BY MICHAEL O’LEARY
In August, Sean Maguire returned to Cork City having previously had a successful spell on Leeside. The Castlecomer native made an instant impact with six goals in six appearances, as Cork City won promotion to the League of Ireland Premier Division having won the First Division title.
Sean played a key role in Cork City’s success under John Caulfield in 2016 and 2017 as he scored the winning goal against Dundalk in the FAI Cup Final in 2016, while he played a leading role in helping them win the Premier Division in 2017 before departing for Preston North End.
He was a very talented player at Schoolboys having played with Deen Celtic, Ormonde Villa and Evergreen, while the undoubted highlight was on Easter Sunday 2011 when he scored a hat-trick while helping the Kilkenny Youths win the All-Ireland Inter-League Final 4-2 against Cork on home territory in The Prince Grounds, Castlecomer.
As a 17-year old, Sean signed for Waterford United where he spent 18 months at The RSC scoring 14 goals in 32 appearances, as he was leading goalscorer in the 2012 League of Ireland First Division Season.
He made the move Cross Channel to West Ham United in January 2013, but unfortunately it didn’t work out for him in London and he returned to Ireland permanently in the Summer of 2015.
Sean spent a short period in Dundalk before making the move to Cork City ahead of the start of the 2016 season, and his first competitive game for Cork City was against Dundalk in The Presidents Cup Final.
Cork City won 2-0 with Sean among the goalscorers along with fellow Kilkenny man Gavan Holohan, and that was a sign of what was to come for the Castlecomer man.
He scored twice on his League debut for The Leesiders in their 2-0 win against Bohemians, and he would go on to become the Premier Division’s top goalscorer with 18 goals, as they would finish 7 points behind Dundalk who were managed by former Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny.
As mentioned, Sean scored the winning goal against Dundalk in The FAI Cup Final in 2016 to crown off a memorable season and the manner of the goal was extra special as it came in the last minute of extra-time.
He spent the first half of the 2017 season in Turners Cross before departing for Preston North End, but he played a key role for Cork City during that first half of the season as they went on to win the League of Ireland Premier Division for only the third time having been runners-up to Dundalk in each of the previous three seasons.
Despite only playing half the season with Cork City in 2017, Sean was top scorer in the Premier Division with 20 goals and just before he departed to return Cross Channel, he scored a hat-trick against Levadia Talinn in the second leg of their first qualifying round of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League at Turners Cross to become Cork City’s leading goalscorer in European competition.
Sean joined Preston in time for the start of the 2017-2018 season, and he spent six years at Deepdale Stadium where he made 159 appearances.
Also in 2017, Sean made his Republic of Ireland International Senior debut when coming on as a substitute in The 2018 World Cup qualifier clash against Moldova, and he made a further 10 appearances for The National Team with his only goal coming in an International friendly against New Zealand in November 2019.
He had spells at both Coventry City and Carlise before returning to Cork City in August and having played his part in helping the Rebel Army return to top flight football, he will hope to play another part in their attempt to try and compete for major honours as they successful on his previous visit to the Banks of The Lee.
