IT CAN EASILY be forgotten that Seamus Coleman has actually endeared himself to supporters of two English clubs over the past two decades.
Coleman, who announced on Friday that he will finish his 17-year playing career at Everton at the end of the season, is often described as a one-club man in English football, but his short time at Blackpool should not be forgotten.
The Killybegs defender was 21 when he joined the Tangerines on an initial one-month injury cover deal in March 2010, with the move soon being extended until the end of the season.
“He just changed everything for us,” then-Blackpool boss Ian Holloway tells The 42.
“He was like a winger really, rather than a full back, so I ended up playing with two wingers down one side. I think we won something like 12 out of 15 games, and only lost one when he played. For such a young man just coming out of Ireland, it was pretty unbelievable. To do so well immediately, it’s unheard of.
Coleman in his Blackpool days. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
“He just wanted to win. You wouldn’t have known how old he was. I’ve heard stories that some people just do it for a team, and he did it for us. He actually wanted to win every single thing. If you had a game of Tiddlywinks against him, he would want to win.
“He was a one off in my experience of having such a young person being like that. Apparently John Terry was very much like that at Chelsea. Frank Lampard too would train and train and train, and people like Eric Cantona would never give up – they were always training. This young lad coming over from Ireland showed everybody how you should do it.”
To this day, Holloway fondly remembers the Donegal defender’s debut against Crystal Palace at Bloomfield Road, as the youngster spearheaded a comeback to earn his side a point.
“We were two-nil down at half-time, and I said, ‘We’re letting this boy down.’
“Seamus was the most determined fellow I’d ever seen in my life. Inside great people there is a determination that no matter what disappointment happens to you or happens to your team, they don’t show it. He was constantly, relentlessly after the ball. I think that was bred into him. That and his talent is what has made him.
“You can get brilliant players who don’t quite do it because they haven’t got that other bit. The other bit is that you never give up and can always deal with disappointment in the right way. That was him all over from that very first game.
“It was literally carved in him. It’s as if Michelangelo had made him and carved it right across him, that belief that ‘I’m so determined, you’re never going to beat me.’”
Coleman’s only goal for Blackpool is one of Holloway’s all-time favourites, a superb solo effort which put his side ahead away to Scunthorpe and pushed the Tangerines within a point of the play-off places.
“It was an early kick-off and we needed to win it. We managed to win 4-2 in the end. They got a really dodgy penalty and Seamus was the one who just went, ‘I’m not having this.’ You could tell that he was going to turn it around. He took a throw, got it back, beat three people and bent the ball into the bottom corner. I could hardly believe what I was seeing.”
Blackpool finished the regular season campaign in sixth place, securing the last play-off place on the league’s final day, before beating Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City in the play-offs to punch their ticket to the Premier League.
From Killybegs to Wembley. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
To Holloway’s dismay, Coleman returned to his parent club Everton for the following season, where he has stayed to this very day.
“He did so well for us that I could have killed him, because he went straight in Everton’s team the following year, and I wanted him to stay with me. He even scored against us!”
It will come as a surprise to few that the Irishman chose not to celebrate – despite it being his first ever Premier League goal – as a mark of respect to Holloway, his former teammates and supporters.
“If where you come from is anything to go by, I’d love to be from where Seamus comes from. What he showed me was everything that’s right in the world, about how people should be. Not selfish, not big-headed. He was just so down to earth. So ordinary, yet so wonderful.”
***
Signed from Sligo Rovers for the now-famous sum of £60,000, Coleman was 24 years old with three years of regular Premier League experience under his belt when he entered into the best season of his career.
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The Toffees went on to finish the 2013/14 season in fifth place, with Coleman earning a spot in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, as well as picking up the club’s Players’ and Supporters’ Player of the Year awards.
PFA chairman Ritchie Humphreys presents Seamus Coleman with a trophy for his inclusion in the Barclays Premier League Team of the Year. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Key to Everton’s success that year was the arrival of Premier League legend Gareth Barry on loan from Manchester City, where he had been a constant in midfield for four seasons, most notably 2011/12 – City’s first league title in 44 years. (They’ve won a few more since.)
“It was great to work closely with Seamus after watching the early stages of his career from afar,” Barry tells The 42.
“It’s not until you really train with someone and see their work ethic day in day out, you understand what a good professional someone is.
“It’s hard to completely compare players, but in terms of players that can get forward and defend, I’d look at someone like Pablo Zabaleta when comparing someone else I’ve played with to Seamus. Pablo just had that utter hunger to win a game of football and that’s exactly what Seamus had too. They were two proper professionals who enjoyed doing their job. They were honestly both just a manager’s dream because they were so reliable week in, week out.
