“I kept my phone to the messages, but I was very tired, and I went directly to sleep – I didn’t realize that I would put the record!”
For Captain Linfeld Jimmy Molgro, it was last Tuesday night like anything else. The 38 -year -old midfielder spent the evening training of the club under 18. Once at home, watch football, then go to bed. However, for Mulgrew and Linfield, this was a record evening.
The television match between its closest competitors in Linfield: Glentorran tied against Larn, confirming Linfield as heroes for the time 57, which is a world record. This success confirmed the Mulgrew winner in the eleventh league – recording a national record and joining an exclusive global club. It was an extraordinary achievement in the most normal conditions.
“In some respects, he was anti -calm,” Molgro admitted. “You always prefer to win it on the field.” The title was confirmed with a six -day stay.
Only four active professional players-Araga Adimi (13) from Deenamo Zagreb (13 years old), Thomas Muller from Bayern Munich, James Forest from Celtic and the former scandal of Chris Marriott (all 12)-won the title of more than one league in one European club. However, there is one major difference: Linfield was significantly less prevalent than any of these clubs. Larn has entered this season as consecutive heroes, and since 2013, the Crusaders won three league titles and Cleftonville II.
Molgro, 39, insists in July, that these campaigns less than the title make his successes more enjoyable, with a highlight of the five -year gap between the titles from 2012 to 2017.
“You never know if it will be your last thing and that makes them more sweet,” it is presented. “Hunger for more never disappears.”
Molgro is celebrating winning the League Cup for the last season with his children (published with the permission of Jimmy Molgro)
Mulgrew began his career in Glentoran, the main Belfast competitors in Linfield.
He made two demonstrations in the first team, including during their 2004-2005 league success. Linfeld is close to Molgro in that summer, with the end of the 19 -year -old contract, and decided to join the club that he supported in his youth. The 2005-2006 season witnessed that Linfield complements a clean sweep for all four local prizes, but a frequent knee injury is limited at the time of Mulgrew.
As for the successive seasons, the midfielder participated in the title teams, but he was absent from the minimum appearance threshold to demand the winner’s medal.
Mulgrew, who has 26 prizes and adopted in Linfield, believes that he ascended to the captain, who is forced to struggle to acknowledge in a champion of serial winners. “This team that I joined was full of leaders and big personalities,” he explained. “You had to adapt to these standards. At that time, only 14 players match was, so you had this pressure on performance and hard work.”
His longevity has become more prominent due to the gameplay; Mulgrew is a comfortable midfielder in carrying the ball, mixing their past opponents and drawing free kicks due to the low center of gravity. Although a statistical measurement is not available, it is widely considered the most packed player in the Irish League.
However, he has other characteristics that can be said to be more important: teammates constantly direct the positioning of locations, what goes through it, and when the stadium is paid and when they slow down the game. He is attributed to his leadership for his first years in the club.
“This pressure has been formed in order to win and perform, the need to know how to train, to put an example inside and outside the stadium, to get the correct mix between confidence and staying modest … and this hunger.” “To use cash as fuel. This is what I try to instill in my teammates and the youth I train.”
Mulgrew swap with Scott Brown from CELTIC before the Champions League qualifiers in 2017 (Craig Williamson – SNS GROUPNS GROUP via Getty Images)
One of the largest midfielders is to help new players integrate into a culture of victory.
“The pressure in Linfield is unique – the winning prizes are everything,” says Molgro. “I have joined the club very small, and that the environment is all that I knew at all. But others take time to adapt. It is our duty to make them comfortable, but our responsibility towards them more – we need to win for them. If they join a winning team, this pressure raises.”
Mulgrew will definitely not exceed 1013 Linfield matches that his former teammate Noel Billy put in place, but he closes in a teacher 800 games. There was an interest from elsewhere. In 2011, a year after his international appearances in Northern Ireland, the Mulgrew’s Linfield ended and attracted attention from Colombus Crew and Portland Timbles in major football. The midfielder traveled to the United States for separate trial periods, but decided not to have a step.
In 2021, Linfeld went full -time. Promotion of their previous semi -professional position. This was not without danger, as many teammates in the long term decided to move to another place due to personal circumstances. However, for Mulgrew, it was the opportunity to become a full -time, 34 -year -old, very good.
His work is focused outside of football in the afternoon, when the new model edited his evenings to eliminate his wife and three young children. “This decision, undoubtedly, has long been careful.”
Mulgrew shoots a snapshot during a conference in the Conference League in 2022 (Liam McBurney/Pa Images via Getty Images)
For Mulgrew and his team team players, Lift Trophy Lift will add this season.
In June 2024, Paul Bater, the club’s physiotherapist, died at the age of 37.
“What happened last year is difficult to deal with,” said Molgro, whose son -in -law died in 2023.
“For us, being in the team’s environment and going to training every day together is an important support network. Everyone here helped each other. We have a truly strong dressing room, and you can maintain normal life with joking and support. We have honestly enjoying time with each other.
“This team has a great personality and flexibility, too, it is removed through our results this season, but also in everything we have together.”
Mulgrew has already adhered to Linfield for the next season, which he will take until his fortieth birthday. He says, “I will not outperform my thief.” “I will know when it’s time to move aside.”
He believes he needs to listen to his body more, admitting to play with muscle pain earlier in the campaign. This indicates his uncompromising desire to participate, but, these days, he must settle.
Mulgrew begins the UEFA Pro training license next week, while the current Linfield manager David Healy said that he “maintains a warm seat for him” and often consults his captain because he “knows the club from inside out”, but the midfielder insists on his focus on adding his success on the field.
“I really want my twelfth title.”
(Higher Image: Matthew Ashton – Ama/Getty Images)
