So really, he’s getting to know his teammates in order to be a better, more effective leader. His boss approves of the tactic too.
“I cannot speak enough about how valuable it is to have a player like Niall in our locker room,” said Louisville City FC coach – Open Cup Runner-up from his playing days – Danny Cruz. “He’s a player who understands the importance of culture here at Louisville City, and also knows what it takes to win.”
Playing Through
At 33 years-old, McCabe has more 90th-minute moments behind him than ahead of him but there are more reasons than ever to keep playing.
“With the quality of team that we have, I think there’s no reason why we can’t go on a run here [and] I’ve won a lot here but still, we’ve never won the Supporter’s Shield [given to the top team in the USL Championship during the regular season],” he said. “That’s a big goal for us. I think it gets overlooked in the U.S., but it’s something we’ve never won so that would be big for us to knock off this year.”
McCabe says they’ve been given everything they need from the club to succeed. Now it’s up to the players to go out and perform.
“Whether it’s great practice facilities and a great stadium, the recovery, the food, everything we have at our disposal,” he said. “There are no real excuses. It’s left on us at that point [and] I have to give credit to the owners who really, when they say they’re going to do something they mean it.
“For a USL team to have what we have, it’s ridiculous,” he added. “We have the training facility now and Eintracht Frankfurt is coming for 10 days in July, and they’re a top [German] Bundesliga team. So I’ve got to give credit to the ownership. The fact that a top Bundesliga side wants to spend a good chunk of their preseason here with the facilities that we have, it’s credit to everyone upstairs and the owners – we have the best of everything in the USL.”
The growth at the club has effectively turned what looked like a bogie into love, fore-ever.
“Personally, I don’t think there’s any substitute for playing so I’ll continue to work hard and train hard and play as best I can and try to play for as long as possible while I’m finishing off my [USSF] ‘B’ coaching license,” he said.
“I think the coaching will eventually come into play but for right now there’s nothing more beautiful than playing,” he said. “I’m looking out there right now and it’s sunny skies, the grass is perfect. I just love it.”
Dennis Pope writes about local sports for the SoCal Newspaper Group and serves in a communications role for both NISA Nation and the Southwest Premier League. Follow him at @DennisPope on X/Twitter.
