynleth Flyers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 175–177 | Wynleth Flyers | 56 | (22) |
| 177–179 | Oldem Knights | 46 | (6) |
| 179-180 | Issington FC | 25 | (6) |
| 180–188 | Shamrock Cathair | 190 | (68) |
| 188–194 | Ulsa | 117 | (39) |
| 194–197 | Wynleth Flyers | 56 | (15) |
| National team | |||
| 178 | Kelssek U23 | 5 | (1) |
| 178–195 | Kelssek | 172 | (30) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Colm Ó Tuathail (COL-um O Two-tie-el; [ˈkɔlˠəmˠ oː tʲʊat̪ˠaːɪl]) is a retired professional football player who played most notably for Shamrock Cathair and Ulsa, as well as Wynleth Flyers in the Kelssek Championship. He is a former captain of the Kelssek national football team and has the second-most caps for Kelssek in the modern era. He played primarily as a left midfielder or winger, but has played more centrally towards the end of his playing career.
Ó Tuathail was born in Colwyn and raised in Wynleth, the capital of Noua Cymru, and began his playing career in the youth system of the Wynleth Flyers club. He played for nine years with Shamrock Cathair in the Audioslavia National League, where he won one National League title and played in the Champions League 4 final. He then played for Ulsa, where he won two Euraleague titles and the Rushmore Copa de Campeones. He has been named in the shortlist for the world's best footballer award twice in his career.
Playing career
Ó Tuathail played his first professional senior match for Wynleth at the age of 17, and by the following year he had established himself in the first team, scoring 9 goals in his first full season. Wynleth were relegated that year but as the outstanding teenager on a struggling team in National division, Ó Tuathail fielded offers for a mid-season move from leading clubs Burnaby SC and Kirkenes FC. However, he was encouraged to wait for the international transfer window to secure to move abroad by Kelssek assistant manager François St-Louis, who felt that the Kelssek league was not at a high enough level for the development of a player he saw as a potential superstar.
Although nominally left-footed, he caught attention for his wilingness to cut inside and cross or shoot with his weaker right foot. He later explained in an interview with G/S, "I wasn't all that accurate, but the level the KFL was at the time, just getting it into the mixer could make a lot of things happen."
Oldem Knights
Apox's Oldem Knights paid Wynleth a transfer fee of ϑ1.54 million (USD 4 million) for the 19-year old starlet. Ó Tuathail almost immediately broke into the starting eleven as the Knights finished the season eighth in the Apox National League. In his second year at New Alpaca Drive, the team placed fifth and achieved Challengers Cup qualification. During this time, Ó Tuathail was also named to the Kelssek U23 roster for the 13th Summer Olympics and earned his first cap for the senior team against Alanikka in the first matchday of the World Cup 82 qualifiers.
Issington FC
Ó Tuathail moved to Apox second division winners Issington for 5 million, seeing an opportunity to play a leading role on an up-and-coming team. He got off to a slow start as he missed three matches with an ankle injury early in the season. However, he ended up only playing one season there before existential uncertainty, the club suffering relegation, and a cheque with a fairly large number on it encouraged him to move to Audioslavia.
Shamrock Cathair
Shamrock Cathair signed Ó Tuathail for USD 5 million, setting a modern-era record for a Kelssekian player. He wore number 18 for Shamrock. His first season in Audioslavia coincided with the making of the documentary A Tale of Two Cathairs, and in extended footage he tells an interviewer about the signing, "I'm really looking forward to playing for Rohan Cammers. He's known as a kind and caring sort of coach," raising some immediate questions about what his agent was thinking. Later in the season he admitted that the Shamrock manager's temperament made him "a bit nervous" after losing a match against Silexhera. Ó Tuathail scored in the final match of the season to give Shamrock a 2-0 lead as they looked set to take the National League title, but Cazadores made a stunning comeback to draw the match 2-2 meaning Shamrock ended up second on goal difference.
Losing the title in that fashion stung Shamrock Cathair badly and the following 11th National League season saw Shamrock finish 5th, although they reached the Kirola Cup semifinals. Ó Tuathail established himself as a talismanic presence in the squad and a fan favourite. With Alexander Crewe retiring as a player and moving into the manager's chair, Ó Tuathail took the number 10 shirt from season 14 onwards. Ó Tuathail won the National League title with Shamrock that year, this time decided in their favour by goals scored, the final tie-breaker. The following year Shamrock finished second in the league and Ó Tuathail played in the Champions League 4 final as they lost against Directus.
