LIKE THE IRISH team in Budapest, John Egan’s performance over the course of his career has been characterised by resilience.
The son of a GAA legend, John Sr, Egan took the alternative route of trying to forge a career in professional soccer.
Before the Brexit-enforced changes, countless Irish teenagers made the move across the water to Britain before turning 18, and the majority failed to sustain this dream.
Egan could so easily have fallen into this category. Having made encouraging strides in his early days at Sunderland, he was sent on loan to League Two side Bradford City a month after turning 20.
This stint lasted only two weeks, as Egan suffered a broken leg in his fourth game for the club, putting him out of action for over a year.
The Bishopstown native had only played a handful of matches at senior level, and other youngsters would have struggled to recover from such a blow.
Yet 466 days later, Egan was back in action in League Two amid another loan spell at Southend.
The Irish defender’s spell with the Blues was successful. He appeared 13 times after joining on an initial emergency loan on 27 February 2014.
It was not enough to persuade Sunderland to give the Corkonian a run in the first team, but it did earn him a move in the right direction in the bid to realise his dream of Premier League football and international recognition.
Amid interest from clubs in the Championship and League One, Egan opted to join third-tier outfit Gillingham on a permanent deal.
Leaving a Premier League club at an early age is a setback some players never recover from, but Egan thrived instantly, winning Gillingham’s Player of the Year award in his first season there and making the PFA Team of the Year in the second.
The defender then moved up to the Championship, signing with Brentford and making enough of an impression in his two seasons there that he was made club captain.
John Egan pictured during his time at Gillingham. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
The Bees were not quite Premier League-ready by then, finishing 10th and ninth during those two campaigns.
Egan would have to wait one more season before he reached the promised land of the English top flight with Sheffield United.
It was under manager Chris Wilder that the Irish defender enjoyed the best times of his career, finishing ninth with the Blades in their first season at Premier League level for 12 years.
Yet the pandemic hit the club harder than most. No longer able to play in front of their febrile home crowd, their form deteriorated, and the Blades were relegated in 20th place.
Despite interest from elsewhere, Egan stuck around and was key to Sheffield United’s return to the Premier League the second time of asking.
Yet disaster struck just six games into the next season, as Egan suffered an Achilles injury, meaning his 223rd appearance for the club turned out to be his last.
Like with the broken leg suffered as a youngster, Egan would not return to first-team action for over a year.
This time, it was a 385-day wait between games.
And again, the outlook was unpromising.
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Egan had 10 years of regular football between the two bad injuries, but recovering from the latest one was ostensibly even more of a challenge.
He was about to turn 32, and some clubs would have been reluctant to gamble on a player perceived as injury-troubled.
“I learned a lot of my experience from when I broke my leg. I’d been through the long rehab process before, I knew what to do and what not to do,” he tells The 42 of his road to recovery.
“The start is always tough when you’re feeling sorry for yourself. But I’d been through it before.
“I was working with a brilliant physio every day, Ryan Flanagan from Sheffield United. And I managed to hit all my targets and get back for the summer [of 2024]
“You read up a lot about Achilles injuries, and they can be quite hard to get back from. So maybe at the start, there are a couple of question marks [about getting back to my best]. But, once the rehab is going, and once you get back on the pitch, and you’re back running and training, I think it’s just the question of getting back onto the pitch to play games.”
John Egan made 223 appearances for Sheffield United. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Around the start of last season, Egan went on trial with West Ham, but the Premier League club ultimately decided against pursuing a deal.
Instead, he joined Burnley, moving down a division to the Championship.
But the centre-back registered only eight appearances for the Clarets, two of which were starts. Scott Parker preferred the younger defensive duo of Maxime Estève and CJ Egan-Riley.
Yet it was with reluctance that the manager allowed Egan to leave on Deadline Day last year for a reported fee of €260,000.
After the transfer went through, Parker said he was “gutted” to see the player depart and paid tribute to his professionalism, while explaining that he did not want to hold him back from the stability of securing a longer contract and the prospect of more regular minutes.
However, it was another instance of Egan gambling by joining a side lower down the English footballing ladder. He swapped playing for a team that would gain Premier League promotion that season to one in danger of dropping down to League One.
Egan wasn’t even a guaranteed starter in his early days at Hull, and the team’s fortunes did not instantaneously improve.
The Tigers avoided relegation narrowly. A 1-1 draw with Portsmouth on the final day meant they beat the drop at Luton Town’s expense on goal difference. That game was only the sixth time Egan had completed 90 minutes since the injury at Sheffield United.
By contrast, so far this season, he has achieved that feat 18 times.
And under the new regime of Sergej Jakirović, Hull have gone from relegation strugglers to promotion contenders.
At the time of writing, they are seventh in the table, with only goal difference separating them from the playoff spots.
