Raffaele Cretaro: Episode 23

The Breifne Earley Show

After a prolonged hiatus the weekly show is back with Breifne Earley joined by a motivational and inspirational guest to talk about their own life and times. This week Breifne is joined by a League of Ireland veteran of 20 years, Raffaele Cretaro. Mostly associated with Sligo Rovers after 17 years playing for the Bit O'Red, he's currently plying his trade at north west rivals Finn Harps. The conversation includes talking about spending the summer of 1990 in Italy soaking up Schilacci's skills, the importance of fast food in his family's life in Tubbercurry and how he ended up at Sligo Rovers as a teenager. The Italian descendent discusses the perennial debate about choosing between football and other sports before delving into the lessons learned from sojourns at Galway United (2006) and Bohemians (2010). Having missed out on an FAI Cup in 2009, the hurt at watching his former team-mates lift the trophy in 2010, fueled his ambitions and a return to The Showgrounds for what would become the golden period for Rovers with a league title to go with another two FAI Cups and a Setanta Cup title. Raff discusses losing the 2010 League title race when at Bohs and not making the same mistake in 2012 with his hometown club. He scored the opening two goals in that crucial decider against St. Patrick's Athletic but wouldn't have wanted anyone but Mark Quigley stepping up for the last minute penalty, hat-trick opportunity or not. He goes into detail about the feeling behind scoring the winning penalty in the 2011 FAI Cup final shootout. Off the field, Raff talks about the development of the league since his debut almost 20 years ago and credits Sligo Rovers with the development of facilities over this period to become the best club ground in the league. He details the perils of playing in the league with 40-42 week contracts for a single season the norm for most clubs and players, players being forced to sign on for social welfare in the off season and the uncertainty that creates. Raff also goes into the details of how he left Sligo at the end of last season and how despite the results this term, he's enjoying his football and working with Ollie Horgan. He's particularly excited about the opportunity to bring his coaching experience to Ballybofey and Harps in a small way with the first team there and wouldn't rule out management or coaching in the league in the future. He looks back at the recent fixture between the two sides where he captained the away side in The Showgrounds and takes pride in his input with a number of his former U19 players having stepped up to the first team in recent years. Finally Cretaro talks about the future and how this is probably, definitely his final year as a League of Ireland player. This episode was a particularly pleasing one and a perfect way to restart the show after a lengthy hiatus. A true icon who needs no introduction in the North West of Ireland.