“If you look at how Seamus played that season, he really showed the world that he was capable of going forward and defending, of going both ways. He scored some great goals that year. Him and Bainesy [Leighton Baines] were probably the two best full backs in the Premier League that year.”
Barry congratulates Coleman after scoring against Fulham. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Off the back of his stunning season where the Donegal man bagged six goals from defence, he was consistently linked with moves to global superpowers such as Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
“There would have been a period, especially during that 2013/14 season, where there would have been outside attention for him and possibly conversations about Seamus leaving,” Barry says.
“I think his loyalty in staying is why the Everton fans love him so much.”
“You could always see the sort of character that Seamus was; really loyal and just had so much love for Everton Football Club. He’s turned into a great leader and captain for the club since. He had some great experienced players to learn off at Everton through the years and eventually became a great one himself and he will go down in the club’s history.”
As a former Man City and Aston Villa star, Barry was no stranger to bitter Premier League derbies when he arrived at Goodison, yet the rivalry between Everton blue and Liverpool red was still drilled into him from the second he arrived, particularly by a certain Irishman.
“Seamus was one of the leaders in the dressing room for driving that loyalty into players, particularly in regard to the Merseyside divide,” Barry says.
“When I joined Everton, it was really drilled into you straight away about the colours, you know, if you’re red or blue, where your feelings lie, not being able to wear red boots and stuff like that. And it’s pretty made sure from day one. Seamus was one of those players that made it clear to any new signing, including myself, that these are the rules at this club. It’s drilled into you from player to supporter and the staff. Really, it’s a real strong rivalry.”
It remains to be seen whether Coleman intends on sticking around for more bitter derby days.
On Friday the ex-Ireland skipper confirmed that his playing career at Everton will come to an end after more than 17 years at the club when his contract expires next month.
The Evertonian has said that he will take the summer to decide if he will accept a coaching role at the club, or if he would like to find a new club which would allow him to continue playing for the Republic of Ireland.
“I completely get why both Everton and Ireland will want him around in some sort of capacity,” Barry says.
“Seamus always looked at football from the tactical side of things, and the way he is, he could certainly manage people. He can read what different people’s personalities are like and he can really adapt to them.
“He has been away from home for so long. He’s really strong about his roots back home, so I’m sure that’ll never go away. But he’s adapted to becoming an Evertonian unbelievably. Whatever Seamus’s next step is, I’m sure Ireland will be part of that as well.
“I think for Seamus it will be down to whether he will still want to play a certain level of football, whether he still thinks he can do it, and obviously also how his body is feeling.
“Seamus is wise enough to make the right call. Whatever he does, I’m sure he’s going to be great.”
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'If where you come from is anything to go by, I'd love to be from where Seamus comes from'
IT CAN EASILY be forgotten that Seamus Coleman has actually endeared himself to supporters of two English clubs over the past two decades.
Coleman, who announced on Friday that he will finish his 17-year playing career at Everton at the end of the season, is often described as a one-club man in English football, but his short time at Blackpool should not be forgotten.
The Killybegs defender was 21 when he joined the Tangerines on an initial one-month injury cover deal in March 2010, with the move soon being extended until the end of the season.
“He just changed everything for us,” then-Blackpool boss Ian Holloway tells The 42.
“He was like a winger really, rather than a full back, so I ended up playing with two wingers down one side. I think we won something like 12 out of 15 games, and only lost one when he played. For such a young man just coming out of Ireland, it was pretty unbelievable. To do so well immediately, it’s unheard of.
“He just wanted to win. You wouldn’t have known how old he was. I’ve heard stories that some people just do it for a team, and he did it for us. He actually wanted to win every single thing. If you had a game of Tiddlywinks against him, he would want to win.
“He was a one off in my experience of having such a young person being like that. Apparently John Terry was very much like that at Chelsea. Frank Lampard too would train and train and train, and people like Eric Cantona would never give up – they were always training. This young lad coming over from Ireland showed everybody how you should do it.”
To this day, Holloway fondly remembers the Donegal defender’s debut against Crystal Palace at Bloomfield Road, as the youngster spearheaded a comeback to earn his side a point.
“We were two-nil down at half-time, and I said, ‘We’re letting this boy down.’
“Seamus was the most determined fellow I’d ever seen in my life. Inside great people there is a determination that no matter what disappointment happens to you or happens to your team, they don’t show it. He was constantly, relentlessly after the ball. I think that was bred into him. That and his talent is what has made him.
“You can get brilliant players who don’t quite do it because they haven’t got that other bit. The other bit is that you never give up and can always deal with disappointment in the right way. That was him all over from that very first game.
