David McMillan unsure where his futures lies as season draws to a close

David McMillan’s future at Dundalk FC is unclear, with the 33-year-old forward out of contract after the final SSE Airtricity League game of the year at Derry City this Sunday.

Across two spells, the first of which began in 2014, McMillan has spent six-and-a-half seasons with Dundalk, winning every major domestic honour on two or more occasions.

And his superb free-kick in the Lilywhites 2-1 win over Bohemians has put him five goals short of becoming just the seventh player to reach a century of strikes for Dundalk.

“U14s probably, I don’t know,” the Templeogue native laughed when asked to recall his last free-kick conversion. “It’s been quite a while anyway. Wardy would be one that would usually takes them, and has scored them this season, but he wasn’t starting.

“These are little things that you just practice now and again in training. I’ve hit quite a few in the last while, so I felt confident hitting it. Runar wanted to hit it as well. We had a little word, but thankfully he let me hit it, and it couldn’t have been sweeter really.”

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That goal could well be McMillan’s last in front of the Dundalk home support, with his contract set to expire after he turns 34 in December, but the veteran’s recent contributions in the absence of Patrick Hoban might yet earn him another campaign.  

“I don’t know,” McMillan commented on his own future. “Of course I would (like to stay). It’s a club that feels home to me really. It’s my club here, but it’s hard to know what next year will hold. I just have to sit down over the off-season and see what’s there and speak to the management.

“I honestly can’t answer that question at this point. It’s one that I have to just sit back and see how things are at the end of the season.”

It was perhaps fitting that following a one-year absence from European competition, it was McMillan who set Dundalk on their way to a return to the continental stage.

With 13 goals, the first of which came versus BATE Borisov back in 2015, he is the club’s all-time leading goalscorer in Europe, with Roy Keane and Robbie Keane the only Irishmen to have scored more times than the Dundalk forward in UEFA competitions.

“I haven’t spoken to the management yet about new contracts or anything,” continued McMillan. “Not many players have, so there may not even be an offer on the table.

“As I said, I have to think about myself first and foremost. I’ll be 34 in December, so I’ve got to think about the body and everything else. Six-and-a-half years here, I love it, and if it is my last game, it’s a great goal to finish on, but hopefully it’s not.”

McMillan’s goal last Friday was only his second in the league throughout a season in which he has been named in the starting line-up just eight times. But after being replaced by substitute John Martin in the 76th minute, the crowd at Casey’s Field rose to its feet.

“For me personally, it’s been a really, really tough season. You start to question yourself at times when you’re not featuring as much as you like to. The last six weeks, I’ve really tried to knuckle down and put myself in a position to make sure I’m in the team.

“I’m probably frustrated not to get a couple of goals in the last few weeks. I got myself in pretty good positions, but just didn’t finish them off, so I was desperate tonight to get a goal, to finish off on a high and just help the team win the game.”