“Everything went so quick. One minute I’m playing with Bohs the next I’m being coached by John O’Shea.”

Ireland Under-21s international David Okagbue is now in his third international camp with Jim Crawford’s team but admits he still can’t believe he’s pulling on the green jersey.

“It was always other lads from St. Kevin’s and Bohs who were getting called into the international squads,” said David, “So to be with the Under-21s and playing for my country, playing big games, visiting beautiful places, it’s just amazing.”

Before he shares his journey into international football we have to go back to where it all began for the 21-year-old centre back.

David hails from Blanchardstown, Dublin and played football in the Dublin 15 area with St. Mochta’s from the age of four. “I did start with another club, I had one session and didn’t like it and my dad brought me to Mochta’s and I didn’t look back.” It was around the age of nine that David joined cross-city rivals St. Kevin’s Boys playing with current Under-21s teammate Sean Grehan and senior international Evan Ferguson.

“As we got older we moved into Bohs’ Under-15s, a few lads would go and play with Ireland and I was always proud of them. We had a tournament in England and because the boys were with Ireland I was asked to travel and play. We played Stoke City in the final, we lost, but after the game they contacted me asking if I’d go on trial. I had been on trial with Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa too but after five days on trial with Stoke they wanted to sign me and that was that.”

The year was 2020, the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and being away from home for the first time was naturally tough for the 16 year old. “I didn’t get to see my family for six months and it was so hard,” said David.

But it wouldn’t be long before his move to Stoke City opened up doors to international football with the help with Irish goalscoring hero John Walters. “I had just been called-up the Ireland Under-18s team, it was my first international call-up and I was so proud but I got a call from John Walters, he was a coach with the Under-19s team at the time and he said I’d been called-up to Tom Mohan’s team for the qualifiers in Bulgaria so I was even more delighted.”

David made his international debut against Montenegro in a 3-2 victory for the Under-19s. Among those playing that day were current Under-21 teammates Ed McJannet, Sam Curtis and Kevin Zefi. Under-21 caps Johnny Kenny, Sean Roughan, Anselmo Garcia MacNulty, Aidomo Emakhu, Tayo Adaramola and Jack Henry-Francis as well as recent senior internationals Andrew Moran, Sinclair Armstrong, Bosun Lawal and James Abankwah.

Reflecting on those names he can’t help but smile: “I’m proud of every one of them. I feel like I grew up playing with them and they’ve gone on to achieve great things. It’s such a proud moment to play for Ireland and you feel inspired.”

A first Irish cap and settling into life at Stoke City, David received a further boost when

John O’Shea joined The Potters in 2022 as a coach and soon the Ireland Centurion was helping the youngster craft his defensive game. “Everything went so quick. One minute I’m playing with Bohs the next I’m being coached by John O’Shea. I would watch John on TV, I’d see him playing in huge games and then there I was doing one-to-ones with John. It was mad.”

Loans with Chester City and Oldham Athletic only drove David’s thirst for regular first team football. He would head south from Stoke on England’s M6 motorway to the Black Country to join Walsall. Initially a loan for the season, he later penned a two year deal with the Saddlers with Walsall becoming a mini Irish enclave. “Yeah there’s been a few Irish boys there since I joined,” recalls David before reeling off name after name. “Evan Weir,  Oisin McEntee, Darius (Lipsiuc), Manny (Emanuel Adeboyega), Ross Tierney was there too and I knew him from before, Ronan Maher as well. It has made it so easy because you click with the lads right away.”

With so many players from Irish underage squads able to lean on for club and country, his form with Walsall earned him a first Under-21s call-up. His debut came in a 3-2 win over Sweden last November before getting the honour of captaining his country against Hungary in March: “It came out of nowhere. I wasn’t expecting it. Jim pulled me just before lunch and told me that I was going to be captain and it took me a while to realise what he was saying to me, that I’d be captain, captain of my country. He said he was going to tell the rest of the lads in the pre-match meeting so I quickly ate my food, ran upstairs and called my family and they were just buzzing for me. It was an amazing moment.”

Another amazing moment was David starting at Wembley Stadium in the League Two Play-Off Final with club. While the result didn’t go Walsall’s way with Wimbledon earning promotion, David says there’s a lot of learning from the season.

“We were a young team, and the defensive partnership in the final I think the oldest player was aged 24, so we’re still learning. It wasn’t how we wanted to see our season end but after coming away from that game I think it will only make us more determined next season. Nothing can be taken for granted, even if we won 15 games in a row the job isn’t done until it’s done. Anything can happen in football, that’s something I’ve learned over the last few years”

David Okagbue

Hometown: Dublin
Position: Defender
Club: Walsall
Grassroots Clubs: St Mochta’s, St Kevin’s.
Ireland caps: MU19, U21

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