'A dog was doing ball boy': Larne legend on journey from 'absolute disgrace' to 'best decision'

Cosgrove, who had won two Gibson Cup crowns as part of a star-studded Cliftonville squad, became one of the first high-profile signings at the start of an ambitious project led by owner Kenny Bruce and manager Tiernan Lynch, arriving at Inver Park in 2018.

He had been sold the dream of how Larne, then languishing in Northern Ireland’s second-tier, would adopt a full-time model and transform into a dominant Premiership force – Bruce famously said “I would like Larne to have the Champions League music played at Inver Park one day”.

Knowing a few members of Larne’s squad, Cosgrove was convinced to take the leap – but was quickly confronting former Cliftonville team-mate Martin Donnelly about the questionable advice provided.

However, Bruce’s vision ultimately came true with Larne sealing a third Premiership title across the past four seasons on Saturday evening while they also created a piece of history by qualifying for the Conference League in 2024.

Cosgrove has played a bigger role than most throughout a golden period of success, cementing his status as a Larne legend having sailed past a milestone of 300 appearances, but admits he wasn’t always convinced it would come to fruition.

"To be honest, never (did I think this would happen),” he said. “I just felt like my time at Cliftonville was coming to an end.

"Barry Gray, we just didn't have the same connection together, I wasn't his type of player...we both shook hands and I told him ‘I'm leaving at the end of the season’.

"I came to Larne, Marty Donnelly and Chris Ramsey encouraged me to come here, they were talking about how good it was. I was like, ‘it can't be as good as you say it is’.

"My first day was actually at Jordanstown and it was an absolute disgrace of a training session. I said, ‘what is this?’.

"We then went to Knockbreda and there was a dog doing ball boy. I was like, ‘Marty, what is this? What is going on?’

"Now, we skip forward eight years, we've won three league titles, got to the Conference League group stages, it's been unbelievable. It's probably the best decision I've ever made.”

While Cosgrove’s main weekend goal was captaining Larne to another Gibson Cup, he could be forgiven for thoughts drifting elsewhere.

There will be further cause for Cosgrove celebration in the coming days with his partner’s due date for their new child scheduled on Sunday.

"Yeah, unbelievable (reception from the fans),” he added. “It's great to hear that noise, my kids and my family are here, it's unbelievable.

"My partner is about to have a baby, she's due tomorrow! I was panicking, it's been the longest week of my life – she was saying she was getting pains on Tuesday.

"I was like, ‘oh my God, please no’. We've lasted this long, if she comes on Sunday, what a week!”

Cosgrove has previously stated how Larne being written off as Premiership title challengers at the start of this season provided motivation for the Inver Reds dressing room.

With the emergence of Coleraine as a genuine contender and an improved Glentoran squad providing competition until the final weekend, a fight for Irish League success is becoming even more fierce.

"The next one is always the best one,” he said. “You don't know when they're going to come again.

"Obviously, you can always say you can spend money, but that doesn't always guarantee success, you've seen that with other teams.

"There are teams out there waiting years for trophies, it's so hard to win them and to get over the line, it's a tough task. Whoever wins the league is always the best team that year.

"You can see it means so much to everyone around the club. As I said, everyone likes to write us off.

"I know they said they didn't when I did that interview, but they did.

"I was at the media night at the start of the season and they were all talking about Coleraine, Glentoran and Linfield. For us to do it here this season, it’s unbelievable.”