Meet the former Larne player who is masterminding one of Europe's fastest emerging teams

Chris O’Loughlin also spent time with the likes of Islandmagee and Cliftonville reserves before embarking on a coaching journey that has seen him work in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Australia (alongside Jim Magilton at Melbourne Victory), South Africa, a brief stint in Northern Ireland’s youth set-up and now onto Belgium, where he has been sporting director at the Brussels-based club since May 2019.

The last time we spoke to the 44-year-old in December 2020, USG were top of the second-tier with a dream of establishing themselves amongst the country’s elite for the first time in almost half a century.

Fast forward over two years later and not only have they achieved that goal, but they led the Jupiler Pro League for most of the 2021/22 campaign before being pipped in the closing weeks by Club Brugge and proved it wasn’t a fluke this term, currently sitting second – eight points off leaders Genk.

They’re preparing for the first-leg of their Europa League Round of 16 clash with Union Berlin, who they’ve already beaten in the group stage, and it’s testament to the progress made by O’Loughlin and Co that it feels they now belong at this level.

"Our idea was always to get into the First Division and be a competitive team challenging for European football and eventually get there,” he said. “It has happened really quickly.

"We always believed in the process but qualifying, playing well in Europe and winning games while maintaining form in the league were untested waters for us. That was all new.

"We couldn't really say how we would manage it but we always believed that we had a good group and that the chance was there to perform this season and it has happened."

What makes their success all the more impressive is the shoestring budget they are operating on compared to the established powerhouses of Brugge and Anderlecht – who they’ve beaten six times in a row.

Their record transfer fee of roughly £1.7 million was spent on bringing in striker Victor Boniface from Norway during the summer while Maltese international Teddy Teuma has been their star player and Christian Burgess – who played for Portsmouth and Hartlepool before joining USG – is a defensive rock.

Kaoru Mitoma has taken the Premier League by storm this season but spent last year on loan at the 102-year-old Stade Joseph Marien (which has a capacity of 9,500) while striker Deniz Undav moved to England after netting 43 times in 65 league games.

"We're playing at the top of our league, playing very well in Europe and there can be a confusion that we're a club with the same financial power or history as the others and that's not the case,” added O’Loughlin.

"When we go and play against Club Brugge and Standard Liege, there are 24,000 people in the stadium – they have VIP dinners of 1,000 people.

"We don't get on average more than 6,500/7,000 in the stadium and there are no VIP dinners!

"Our budget is restricted and the challenge is we're playing as a top club but we don't have the same history yet.

"Therefore it can be difficult when it comes to the recruitment process or the renewing and negotiation of contracts where there's a confusion that because we play at the top we have the finances of a top team."

There are definite parallels between USG and Larne, like both teams trying to win a top-flight title following promotion, but the Inver Park club are now in a very different position compared to when O’Loughlin was there.

With that surely feeling like a lifetime ago after a globetrotting coaching career and the pressure of his job, I’m half-expecting O’Loughlin to have not paid any attention to their current success, but he’s kept an eye on them and looks back fondly on his time in County Antrim.

"I saw the magic side of it,” he recalls. “It was this little ground with very passionate supporters. I enjoyed it there and we had a great group of players, but I'm sure it's very different now."

Another Irish League connection is friendships developed with the Linfield management team having met assistant Ross Oliver while doing his UEFA A Licence and completing his Pro Licence alongside boss David Healy.

With USG now having a target on their back, O’Loughlin has a new-found appreciation for their consistency at Windsor Park.

“We've kept in contact and Ross has been over to Belgium a couple of times to visit me throughout my career here,” he added.

"They have done amazing. They seem to every year create incredible sides and it's not easy to win every year.

"We see it now - everybody wants to beat you. That's an incredible run of success and it shouldn't be underestimated."

With Arsenal, Manchester United and Juventus all still in the Europa League, USG could be set for some magical European evenings if they get past Berlin, and O’Loughlin is excited for the occasion.

"We've been here before,” he said. "It's a fantastic atmosphere at their stadium and it's a sell-out. It'll be exciting."