Darby Decking and Garden Sheds, Athboy sponsored training tops for Meath & District Premier League side Trim Celtic. At the presentation were John Kelly (left), Michael Darby (Darby Decking and Garden Sheds, Athboy), Trim Celtic manager Brian McCreary and John Barry.

Fenn assistance a boost for Trim Celtic's Premier League title bid

Published: Wed 17 Aug 2011, 4:58 PM

Former Tottenham Hotspurs player Neale Fenn has been recruited by Trim Celtic to help them in their stated ambition to win the Meath & District League Premier title this season. Fenn, who is now retired from playing, has turned his attention to coaching full-time going around to clubs and showing mainly under-age players how to improve their skills. However, Trim Celtic have also requested him to help out with their adult teams and it is expected that he will be involved in that role as the season progresses. "Neale has been doing the training every Thursday night and he's superb, the lads enjoy it, his training sessions are obviously very professional, top class. It's not physical work he's doing it's all ball work and it really paid off today," said Trim Celtic manager Brian McCreary on Sunday after his side's 8-0 win over Navan Town in the Kilmessan Shield. Other players who have been working with Trim Celtic in recent weeks include St Patrick's Athletic goalkeeper Gary Rogers, FAI Development Officer Mark Scanlon and another goalkeeper Robbie Horgan who had spells with a number of clubs including Shamrock Rovers and Drogheda Utd. "As I've stated before, we're going to give it a good go this season, we're doing everything we can to get us right for the season," added McCreary whose side face Marsh Celtic in the opening round of the Premier programme this Sunday. Fenn can look back on a long and varied career on both sides of the Irish sea. He spent his early years with Tottenham Hotspur making 10 first-team appearances. He could hardly have made his debut in more daunting circumstances than when he started on the Spurs team that took on Manchester Utd in the third round of the FA Cup at Old Trafford in 1997. The London side lost 0-2. His Premiership debut came against Sheffield Wednesday in a 1-2 defeat that April with Fenn coming on as a substitute. Among the players he could call his team-mates were Teddy Sheringham, Sol Campbell, David Ginola and Jurgen Klinsmann. Fenn, who was born in London, went on to have spells with a variety of clubs. At one time or another he turned out for Leyton Orient, Norwich City, Swindon Town, Lincon City and Peterborough Utd. He moved to Ireland when he signed for Waterford Utd and went on to play for Cork City, Bohemians, Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers. He attracted controversy last year when he announced he was retiring from football and was released by Dundalk. However, he returned to have a spell with Shamrock Rovers. Fenn also represented Ireland at every level from u-15 right up to the B grade and was on the Irish squad that won the FIFA World Youth Championships in Malaysia in 1997. He was called into a number of senior Irish squads without winning that elusive cap.