The decline in Shamrock's league position, finishing season 18 in seventh place - marked an ongoing rebuilding process that saw Ó Tuathail in the starting eleven less often and eventually on the transfer list.
Ulsa
Ulsa signed Ó Tuathail for a fee of £1.5 million ahead of the 49th Euraleague season. Wearing number 16, he recorded 8 goals and 12 assists in his first season and was named Newcomer of the Season. His output increased to 16 assists, fifth in the league, the following year as Ulsa won the Gold League for the first time in 18 years. Although he saw his starts reduced in favour of Julia Holt from season 52, Ó Tuathail continued to make an impact off the bench and was tied with Nolberto Dravon as the club's assists leader with 12 as Ulsa won the Gold League title. He was nominated for Midfielder and International Player of the Season awards and named in the first eleven of the Gold League XI. In 193 Ulsa reached the quarterfinals of Champions League 13 but lost to Fontvielle Impact 2-4 on aggregate. Midway through the 193-194 season, Ó Tuathail announced his decision to leave Ulsa at the end of the season.
Wynleth Flyers
Ó Tuathail signed a two-year contract, returning to his youth club Wynleth Flyers and the Kelssek Championship, and was given the captain's armband on his arrival. He helped a usually relegation-battling team to a comfortable 12th place finish in the KFL 75 season and was named a substitute in the league's Team of the Year. He then led out Kelssek at the home World Cup 94 where they were knocked out in the round of 16 by Valanora. Ó Tuathail announced his retirement from international football after the tournament.
Ó Tuathail came on as a substitute in the first two matches of the 197-78 season but subsequently missed two months with a hamstring injury. He made two more substitute appearances, making his comeback in a Patriotes Cup third round match followed by starting a league match against Burnaby SC, before deciding to retire from professional football.
| Club | Season | League | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | |||
| Wynleth Flyers | 55 | Kelssek Championship | 9 | 2 | |
| 56 | 30 | 9 | |||
| 57 | Kelssek National | 26 | 10 | ||
| Oldem Knights | 28 | ANL | 29 | 3 | |
| 29 | ANL | 27 | 3 | ||
| Issington FC | 30 | ANL | 25 | 6 | |
| Shamrock Cathair | 10 | The National League | 20 | 4 | |
| 11 | 24 | 7 | |||
| 12 | 22 | 10 | |||
| 13 | 27 | 6 | |||
| 14 | 24 | 8 | |||
| 15 | 21 | 10 | |||
| 16 | 16 | 12 | |||
| 17 | 19 | 5 | |||
| 18 | 18 | 6 | |||
| Ulsa | 49 | Euraleague Gold | 29 | 8 | |
| 50 | Euraleague Gold | 23 | 10 | ||
| 51 | Euraleague Gold | 20 | 8 | ||
| 52 | Euraleague Gold | 20 | 7 | ||
| 53 | Euraleague Gold | 25 | 6 | CdC winner | |
| Wynleth Flyers | 75 | Kelssek Championship | 31 | 9 | |
| 76 | 22 | 5 | |||
| 77 | 3 | 1 | |||
Honours
- Competition cycle with Kelssek calendar year in brackets
- Shamrock Cathair
- National League: 14 (183); runner-up: 10 (180), 13 (182), 15 (184)
- Vilitan Cove Invitational: (181)
- IFCF Champions League runner-up: 4 (184)
- Ulsa
- Gold League: 50 (190), 52 (192)
- Euraleague Shield: 51 (191)
- Rushmore Copa de Campeones: 59 (193)
- Individual
- Galaticos shortlist: 75 (181)
- Testicúlos First XI: 193
- Euraleague Newcomer of the Season: 49 (189)
- Euraleague Gold League XI: 50 (190), 53 (193)
- Euraleague Midfielder of the Season nominee: 50 (190), 52 (192)
- Euraleague International Player of the Season nominee: 52 (192)
- Kelssek Championship Team of the Season: 75 (195)