Hull City have improved substantially since Sergej Jakirović's appointment as manager. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Did Egan see such potential in the team when he first joined?
“I knew the squad was brilliant,” he says. “They were struggling with injuries and stuff. And for myself, I needed to play football. I was injured for eight months, and then I moved to Burnley, and the team was doing so well that it was hard to get into.
“I wanted to go somewhere that I had a belief and a hunger to kick on. And I felt that, from my conversations with [the sporting director] Jared Dublin, the club wanted to, first of all, stay up in the league and then have a go at it. So it wasn’t straightforward, but it was a move I’m glad I made.”
Having initially signed on an 18-month deal, it was confirmed earlier this month that Egan had triggered a contract extension, which will keep him at the Championship club until the end of next season.
On the team’s substantial improvement, he adds, “When you’re down [near the relegation zone], it’s tough. You could be playing well, but you might lose a game. The bounce of the ball doesn’t seem to go for you. But I saw the players that the club signed in January before I signed. And that twisted my arm in the move. And seeing the quality of players that were brought in, obviously I’ll miss a couple if I name them, man for man, but obviously Crooksy [Matt Crooks] and [Eliot] Matazo and fellas like that.
“In the summer, there were obviously more players signed, a couple of lads I know really well, Oli McBurnie and Luny [John Lundstram], fantastic men and fantastic players, and will only improve us. And then obviously, the manager came in as well. We had a good full preseason with him. And we just took it game by game. And we’re only halfway through now, but the signs are positive. We’ve got some big results, missing a lot of key players this year as well.
“We’ve got a good changing room, a lot of men in there, some good young players. And lads in the middle of their careers. So it’s a good blend, and it’s up to us now to keep it going and keep driving the standards.”
John Egan of Hull City gets his head to the ball during the Sky Bet Championship match with Middlesbrough. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
There was also another motivation behind Egan’s move to Hull City.
Before the injury at Sheffield United, he was regarded as an integral player for Ireland and had won 35 caps.
In September 2023, he played in the Boys in Green’s 2-1 defeat by the Netherlands, which proved the beginning of the end of the Stephen Kenny era. 20 days later, his season ended prematurely amid a 2-0 defeat at West Ham.
“That was probably the biggest factor in my desire to play games, to try and get myself back in the Ireland squad,” he says.
“I think it’s the biggest reason all Irishmen go to England to play football is to try and get into the Irish squad, and get into the Ireland team. So, I came to Hull to try and get games, to put myself in the manager’s thoughts.”
Despite his experience and the progress at Hull, Egan was initially overlooked by his country.
Some in his position and status might have expressed their frustration publicly. Instead, Egan did what the defender always does — he got the head down and worked hard.
It was conceivably desperate times as much as his consistent game time that put the 33-year-old back in the international picture.
In the aftermath of the Boys in Green’s demoralising 2-1 defeat away to Armenia, both he and fellow veteran performer Seamus Coleman were recalled.
While Egan has been restricted to a cameo appearance late in the 1-0 defeat by Portugal, it is no coincidence that the team’s fortunes have improved dramatically since then, with his leadership and know-how felt in the dressing room.
“Anytime you get called up for Ireland is special,” he adds. “But that was a really special one for me, considering what I’d been through.
“That’s probably the pinnacle of my career anyway. I’ve been involved in Irish games, playing and captaining [the team]. And it’s the reason I do what I do, the reason I play football. Moving over to England at the start, obviously, you want to do well in England, but the main goal was always to play for Ireland.”
Ireland's John Egan celebrates with Caoimhín Kelleher and Ryan Manning after the defeat of Hungary. Anthony Stanley / INPHO
Anthony Stanley / INPHO / INPHO
Egan was one of the many voices in the Ireland camp insisting that World Cup qualification was still possible and instilling younger players with belief when most on the outside had written off the team’s chances. He also credits Coleman for doing likewise.
“We added a bit of experience to the group, and probably helped the younger players a little bit to get through the tricky moments,” he says. “And Seamus Coleman is a legend of Irish football. I think you’ve seen the performances he put in. First and foremost, obviously, the performances on the pitch are the main thing. And behind the scenes, he’s an incredible human, an incredible leader, and Ireland are lucky to have him.”
Egan is complimentary of fellow centre-backs Nathan Collins, Dara O’Shea and Jake O’Brien, but of course will have a burning desire to get back in the starting XI.
The veteran star has spent his career defying the odds and naysayers, but achieving Premier League promotion with Hull and World Cup qualification for Ireland would surely constitute his best season yet.
“I wouldn’t say proving people wrong [is my ambition],” he says. “I don’t really think that’s the healthy way to look at things. Sometimes I think you have to try to prove yourself right.
