Co Antrim Shield: Gary Haveron still using the influence of 'Irish league royalty' to drive him on
Gary Haveron labelled the likes of Marty Quinn, Roy Walker, Paul Kirk and Tommy Wright as "Irish League royalty" as he paid tribute to them for helping to shape his career as a player and manager.
Haveron played under the four men for Lisburn Distillery, Coleraine and Ballymena United and they left a lasting impression on him.
The game may have changed a lot over the last 20 years but Haveron said he would be "foolish" not to draw on his experiences with the "legends" he played under with the Co Antrim Shield firmly in his sights.
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"There are some things in football that never change and for me it's about having that desire to want to play and give your best every day," said the Larne boss.
"I was lucky to work with Irish League royalty when I got to work with Marty Quinn, Roy Walker, Paul Kirk and Tommy Wright. They really had a big impact on me as a person.
"I always wanted to impress and please a manager and give my all for them. Marty had the best mentality out of anybody, he was a brilliant motivator, his team talks were something else. You wanted to rip the door off the hinges.
"That was Marty, he was such an incredibly driven person and a great human being because he cared about you and you knew it. He was the one person who could shout at you and tear strips off you and then buy you a beer straight afterwards and you still wanted to please him.
"Paul Kirk was an unbelievable motivator too, it was all about self-confidence and belief. He had belief in himself and he carried that into his players.
"Tommy Wright was so professional and organised and Roy Walker was so philosophical, he was such a clever man who would have an analogy for anything.
"I've been lucky to be around legends of the game and those four characters in particular. If you can't take parts of them into who you are and who you want to be then you'd be foolish."
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