WHEN Joe Gormley turned up for Cliftonville’s pre-season training in the summer he was almost certain it would be his last with his beloved Reds.
It all kind of added up. He was no longer first choice. And when you’re fairly deep into your thirties, you just feel it’s time.
For most of last season, Ronan Hale, Ben Wilson and Sam Ashford were ahead of him in the pecking order at Solitude. He’d lost count of the number of times he was on the bench.
And just the way last season’s epic Irish Cup final against Linfield unfolded, the club’s record goal-scorer was an unused sub on the day of all days.
Still, it didn’t stop the affable Ardoyne man racing towards goal hero Ronan Hale after he’d tapped into an empty net to bring the silverware back to north Belfast for the first time since 1979.
Spool forward to last week’s League Cup final press day at Windsor Park and Gormley has 17 goals to his name and was only overtaken as the Irish Premiership’s top scorer the previous weekend by Coleraine’s Matthew Shevlin.
He is aiming to win a remarkable fifth League Cup winner’s medal on Sunday.
At 35-years-young, Irish League managers would kill for that kind of goal haul from one of their strikers.
Gormley’s goal-scoring form has been so good he’s changed his mind about quitting at the end of the season and wants to play one more year at the highest level.
He hopes it will be with Cliftonville – but there’s nothing guaranteed. With only a couple of months until the end of the season, there has been no talks with Reds officials about signing a 12-month contract.
“I want to play next year, without a doubt,” said Gormley, who was introduced in the closing stages of Cliftonville’s Irish Cup quarter-final win over Crusaders last weekend.
“I’ve scored 17 goals this season. I’m out of contract at the end of the year and I’ve yet to hear anything. Fingers crossed, in the next couple of weeks, I hear something.
“Listen, I’m not going to say that I want to leave because I want to finish my career at Cliftonville but if they were looking rid of me, I would leave.
“If I don’t retire at the end of this season, it’ll more than likely be at the end of next year. For the sake of another year, I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else.”
As the Reds enjoy the countdown to Sunday’s League Cup final against Glentoran at Windsor Park, Gormley would love clarity on his status at the club.
He is reluctant to plan a family holiday in the summer just in case he’s offered another year at Solitude.
“We’re planning on going away in the summer. I can’t really get away on holidays because of the football. My partner was saying: ‘I’m booking a holiday.’
“And I’m saying, ‘I can’t go in July’ – but she’s right in saying that I mightn’t have a club at the end of this season so why should we hold things back.
“Hopefully something happens soon and I can plan stuff after that.”
Beyond Gormley’s easy-going demeanour, there’s a bullet-proof confidence about his ability to score goals – at any level.
“I always joke with people I’m a 35-year-old in a 25-year-old body,” he smiles. “I feel fit, I feel sharp, and I feel good.”
Alex Parsons and Ryan Curran formed an impressive partnership during Gormley’s brief stint on the sidelines due to injury. He’s fit again although Parsons and Curran grabbed a goal apiece in last Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Crues at Seaview.
“I feel I’ll score goals no matter what age I am – whether it’s at 21 years of age or 35 years of age. If I play games, I’ll score goals. I know that for a fact.
“It’s what I’ve done throughout my career. That’s what I’m paid to do, it’s my job. I’ll keep scoring goals until my legs don’t let me anymore.”
Gormley adds: “Over the last couple of years I haven’t played as much as I’d like to and I had it in my head that I was potentially going to retire at the end of this year. But with my form – top scorer in the league up until last week as I’ve been out injured for a while – I want to play on.
“It’s the fittest I’ve felt in a couple of years now and Jim [Magilton] is playing me, I’m scoring goals and it’s great.”
Ronan Hale, Ben Wilson and Sam Ashford all departed Solitude soon after helping win the Irish Cup for the club last year.
Gormley realised he was no longer first choice but with their exits came opportunity.
“It was just something I had to accept. I knew it was going to happen with Ben Wilson and Ronan Hale coming in last year,” he said.
“Listen, all I could do was if I got a chance, I could score a goal or two and maybe get my place in the team. But they were doing exactly that, so it was tough. But it’s something I’ve relished this year. I’ve got my chance and I’m scoring goals.
“When you’re not playing, it hurts, doesn’t it? But at the same time if Cliftonville win, I win. If I play or I don’t play in this final I’ll still support the team.
“If we win, I’ll still celebrate it as if I’ve played the full match. That’s just who I am. I’m a team player and I want the team to do well as much as myself. When you win cup finals, they stay with you for the rest of your life and, fingers crossed, come the 9th of March at five o’clock or half-five, whatever it may be, I’ll have my fifth League Cup winner’s medal.”