“People are going to talk, and people are going to have their own opinions on things. But for me personally, I’m just trying to raise my standards every day and trying to improve every day for myself and the team, because at the end of the day, when you’re out in the pitch, that’s all that matters.”
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'The main goal was always to play for Ireland'
LIKE THE IRISH team in Budapest, John Egan’s performance over the course of his career has been characterised by resilience.
The son of a GAA legend, John Sr, Egan took the alternative route of trying to forge a career in professional soccer.
Before the Brexit-enforced changes, countless Irish teenagers made the move across the water to Britain before turning 18, and the majority failed to sustain this dream.
Egan could so easily have fallen into this category. Having made encouraging strides in his early days at Sunderland, he was sent on loan to League Two side Bradford City a month after turning 20.
This stint lasted only two weeks, as Egan suffered a broken leg in his fourth game for the club, putting him out of action for over a year.
The Bishopstown native had only played a handful of matches at senior level, and other youngsters would have struggled to recover from such a blow.
Yet 466 days later, Egan was back in action in League Two amid another loan spell at Southend.
The Irish defender’s spell with the Blues was successful. He appeared 13 times after joining on an initial emergency loan on 27 February 2014.
It was not enough to persuade Sunderland to give the Corkonian a run in the first team, but it did earn him a move in the right direction in the bid to realise his dream of Premier League football and international recognition.
Amid interest from clubs in the Championship and League One, Egan opted to join third-tier outfit Gillingham on a permanent deal.
Leaving a Premier League club at an early age is a setback some players never recover from, but Egan thrived instantly, winning Gillingham’s Player of the Year award in his first season there and making the PFA Team of the Year in the second.
The defender then moved up to the Championship, signing with Brentford and making enough of an impression in his two seasons there that he was made club captain.
The Bees were not quite Premier League-ready by then, finishing 10th and ninth during those two campaigns.
Egan would have to wait one more season before he reached the promised land of the English top flight with Sheffield United.
It was under manager Chris Wilder that the Irish defender enjoyed the best times of his career, finishing ninth with the Blades in their first season at Premier League level for 12 years.
Yet the pandemic hit the club harder than most. No longer able to play in front of their febrile home crowd, their form deteriorated, and the Blades were relegated in 20th place.
Despite interest from elsewhere, Egan stuck around and was key to Sheffield United’s return to the Premier League the second time of asking.
Yet disaster struck just six games into the next season, as Egan suffered an Achilles injury, meaning his 223rd appearance for the club turned out to be his last.
Like with the broken leg suffered as a youngster, Egan would not return to first-team action for over a year.
This time, it was a 385-day wait between games.
And again, the outlook was unpromising.
Egan had 10 years of regular football between the two bad injuries, but recovering from the latest one was ostensibly even more of a challenge.
He was about to turn 32, and some clubs would have been reluctant to gamble on a player perceived as injury-troubled.
“I learned a lot of my experience from when I broke my leg. I’d been through the long rehab process before, I knew what to do and what not to do,” he tells The 42 of his road to recovery.
“The start is always tough when you’re feeling sorry for yourself. But I’d been through it before.
“I was working with a brilliant physio every day, Ryan Flanagan from Sheffield United. And I managed to hit all my targets and get back for the summer [of 2024]
“You read up a lot about Achilles injuries, and they can be quite hard to get back from. So maybe at the start, there are a couple of question marks [about getting back to my best]. But, once the rehab is going, and once you get back on the pitch, and you’re back running and training, I think it’s just the question of getting back onto the pitch to play games.”
Around the start of last season, Egan went on trial with West Ham, but the Premier League club ultimately decided against pursuing a deal.
Instead, he joined Burnley, moving down a division to the Championship.
But the centre-back registered only eight appearances for the Clarets, two of which were starts. Scott Parker preferred the younger defensive duo of Maxime Estève and CJ Egan-Riley.
Yet it was with reluctance that the manager allowed Egan to leave on Deadline Day last year for a reported fee of €260,000.
After the transfer went through, Parker said he was “gutted” to see the player depart and paid tribute to his professionalism, while explaining that he did not want to hold him back from the stability of securing a longer contract and the prospect of more regular minutes.
However, it was another instance of Egan gambling by joining a side lower down the English footballing ladder. He swapped playing for a team that would gain Premier League promotion that season to one in danger of dropping down to League One.
Egan wasn’t even a guaranteed starter in his early days at Hull, and the team’s fortunes did not instantaneously improve.
The Tigers avoided relegation narrowly. A 1-1 draw with Portsmouth on the final day meant they beat the drop at Luton Town’s expense on goal difference. That game was only the sixth time Egan had completed 90 minutes since the injury at Sheffield United.
By contrast, so far this season, he has achieved that feat 18 times.
