In sport, nobody likes to see injuries like this, particularly in football.
But for Kilkenny’s Colm Whelan, his season with UCD in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division has come to a premature end having picked up a serious injury.
One of the best performers in Irish league football last season, Whelan was being tipped for a summer move abroad but a season-ending cruciate knee ligament injury as put an end to that.It also puts the brakes on his time with the Irish U21s with a number of European Championships qualifiers on the horizon for Jim Crawford’s side.
Of all days, Whelan was stretched off on Friday 13 May’s 1-0 win over Finn Harps, the Students’ first league win of the season thanks to a late Liam Kerrigan goal.
Per UCD boss Andy Meyler in speaking to Mirror Sport this week, “it’s terrible timing for Collie with the Under-21s coming up and the possibility of moves in the summer.”
“We just need to get him back right, get him back on the horse and get his rehab done and get him as strong as we can get him.”
“Cruciates are not what they used to be. You can come back from them the same player. We’re not thinking about ourselves here. We wanted what’s best for Collie and moving on is probably what’s best for him at this stage of his career and his development.”
Whelan’s injury is expected to keep him on the sidelines for six to nine months.