Nov 12,2024
Sixteen years after making his debut in the League of Ireland, veteran defender Dave Webster finally has a medal to show for his endeavours and it's come just in time.
As the curtain comes down on this season, the Drogheda United centre-back is calling time on a career that started at Bray Wanderers and also took him to the likes of Shamrock Rovers, St Patrick's Athletic, Waterford and Finn Harps.
But 10 November 2024 will be the fondest memory of all for the 34-year-old after helping Drogheda to beat Derry City in Sunday's Sports Direct FAI Cup final - the Drogs' second cup triumph and Webster's maiden winner's medal.
Webster said he wished it was his final game but the swansong itself will come in Saturday's promotion/relegation play-off against his former club Bray Wanderers when Drogheda will hope to avoid demotion from the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division, having finished second-from-bottom in the top flight over the past campaign.
"It's a good Bray team who are in great form on the back of two wins, three wins in play-offs and were in great form before that," he said.
"Obviously, it's a club I know well. We'll enjoy tonight and we'll get straight back on the horse (on Monday) and we'll look to get the job done next week as well."
Beyond that fixture, Webster will turn the leaf onto a new chapter in his life, leaving behind a period as a part-time player, although he added that his retirement was not the proverbial case that his 'legs have gone'.
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"I could play on. But the time is right for me and my family," he said.
"As people have said, it's been a bit of a story the last couple of weeks that we (Drogheda) are kind of the the last generation, that this could be the last part-time team, it would be full-time next time.
"The part-time stuff is hard. It's hard. You're trying to get everything together to perform on the pitch in the Premier Division, the top league in the country, and you've got 40 hours of work, you've got kids at home.
"Listen, I'm not the only one with these kind of problems. It's right for me and it's right for my family to go out now. I'm going out a happy man."