And under the new regime of Sergej Jakirović, Hull have gone from relegation strugglers to promotion contenders.
At the time of writing, they are seventh in the table, with only goal difference separating them from the playoff spots.
Did Egan see such potential in the team when he first joined?
“I knew the squad was brilliant,” he says. “They were struggling with injuries and stuff. And for myself, I needed to play football. I was injured for eight months, and then I moved to Burnley, and the team was doing so well that it was hard to get into.
“I wanted to go somewhere that I had a belief and a hunger to kick on. And I felt that, from my conversations with [the sporting director] Jared Dublin, the club wanted to, first of all, stay up in the league and then have a go at it. So it wasn’t straightforward, but it was a move I’m glad I made.”
Having initially signed on an 18-month deal, it was confirmed earlier this month that Egan had triggered a contract extension, which will keep him at the Championship club until the end of next season.
On the team’s substantial improvement, he adds, “When you’re down [near the relegation zone], it’s tough. You could be playing well, but you might lose a game. The bounce of the ball doesn’t seem to go for you. But I saw the players that the club signed in January before I signed. And that twisted my arm in the move. And seeing the quality of players that were brought in, obviously I’ll miss a couple if I name them, man for man, but obviously Crooksy [Matt Crooks] and [Eliot] Matazo and fellas like that.
“In the summer, there were obviously more players signed, a couple of lads I know really well, Oli McBurnie and Luny [John Lundstram], fantastic men and fantastic players, and will only improve us. And then obviously, the manager came in as well. We had a good full preseason with him. And we just took it game by game. And we’re only halfway through now, but the signs are positive. We’ve got some big results, missing a lot of key players this year as well.
“We’ve got a good changing room, a lot of men in there, some good young players. And lads in the middle of their careers. So it’s a good blend, and it’s up to us now to keep it going and keep driving the standards.”
There was also another motivation behind Egan’s move to Hull City.
Before the injury at Sheffield United, he was regarded as an integral player for Ireland and had won 35 caps.
In September 2023, he played in the Boys in Green’s 2-1 defeat by the Netherlands, which proved the beginning of the end of the Stephen Kenny era. 20 days later, his season ended prematurely amid a 2-0 defeat at West Ham.
“That was probably the biggest factor in my desire to play games, to try and get myself back in the Ireland squad,” he says.
“I think it’s the biggest reason all Irishmen go to England to play football is to try and get into the Irish squad, and get into the Ireland team. So, I came to Hull to try and get games, to put myself in the manager’s thoughts.”
Despite his experience and the progress at Hull, Egan was initially overlooked by his country.
Some in his position and status might have expressed their frustration publicly. Instead, Egan did what the defender always does — he got the head down and worked hard.
It was conceivably desperate times as much as his consistent game time that put the 33-year-old back in the international picture.
In the aftermath of the Boys in Green’s demoralising 2-1 defeat away to Armenia, both he and fellow veteran performer Seamus Coleman were recalled.
While Egan has been restricted to a cameo appearance late in the 1-0 defeat by Portugal, it is no coincidence that the team’s fortunes have improved dramatically since then, with his leadership and know-how felt in the dressing room.
“Anytime you get called up for Ireland is special,” he adds. “But that was a really special one for me, considering what I’d been through.
“That’s probably the pinnacle of my career anyway. I’ve been involved in Irish games, playing and captaining [the team]. And it’s the reason I do what I do, the reason I play football. Moving over to England at the start, obviously, you want to do well in England, but the main goal was always to play for Ireland.”
Egan was one of the many voices in the Ireland camp insisting that World Cup qualification was still possible and instilling younger players with belief when most on the outside had written off the team’s chances. He also credits Coleman for doing likewise.
“We added a bit of experience to the group, and probably helped the younger players a little bit to get through the tricky moments,” he says. “And Seamus Coleman is a legend of Irish football. I think you’ve seen the performances he put in. First and foremost, obviously, the performances on the pitch are the main thing. And behind the scenes, he’s an incredible human, an incredible leader, and Ireland are lucky to have him.”
Egan is complimentary of fellow centre-backs Nathan Collins, Dara O’Shea and Jake O’Brien, but of course will have a burning desire to get back in the starting XI.
The veteran star has spent his career defying the odds and naysayers, but achieving Premier League promotion with Hull and World Cup qualification for Ireland would surely constitute his best season yet.
“I wouldn’t say proving people wrong [is my ambition],” he says. “I don’t really think that’s the healthy way to look at things. Sometimes I think you have to try to prove yourself right.
“People are going to talk, and people are going to have their own opinions on things. But for me personally, I’m just trying to raise my standards every day and trying to improve every day for myself and the team, because at the end of the day, when you’re out in the pitch, that’s all that matters.”
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