Cove Rangers defender Ryan Harrington is the latest player to take on our Starting XI feature.
Following spells at The New Saints and Connah’s Quad Nomads, Harrington returned to Scotland in the summer when he became Paul Hartley’s second close-season signing at Balmoral Stadium.
The 26-year-old is no stranger to Scottish football after coming through the youth ranks at Everton before making the move to Scotland to join Aberdeen’s youth academy.
While with the Dons, Harrington also spent a season on loan at Montrose.
The former Wales under-19 international, who can also play in midfield, took time out from his side’s preparations for Saturday’s game at Arbroath to tackle our questions.
What do you remember about your senior debut?
It was for Montrose while I was on loan from Aberdeen in a 2-0 defeat at Stranraer on August 25, 2018.
I remember travelling about three-and-a-half hours on the bus. I was a little bit nervous because it was my first game at first-team level.
I started as well, so it was obviously quite a big thing for me, especially only being 18 – I think I only trained once and then went straight into the starting XI for the first game.
What is your career highlight so far?
Last year at Conor’s Quay we won the Welsh FA Cup and we beat TNS in the final, which was a big achievement because they’re such a powerhouse in the Welsh league – they usually win everything.
They’re in the Conference league this year in the league stage, so to beat them last year in the last game of the season was a great achievement.
Who is the best player you played with?
There’s so many good players I’ve played with, but the best player I’ve played with in my career would probably be Kieran Dowell. He plays for Rangers at the minute.
I grew up from the age of 11 playing with him every year up until I was 18.
He always looked after the ball. You could trust him and he scored important goals.
He made his debut for Everton’s first team at a young age as well, and I think everyone could see that he was a fantastic player.
And who is your toughest opponent?
Probably Jadon Sancho – it’s close between him and Marcus Rashford.
But I think growing up at a youth level, Sancho was always a threat to play against. He was at Manchester City at the time and it was always me against him as he played on the right wing and I played left-back. It was always a good battle between us.
Dressing room threads – who has the worst fashion sense in the dressing room?
Will Gillingham, but I’m only going to say that because none of his clothes fit him.
He likes to be comfy. He doesn’t like anything being too tight on him.
I don’t think I can pull that off, but he pulls it off to be fair… It’s just not what I would wear.
How would your team-mates describe you?
I’d like to think that they would say I’m hardworking, that I always want to win. I’m very competitive.
It might mean I have a bit of a go at them in training, but that’s just because I want to win.
That’s the whole reason why we all play, isn’t it? To win games, to win trophies, get promoted and do well.
What is the best advice you have been given?
People say that it’s not that easy… but the truth behind it is that it is – If you work hard, if you always try your best, then things will come for you. You create your own luck. So when people say it’s not that easy, well, it actually is. That would probably be the quote for me.
What is your favourite away ground and why?
The Emirates would probably be the best one that I’ve played at. It was just before the end of the season so the groundsman allowed us to play on there when we played one of our youth games.
It is an immaculate stadium.
We had fans there as well. We (Everton) had a thousand-or-so fans, so that was probably the best.
What is your favourite goal scored by you or a team-mate?
It was for my local team called Garden Village, that’s where I grew up.
The goalkeeper kicked the ball down to the halfway line, but he’d taken the goal kick from the corner of the box.
I remember I just volleyed it straight back and it went in from the halfway line. I remember everybody just went silent. Nobody applauded.
No one clapped because they just couldn’t believe that it went in – I was the same. I kind of just stood there.
So that’s a major throwback, but I’ll never forget it.
If you were stranded on a desert island and had to bring one current or former team-mate for help, who would it be and why?
It needs to be someone handy so I’ll say Myles Gaffney. He knows everything about everything. He claims he does anyway, so yeah, put in brackets ‘he thinks he does’.
How do you relax away from football?
I like to go to coffee shops. I like sitting on my phone, reading books. I like doing some work on the laptop. I like to just kick back and chill out.
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