Getting it right off the pitch is as important as stuff on it

ELLIS CHAPMAN reckons the League of Ireland helped restore his love of football after "a rough couple of years" off the pitch.

- PAUL O'HEHIR

And the new Shelbourne recruit has revealed how he availed of therapy sessions to give him the confidence to kick on again in his career.

The Englishman was a League Two winner with Cheltenham Town in 2020/21 and also won the EFL Trophy with his hometown club Lincoln City in 2017/18.

But Chapman who spent four years at Cheltenham, with a loan at Oldham thrown into the mix - hit a rocky path just before his permanent move to Sligo Rovers in 2024.

Chapman was a big hit with the Bit O'Red, so much so that Shelbourne boss Damien Duff pounced for the attacking midfielder over the winter.

Chapman had planned to go back home to England but knew he couldn't turn down the offer from the Irish champions.

"I absolutely loved my time in Ireland and I wanted to do another year. It was just about staying and enjoying your football," he said ahead of tonight's derby clash with Bohs.

"That's the most important thing to me because I had a rough couple of years at Cheltenham before I came over to Ireland.

"Just in terms of stuff off the pitch and the mental side of it. I wanted to fall in love with football again and I did that last year."