It has been some road for Killian Brouder since he joined Galway United in the summer of the 2019 season, when Galway United were no more than an afterthought – if even that – on the Irish football landscape.

His first game was a 4-0 defeat away to Longford Town on July 27 that year, a defeat which left United on 16 points after 22 games, sitting eighth in the 10-team table with just four wins to their name all season.

They lost their next game as well, a 1-0 defeat at home to Drogheda United, before grabbing a bit of respectability from the season by finishing with three wins and a draw, with Brouder scoring a 90th-minute equaliser in the final game of the season in the 2-2 draw away to Athlone Town.

United finished seventh that season, 34 points behind champions, Shelbourne, in the 27-game campaign. Stephen Walsh and Maurice Nugent were part of that squad as well, and the trio are enjoying a very different taste of life in 2024, with United set to host Shamrock Rovers this evening, sitting fourth in the Premier Division table, with the Hoops all the way down in ninth.

“I’m here four and a half years maybe, and I am loving every minute of it. You want to be playing against the top teams, you want to be pushing yourself against the top teams, we have four clubs in Europe this year, you want to be playing them.

“You always want to be playing against the best players, no matter where you are: junior league here in Galway or in Limerick; in Ireland or in England; you want to be playing the best players every week and then you’ll know where you stand.

“You want to push yourself, you don’t want to be going out and saying ‘ah here, this is a walk in the park’ which no footballer should be doing to be honest, sometimes that does creep in, complacency creeps in, and you have to cut that out,” he says.

The big defender is a joy to talk to, as honest off the pitch as he is on it. You get the sense of maybe a quiet shyness to him, but he is always obliging, be it with a strong tackle or a soft word – or sometimes, a strong word, depending on the occasion!

Pictured: Killian Brouder in action against Luke Turner and Joseph Redmond of St Patrick’s Athletic on the opening night of the season. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.