SEAMUS COLEMAN is the current Ireland captain and has spent 12 years in the Premier League largely as a regular with Everton.
Yet it could so easily have turned out differently for the Donegal native.
Two of his uncles played GAA, while his maternal aunt Anne is the mother of Dublin boss Dessie Farrell.
Growing up, Coleman also represented his local GAA team, Na Cealla Beaga.
Ultimately, though, he chose soccer, spending three years with Sligo Rovers before earning a move to the Toffees in 2009.
Clearly, the call paid off, but even now, he admits the decision was not an easy one.
“I think unless you’re from these small towns, and you’re from these Gaelic communities you actually don’t realise how hard of a decision it is. I was probably better at Gaelic than I was at soccer… Not probably, I was better at Gaelic.
“It was a big loss for the club, and sure the dream of England was a long way away before I signed for Sligo Rovers. I probably felt it was possible but not everyone thought that, so to leave Gaelic was a big call at the time. It wasn’t made overnight that decision, it was quite a hard decision to make.
“But I went with it, stuck with it and I didn’t look back. There were a few winters where I could have went back but I didn’t. I always said you can go back and give Gaelic a go, but you can’t go back and give soccer a go at 24. I made the right decision, thankfully.”
And while he has been away from Ireland for over a decade, Coleman’s love for GAA remains strong.
He has been known to attend games when he is back in his Donegal with family and remains an avid follower of the sport.
“I am a big fan. I watch it as much as I can. I watched most of the Donegal game the last day, we’ve got two of the club lads playing from the same club as mine. Being home in the summer I’m up around the Gaelic club and the soccer club, watching the u17s and the seniors train. I’m really enjoying being part of it, it was a big part of my life growing up so I like being back around it again.”
Asked whether he felt any of the Everton stars could do a job in GAA, Coleman replied: “I’d say Jordan Pickford would be good. He’s a bit of a mad man in goals. He’d have the handling skills and a very good left foot. He’s not slow as well, he’s quite fast for a keeper. I’d say he might be alright… Does Gaelic have positions anymore? It’s changed so much. It’s just every man behind the ball. I was going to say corner-forward or half-forward but it’s not how it used to be. It’s not the same game I left.”
And as for Donegal stars who might have been equipped to be professional footballers?
“I don’t know. I’m sure there are a few soccer players. I know Frank McGlynn was over in England a few times but I wouldn’t know them well enough to know who’d have a chance. They’re doing well enough at the Gaelic with a few Ulsters behind them, so I’m sure they’re happy enough with the sport they’re in.”
And surely Coleman’s earliest big tournament memory — Robbie Keane’s goal against Germany at the 2002 World Cup — had a big impact on him choosing to go down the soccer route ultimately.
“I watched it in the sitting room with my dad. I live in a housing estate and all the kids went out to the green then and played with a football [after]. We all wanted to be Robbie Keane and Damien Duff.
“A lot of the kids my age, that summer was very big for us. There would have been lads a year older than me doing their Junior Cert at the time who were getting exams done and getting home as quickly as possible to watch the games. And then getting outside to play on the green, and all wanted to be like our heroes that we’d seen on the TV. I think that time would have been massive for myself, James McClean, Shane Duffy — them lads who are now in the senior setup would have looked at that Robbie Keane goal as our first memory of wanting to play for Ireland.”
SPAR Better Choices ambassador and father of three, Seamus Coleman. The Republic of Ireland and Everton captain today launched SPAR’s Better Choices summer 2021 campaign, bringing healthier food and refreshment options into Irish homes, gardens and parks for all the family to enjoy this summer. SPAR has also created a specially curated online hub at www.spar.ie/betterchoices providing customers with delicious recipes and suggested shopping lists to make planning for staycations, barbeques and match nights in, simple, healthy and tasty. Available now in more than 400 SPAR stores across Ireland, SPAR Better Choices products are easily identifiable by the green sticker.
Originally published at 15.39