North by northwest is way for Coleman

SOCCER: HE MAY not have sprung a major shock by beating the likes of Jack Wilshire, Nani and Samir Nasri to the PFA's Young Player of the year award over the weekend, but Séamus Coleman's inclusion on the list is further evidence of the Irish game's ability to produce players who need only a little polishing up before being allowed to shine in the Premier League.

The 22-year-old, who has so far cost Everton around €70,000, would have become the first Irish player ever to lift the award had he won on Sunday night, but instead he lost out to Wilshere, a player groomed for stardom at the Arsenal academy since the age of nine.

Amongst the other “also-rans” were Nani, a €25 million purchase by Manchester United four years ago who has played nearly 50 times for Portugal, Samir Nasri who made more than 150 first team appearances for Marseille before moving to Arsenal for around €14 million in June 2008 and senior award winner Gareth Bale who Tottenham eventually paid Southampton a knockdown €8 million for due to the League One side’s financial problems not long after an initial deal had been done in 2007.

As it happens, Bale made his Spurs debut against St Patrick’s Athletic, but, for Coleman, as it has been for Kevin Doyle and Keith Fahey in recent years, the League of Ireland was a rather more significant staging post on the player’s route to the top.

In an interview at the weekend for the Everton match-day programme, indeed, the Donegal man acknowledges the value of the top level coaching enjoyed by the other shortlisted players, but insists that his own football education on the streets of Killybegs and then the Showgrounds has served him rather well.

“When I was younger, I think the same as every kid,” he says, “you’d go in to school in the morning, you’d pick your teams for the lunchtime kick-around, and you hated losing.

“Then you’d go home and you’d be straight out playing football. I lived in a housing estate, so whatever sport was on the TV at the time would be played out in the parks and streets. But football was all year round.

“Everyone was competitive where I lived and to say there were a couple of fights between the kids growing up on the estate would be an understatement,” he recalls. “The estate was split because there was a circle of houses, where I lived, but at the bottom of a hill.

“When it came to football, we called ourselves the Killers, and the kids from the hill were the All Stars. And they were battles, believe me. Nobody liked to lose and there was nowhere to hide, and I think that helped me. It was more competitive than our organised game on the Saturday to be honest, because it was no holds barred and you had to be up for that.”

Coleman was playing a fair bit of Gaelic football too at the time, but after impressing then Rovers boss Seán Connor in a friendly game for St Catherine’s he was offered the chance to join the League of Ireland outfit and take a serious first step on the road to a professional career.

“That’s when I said I was going to give soccer a go and leave the Gaelic football behind,” he says. “I haven’t really looked back since. And obviously I don’t regret it at all. My brother still plays with the Gaelic team and I keep an eye on how they’re doing. It’s still a part of my life.”

His time at Sligo was, in the end, rather shortlived. His performances quickly marked him out as a rising star and while Birmingham City and Celtic let him slip through their fingers after trials, Everton were only to happy to add him to a squad of reserves and youth players dominated by academy graduates.

“I missed out on all the coaching that a lot of lads get from a young age and I’m still playing catch-up in that department,” he admits. “But I learned an awful lot from the manager (Paul Cook succeeded Connor in April 2007) and the players at Sligo and I wouldn’t change it.”

Less than two years after leaving for Goodison Park, he is a regular in David Moyes’ side with only five players having made more starts this season and fewer still having made more of an impact. He has made his senior international debut recently against Wales too and looks to have a bright future for both club and country.

“To play at under-21 level was great for me and my family because representing my country was something I always wanted to do. But to make my debut for the seniors really was a childhood dream come true. Hopefully,” he concludes with typical modesty, “there will be more to come”.