Coleman’s only goal for Blackpool is one of Holloway’s all-time favourites, a superb solo effort which put his side ahead away to Scunthorpe and pushed the Tangerines within a point of the play-off places.
“It was an early kick-off and we needed to win it. We managed to win 4-2 in the end. They got a really dodgy penalty and Seamus was the one who just went, ‘I’m not having this.’ You could tell that he was going to turn it around. He took a throw, got it back, beat three people and bent the ball into the bottom corner. I could hardly believe what I was seeing.”
Blackpool finished the regular season campaign in sixth place, securing the last play-off place on the league’s final day, before beating Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City in the play-offs to punch their ticket to the Premier League.
To Holloway’s dismay, Coleman returned to his parent club Everton for the following season, where he has stayed to this very day.
“He did so well for us that I could have killed him, because he went straight in Everton’s team the following year, and I wanted him to stay with me. He even scored against us!”
It will come as a surprise to few that the Irishman chose not to celebrate – despite it being his first ever Premier League goal – as a mark of respect to Holloway, his former teammates and supporters.
***
Signed from Sligo Rovers for the now-famous sum of £60,000, Coleman was 24 years old with three years of regular Premier League experience under his belt when he entered into the best season of his career.
The Toffees went on to finish the 2013/14 season in fifth place, with Coleman earning a spot in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, as well as picking up the club’s Players’ and Supporters’ Player of the Year awards.
Key to Everton’s success that year was the arrival of Premier League legend Gareth Barry on loan from Manchester City, where he had been a constant in midfield for four seasons, most notably 2011/12 – City’s first league title in 44 years. (They’ve won a few more since.)
“It was great to work closely with Seamus after watching the early stages of his career from afar,” Barry tells The 42.
“It’s not until you really train with someone and see their work ethic day in day out, you understand what a good professional someone is.
“It’s hard to completely compare players, but in terms of players that can get forward and defend, I’d look at someone like Pablo Zabaleta when comparing someone else I’ve played with to Seamus. Pablo just had that utter hunger to win a game of football and that’s exactly what Seamus had too. They were two proper professionals who enjoyed doing their job. They were honestly both just a manager’s dream because they were so reliable week in, week out.
“If you look at how Seamus played that season, he really showed the world that he was capable of going forward and defending, of going both ways. He scored some great goals that year. Him and Bainesy [Leighton Baines] were probably the two best full backs in the Premier League that year.”
Off the back of his stunning season where the Donegal man bagged six goals from defence, he was consistently linked with moves to global superpowers such as Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
“There would have been a period, especially during that 2013/14 season, where there would have been outside attention for him and possibly conversations about Seamus leaving,” Barry says.
“I think his loyalty in staying is why the Everton fans love him so much.”
“You could always see the sort of character that Seamus was; really loyal and just had so much love for Everton Football Club. He’s turned into a great leader and captain for the club since. He had some great experienced players to learn off at Everton through the years and eventually became a great one himself and he will go down in the club’s history.”
As a former Man City and Aston Villa star, Barry was no stranger to bitter Premier League derbies when he arrived at Goodison, yet the rivalry between Everton blue and Liverpool red was still drilled into him from the second he arrived, particularly by a certain Irishman.
“Seamus was one of the leaders in the dressing room for driving that loyalty into players, particularly in regard to the Merseyside divide,” Barry says.
“When I joined Everton, it was really drilled into you straight away about the colours, you know, if you’re red or blue, where your feelings lie, not being able to wear red boots and stuff like that. And it’s pretty made sure from day one. Seamus was one of those players that made it clear to any new signing, including myself, that these are the rules at this club. It’s drilled into you from player to supporter and the staff. Really, it’s a real strong rivalry.”
It remains to be seen whether Coleman intends on sticking around for more bitter derby days.
On Friday the ex-Ireland skipper confirmed that his playing career at Everton will come to an end after more than 17 years at the club when his contract expires next month.
The Evertonian has said that he will take the summer to decide if he will accept a coaching role at the club, or if he would like to find a new club which would allow him to continue playing for the Republic of Ireland.
“I completely get why both Everton and Ireland will want him around in some sort of capacity,” Barry says.
“Seamus always looked at football from the tactical side of things, and the way he is, he could certainly manage people. He can read what different people’s personalities are like and he can really adapt to them.
“He has been away from home for so long. He’s really strong about his roots back home, so I’m sure that’ll never go away. But he’s adapted to becoming an Evertonian unbelievably. Whatever Seamus’s next step is, I’m sure Ireland will be part of that as well.
“I think for Seamus it will be down to whether he will still want to play a certain level of football, whether he still thinks he can do it, and obviously also how his body is feeling.
“Seamus is wise enough to make the right call. Whatever he does, I’m sure he’s going to be great.”
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