THE GODS OF transfer deadline day have looked favourably on Conor Sammon with the 24-year-old Dubliner sealing a move to Wigan Athletic in a deal rumoured to be worth £600k.
Just in case anyone mentions his name over lunch this afternoon, here are a few bits of info which it might not hurt to have at your fingertips.
SAMMON OF COLLEGE
In 2005, Sammon started his career as a 19-year-old part-timer with UCD, earning the fans’ affection with the actually quite decent nickname, “The Sammon of College”.
After a quiet first season, Sammon established himself as a first-team regular in the UCD squad, though his goals-to-games ratio didn’t exactly set the league alight, bagging just eight in all competitions.
In 2006/2007, Sammon’s performances and 11-goal haul not only earned him a nomination for PFAI Young Player of the Year, but also grabbed the attention of Derry City.
Sammon moved up north to the Candystripes for a single season in 2008 where he found himself unable to hold down a starting place in Derry’s line-up. When he did get the nod, Sammon ensured that he made the most of it, scoring seven times in his 20 appearances for the club.
TELLING ABILITY
As well as his part-time football commitments, Sammon also held down a 40-hour-a-week job as a teller in Bank of Ireland. In an interview with Scotland’s Sunday Mail just before Christmas, Sammon spoke of how he never doubted his own ability to make a career for himself as a professional footballer.
Even when I worked in the bank I was confident I could be a professional player. At UCD there were always stories about clubs watching me.
I was focused on achieving my goal and thankfully I’ve done it. Now, it’s about progressing further and trying to be the best player I can possibly be.
PROLIFIC
Sammon’s performances during his sole season at Derry City were enough to catch the eye of Kilmarnock manager Jim Jeffries who brought the 22-year-old to Rugby Park in 2008 for an undisclosed fee.
Though he had finally realised his dream of becoming a professional footballer, Sammon quickly realised that there was plenty more hard work ahead of him. The flow of goals dried up on his arrival in the SPL, with Sammon managing just seven in 49 games under Jeffries and his successor Jimmy Calderwood.
A change of manager proved to be all that was needed to kick-start the young Dub’s career. New boss Mixu Paatelainen informed Sammon that he would be a key part of his plans and began to work on improving the service to the front man.
The strategy paid dividends, with Sammon topping the SPL goalscoring charts with 15 league goals already this season and picking up a hat-trick against Airdrie United in the Co-op Cup as the icing on the cake.
IN DEMAND
With stats like that, it was no surprise when Sammon started to turn the heads of English clubs during the January transfer window. Barnsley, Sheffield United and Southampton were all rumoured to be tracking the star’s progress over the past few weeks, before Scunthorpe appeared to have sealed a deal with Kilmarnock two weeks ago.
Sammon, however, turned down the move and the lure of bigger wages, deciding instead to see out the season with Kilmarnock.
Of course, he probably wasn’t banking on a phone call from Wigan.
