Joe Doogan might be swapping the round ball for the oval ball in the coming weeks and months as the Rangers man embarks on a life changing move to Australia with his girlfriend Sheena Connor not long after Monday’s Irish Junior Cup final.

Indeed, the Junior final will be his last game for the club for the foreseeable future and what better way to sign off than a cup final appearance at the National Stadium at Windsor Park for the the central defender who has been with the club since starting with the mini-soccer in the Lakeland Forum some 20 years ago .

A product of the club’s youth system, Joe has seen both sides of the coin, his debut season for the first team was as an 18-year-old as Rangers found themselves in Division Three of the Fermanagh and Western League for the first time in their history.

Fast forward 10 years and now Doogan is one of the more experienced players at the heart of a Rangers’ defence and team that is looking to return the most sought-after trophy in junior football to the club for a second time in their 64 year history.

It really would be the icing on the cake for Doogan who actually delayed his move to Australia to have one more crack at a major trophy with Rangers.

Joe explains: “We had talked about going last September after a wedding and then I saw the squad that Micky (Kerr) was putting together and we pushed it back until May 30. In case, I don’t come back from Australia, I want to win something with Rangers before I go and I knew with the team he was putting together we had the chance of winning something. Thankfully, that has worked out well, getting to the Junior final and Windsor Park was one of the goals we set ourselves at the start of the season and it is pleasing to have got this far. However, there is no point getting this far and not winning, we have to see it through now.”

Girlfriend Sheena was happy also to put the move on hold for the sake of the Rangers. “I did not mind to be honest,” she said. “I was just finished University so was happy enough to take some time at home before the move and it’s great that the boys have got to the final and it would be the perfect send off if they could win. The club is great fun; all us girls go to the games and we call ourselves the WAGs. We are looking forward to the game and going to support the boys on Monday,” she laughs.

Undoubtedly, Monday will be the pinnacle in Joe’s Rangers’ career.

“I can still remember Cedric (McLeer) asking my mother in Maud’s to bring me down to the Rangers youth training 20 years ago, it was at the Lakeland Forum on a Friday evening at that time. Ced has never missed any of my youth games and now watches me with the seniors, so it would be great to win and repay him.

“To win the cup would be a dream come true, I don’t think anybody knows how much it would mean to me. I have been in the club 20 years and not won anything other than a Division Three title. The fact that it is at Windsor is also special, all the players are excited, pumped and mad to get playing the game at this stage. Our target was to get to Windsor, now our target is to win.

“The likes of myself Willie Burleigh, David Crozier and Andy Johnston have been in the first team 10 years and we have literally put in blood, sweat and tears for the club and have nothing to show for it. So let’s have something to show for it.”

Joe agrees that player/manager Kerr has made a big impact. “It has skyrocketed in the last 18 months, the players Michael has brought in, the image of the club and the opening of the new facilities has all combined well. Michael deserves plenty of credit for what he has done and we have a cracking set-up. I will definitely miss it but the focus now is getting the win on Monday and that is what is driving me and the team on,” concluded Joe as a hail shower blows over the Ball Range.

Yeah, a hail shower at the end of April, not something Joe will have to contend with in Australia but you do get the feeling that no matter what the move to the other side of the world brings, it will be all the easier with a Junior Cup winner’s medal in the pocket for this through and through Ranger.