Damien Duff: ‘I was shocked and saddened that Scott chose a villa in Mallorca full of beautiful, single women over myself, the staff and players’

Scott van-der-Sluis in on this year's Love Island

Scott van der Sluis has swapped Tolka Park for Love Island.

thumbnail: Scott van-der-Sluis in on this year's Love Island
thumbnail: Scott van der Sluis has swapped Tolka Park for Love Island.
Aidan Fitzmaurice

Goalkeeper Scott van der Sluis will not be back at Shelbourne when his stint in TV show Love Island is over, Reds boss Damien Duff says.

The Welsh footballer, who joined Shels last year and had been a member of the first-team squad at Tolka Park, was revealed as the latest participant in the show on Wednesday night.

Van Der Sluis had not made a league appearance for Shels in his time at the club, though he did make a number of cup appearances and he was a constant presence on the bench as back up to Brendan Clarke last year and Conor Kearns this term.

But the former Welsh underage international has cut his ties with Shels so he can appear on the show.

“Scott’s a great kid, he has been brilliant around the place for us, but he’s gone to Love Island and he won’t be back,” Duff said.

“It’s good for me as I don’t switch off, all I do is spend hours on end on the laptop on Shelbourne and League of Ireland, when he does go on it will be the first reality TV show I’ll have watched in 25 years. I will be watching Love Island.

“If you knew Scott you’d know it’s him, it’s his personality. That’s him, wanting to be on a TV show but even if he’s knocked out after a week, I have tried to create a really serious working environment here and he won’t be coming back, but I wish him well.”

Duff added: “I was shocked and saddened that Scott chose a villa in Mallorca full of beautiful, single women over myself, the staff and players.”

Van Der Sluis said the opportunity to go on the show was one he could not turn down.

“I’d like to thank Shelbelbourne FC for everything they’ve done for me, the lads, staff, fans and people around the club have been brilliant with me since coming in," he said in a statement issued by the club today.

“I’ve loved my time at Shels, Football is all I’ve ever done, all I’ve ever known. So this is a new and exciting opportunity for a change-up in life.

“Shels are a great club going in the right direction and I look forward to seeing what the lads can achieve. Shels is my club now, I look forward to cheering on the lads as a fan.”