GALWAY UNITED’S Vince Borden had no qualms about moving a long way from his upstate New York home for football — having decamped to Croatia for the game as a kid.
The Tribesmen’s 26-year-old American has become a fixture in John Caulfield’s midfield since joining the club for their 2023 promotion-winning season.
And Borden has settled in easily after swapping the east of the US for the west of Ireland as his willingness to travel for the sport started younger than most — spending three years with the Dinamo Zagreb and HASK academies from the age of 11.
He told SunSport: “I was 11 when I first went to Croatia and I stayed there three years.
“My coach in the US growing up — from Under-10s — was a Croatia guy who played for Dinamo Zagreb as a goalkeeper and he had some connections.
“The aim for me growing up was to play at a higher level and that was hard in upstate New York. So I headed to Croatia for three years.”
His coach was Nenad ‘Ziggy’ Ziganta, who now works for Cornell University but played for Dinamo in the 1980s before joining the NASL Indoor League.
And moving thousands of kilometres away from home as a kid was a learning experience.
Borden added: “My family came over but I was with a guy called Nate Bell who was also a coach in my first year. He was the age I am now when he went.
“He coaches a college in New York City as well as the Brooklyn academy now, which is a highly-rated academy.
“I probably wouldn’t do it again. I’d wait until I was older if I could do it again. You don’t really know what’s going on when you’re a kid.
“Some pressures get to you when far from home without some family support.
“Dinamo Zagreb was probably one of the best academies in Europe when I was there, along with Ajax. I was the only overseas player in my age group, so it was hard to get game time.
“I moved to another academy and played more after a couple of years. But I came home after three years. It was OK. I learned the language within six months and still speak it now.
“That helped later when I went to Slovenia as you can get by with Croatian there.”
He returned to the Balkans with Rudar Velenje in 2021 after completing his education back in the USA, having studied criminal justice at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
And after a season in Slovenia he was asked if he would be interested in prolonging his stint in Europe with Galway United in 2023.
He added: “I love Galway. My missus is always trying to get us when there is the mid-season break to go somewhere sunny but I’d rather stay in Ireland.
“We went to Donegal a few weeks ago. She wasn’t too happy because it was raining most of the time but I got to see some of the sights.
“We stayed in Letterkenny but headed around, saw the Giant’s Causeway and a few of the beaches. We went to Kerry last year and the weather was better.
“But there is nowhere better than Galway when the weather is good.”
And he has enjoyed some good times on the pitch as Galway romped to the First Division title in his first season. The Tribes were also pushing for Europe last term and are in contention again.
Currently seventh, United would be third if they won their games in hand. They host St Patrick’s Athletic at Eamonn Deacy Park tomorrow night.
Borden continued: “You could say about any team in the league, anyone will feel they have a chance and you rarely see games where it is 4-0 or 5-0.
“We just take it game by game. I think that’s the best way to do it in this league. We can beat everyone on our day. But I think that a lot of the league would say the same.”
