Stephens of Ireland: A Tale of Unrealised Potential
In Ireland, February 1 is Imbolc, a day associated with saints, names and which celebrates the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. With that in mind, Neddy Hammer writes about the lost generation of Stephens from Irish football that never reached their full potential, those players that got stuck halfway between promise and realisation.
While thinking of great players down through the years that never truly reached their potential in a green shirt, I noticed one commonality among them: the name Stephen. Stephen - the patron saint of martyrs who was stoned to death - is an apt name for pro footballers as they face a sort of metaphorical stoning whenever they are routinely pilloried by their fan bases for every transgression on and off the field. I always have a fondness for the name. On a personal note, being of the surname Ryan, which is the 3rd most common in Ireland, each family needs another sub-name to distinguish themselves from other Ryans. Ours was Ryan Stephen. My grandfather was Stephen, my father, my brother and now my nephew also share it. It’s a name intrinsically linked to us. Therefore, I’ve a certain affinity to the name and players, especially Irish ones, who carry it.
Just after the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea, Ireland was ranked 12th. Despite the civil war of Saipan, which we won't delve deeply into here, things were looking relatively bright for the national team. Ireland would lose stalwarts Gary Kelly, Steve Staunton and Niall Quinn, but we had some exciting guys coming through not yet at their peak, and the nation was dreaming of what was next.
I bring to you three different Stephens (one is really a Steven), each of whom touched or almost touched world class level at their peaks, and the timeline of Irish football post ‘02 could have looked so different had their destinies taken another route.
Stephen Carr
Carr was the best right back in the Premier League, by some distance, until a terrible knee injury ruled him out of our World Cup squad in April ‘02. Carr was an attacking right back of blistering speed and fierce strength who could be near impossible to stop at full tilt. Think of an Irish Gareth Bale but at right back. This man was perhaps our second best player after Roy Keane for a few seasons, but subsequent injuries have meant we don't remember him like we do other stars such as Robbie Keane or Duff. Carr was easily on a par with these. He would return for Ireland and put in some solid displays but was never at the same level post the knee injury.
Steven Reid
Captain of Millwall in the Championship at just 22 is no mean feat. Reid was the kind of central midfield player Ireland have always lacked since Roy Keane retired. He could drag a team through matches on his own, had a rasping shot, dynamic box to box energy, ox-like strength with a range of passing. Many had seen him as the man to take over from Roy as our number 6 for the ‘08, ‘10 and ‘12 tournaments. Alas, in ‘03 Reid suffered an ACL injury while playing for Blackburn Rovers which ruled him out for some time. He did have a fantastic resurgence between ‘06 and ‘08, but a nasty hamstring injury, combined with ongoing knee issues, forced his retirement in 2010. The tragedy of Irish, and maybe even global, football is that he only managed 23 caps for us.
Stephen Ireland
Ireland by name but not by nature. He chose to abandon international football for issues only he and a few others can have any true insight on, but I will speculate a little here. Ireland was a hot property from 2005 to 2010. He could more than hold his own in the middle of the park against the likes of Gerrard and Lampard in the Premier League. He was the Man City poster boy before all the oil money demoted him. A creative playmaker with the ability to dribble past players and make his own space, this guy was the one that got away. However, his #1 enemy was not injury or cantankerous managers, like in most sad footballer stories. His enemy was, in fact, his own mind and sense of grievance toward the national team. He withdrew from the national team sullen and feeling underappreciated.
There was the granny debacle. It could have been managed better by the FAI. To be fair, they weren't helped by the player’s own decision to lie about his reason for absence. Around that time he was the butt of jokes in the Irish dressing room. When the once balding Ireland turned up with a full head of inorganic hair to one training camp, another Stephen - Stephen Hunt - was the ringleader in an alleged incident of banter with far reaching consequences. He ripped the toupée from Ireland’s head and sent it flying around the locker room, much to the fury of the sensitive Ireland. Hunt has never outright admitted guilt, but with his garrulous and boisterous nature, it does seem credible. However, nobody could ever doubt Hunt’s love of the national team. We cannot say the same about Ireland, who had previously refused to turn out for underage teams led by Brian Kerr, which was the result of a separate grievance.
Thwarted hopes
So, there you have it, a trinity of world class Irish Stephens who were all knocking around the Premier League in the same decade. They never reached their true ceilings in the green, yet still, I have to salute all three for their brief but bright stints wearing the jersey of the national tram. If nothing else, they gave us hope, and a fan can live on nothing if not hope.
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