Former Oxford United, Grimsby Town, and Mansfield Town striker Pat Hoban has signed for Derry City, for a fee reported to be worth €30,000 (£25,000).
Hoban, who has spent the last six years at Dundalk, made the move after being told by The Lilywhites that he was free to leave, despite being their record goalscorer. He’s been at Oriel Park since leaving Mansfield Town in 2017 and has netted 108 goals in 217 outings for the club.
He’s known for 11 weeks he wasn’t going to be staying at Dundalk, something that has been an issue for the 32-year-old.
“There was no point of me staying,” he said after securing the move to Brandywell. “That’s all I’m going to say really. There was no point at all where I was going to be staying at Oriel Park. I was told what I was told 11 weeks ago and that was it.”
He joins a Derry City side fresh from finishing second in the LOI table, earning qualification to the UEFA Conference League.
“I’m a Derry City footballer now and that’s all my focus is on,” he added. “I am really happy to be here and to get this done. Once I was told on Tuesday that it was going to be done I was delighted. It was saga over. My full concentration now is to help Derry win a league. I’m here to win trophies. Nothing else.”
Galway-born Hoban began his career with Mervue United, before a move to Bristol City, which didn’t work out. He had a stint back in Ireland, notably with Dundalk, where he bagged 44 times in just 72 outings.
He signed for Oxford in 2015, turning down the chance of a trial at Kilmarnock to try his luck in the English game again. He struggled for form in League Two, netting just three goals in two seasons, with loan spells at Grimsby and Stevenage failing to bring a goal.
In 2016, he joined Mansfield Town after agreeing to join Lincoln City, only to pull out at the last minute. His time at Field Mill wasn’t a success, with six goals in 24 outings, and he left the following summer for Dundalk.
His second spell at Dundalk brought two league titles, two FAI Cups, a League of Ireland Cup, two President’s Cups, and a Champions Cup, as well as two Player of the Month awards.
Writer’s View
Hoban is one of those players who you thought should do well in England but has struggled. The League of Ireland produces so many good players, but it’s often hard for them to make the transition to England.
Hoban had all the right attributes to be a success in League Two, but it never quite worked out for him. Oxford were on the up when he left, and he was perhaps a player left a little by the wayside, with Kemar Roofe and Danny Hylton in deadly form.
There was also a lot of pressure at Mansfield, big spenders who underachieved during his time there. He might wonder what could have been had he moved to Lincoln City – Danny Cowley wanted him right at the start of his spell there, and a year later, as Hoban was on a plane home, Lincoln had won the National League and been to an FA Cup quarter-final.
Football; it’s all about the ‘what ifs’.
