Former Larne captain and one of first signings of the new era reflects on journey to Premiership champions

“At the time I wasn't playing football anyway - I was out of love with it and away travelling,” recalls Devlin. “Tiernan told me that he needed some help, some experience in his team and that there could be big things happening at Larne in the future.” Lynch certainly wasn’t lying.

The former Manchester United and Brentford man, who had built up Irish League experience at Cliftonville, knew about Tiernan and his brother Seamus from their time at Glentoran and it didn’t take very long for them to convince Devlin that Larne was the club for him.

It was also helpful that when he got the phone call – which led to one of the best decisions and period of his career – he was in the gym alongside a player that had previously worked with his prospective new boss.

"The day he phoned me I was in the gym and Andy Waterworth was there too and it was surreal because he had coached Andy so I didn't have too far to go to find out more information about Tiernan and Seamus - just over to the next weight bench!” he laughs. “He told me about them and how professional they were, the type of people they were and ultimately it was an easy decision in the end."

That was in the summer of 2017 and not many people are in a better position to discuss the journey of this ‘new era’ Larne, with Devlin one of Lynch’s first signings and he was named captain of the club upon arrival.

He experienced that challenging first Championship campaign which finished with Larne seventh in the table, was there for the high of sealing promotion the following season and was involved as they qualified for European football in consecutive campaigns.

The progress has been sparked by owner Kenny Bruce, who bought his hometown club shortly after Devlin signed, providing the platform which helped convert them into Premiership champions.

"I like to tell everyone that I was here before Kenny!" jokes Devlin, who still speaks regularly to the duo of Bruce and Lynch that did so much for him. “When Tiernan and I spoke about him buying the club I just thought it would be someone investing some money and be ran the same - I just thought someone was putting some money into the club for us to get a few new players but how wrong was I.

"The changes that have gone on at the club since I first joined have been astronomical."

The plans were grand, but Devlin had full confidence that they would be able to deliver for the town and it comes as no surprise to him that they’ve ticked off a huge milestone by winning their first top-flight title.

"It always felt realistic from the start,” he adds. “That ultimate goal is to build something in the community.

"The by-product of that is winning trophies and leagues, but the main thing they set out to do was grow a space in the community for kids to go and look up to and transform a society. They have definitely done that.”

It hasn’t been all plain sailing with an increased expectation – both internally and externally – bringing more pressure to achieve.

"There were a lot of rough times during the years I was there, a lot of bad performances, a lot of arguments, shouting matches - it hasn't been an easy ride by any means,” says Devlin. “Tiernan I'm sure has had months of sleepless nights and not seeing his four kids and wife, but he knows that's part and parcel of it and he's put himself through it.

"I'm very thankful to Tiernan for what he did for me during my time there.

"You have to look at it from Kenny's side too - he had a lot of patience and put a lot of effort into helping Tiernan grow as well.

"I spoke to Tiernan a few months ago and he spoke about things he has implemented as a manager maybe in the past couple of years that he didn't at the start. It just shows how people can grow in confidence, stature and managers do as well."

Devlin hasn’t played football since leaving the club last summer and now living outside of Blackpool, has had time to reflect back on the whole experience and feels an immense sense of pride when watching the current success.

"It's unbelievable,” he says. “I think back to playing on the old Inver grass pitch and Marty Donnelly rounding the keeper one day and the ball stopping in a puddle when he tried to pass it into the net.

"I think back to the players who joined before me and then there was me, Jerry (Thompson), Marty Donnelly, Chris Ramsey, Ciaran Caldwell, Shane McEleney - there's a whole host of players and every single one of them played their part in the success of Larne.

"I'm really proud so don't be surprised if you see me doing a John Terry in a full Larne kit when they go up to lift their medals. I've already got onto Kenny and Tiernan letting them know that I want at least half a medal for the five years I was there!

"I will always follow them. Their youth team were playing in the Blackpool cup and their matches were in Preston last weekend so I drove down and watched a couple of games and saw the boys - I will always have that special place for them."