Carson keen to show he’s the daddy before rushing home for birth of his son
GOALKEEPER Trevor Carson is ready to cap a memorable season for club and country by celebrating a new addition to his family in three weeks’ time.
Carson was given special permission by fiancée Rachel to travel to Central America for Northern Ireland’s two-match tour. But the 30-year-old has been anxiously looking at his phone just in case he received a call to return home for the birth of his little boy.
The Motherwell stopper is expected to start in goals tomorrow in San Jose against Costa Rica, earning his third cap, and then is looking forward to flying home to prepare for the new arrival.
“I managed to get permission (to come here) and she’s happy,” said Killyleagh man Carson. “The time difference makes it hard to chat but I’ve made sure her family are up regularly and her friends are with her now. Football, as much as it’s a big part of our lives, it’s not the priority.
“I know it’s only a phone call for me to jump on a plane and head home, but things are going well and hopefully I get back in good time.
“Then when I get home we’ll get everything sorted and I can’t wait for it — a little boy too — so one of each (Carson has a daughter with his ex-partner).
“Hopefully a future Northern Ireland goalkeeper, or striker — as they make the most money.”
Carson has enjoyed an incredible first season in Scotland, helping Motherwell reach two cup finals and in January he was linked with a move to Celtic. It’s an amazing turnaround as last year his club Hartlepool were relegated from the Football League.
Now, his profile has grown in Scotland and he is a senior international player.
“It’s been fantastic,” enthused Carson. “Even being linked to Celtic in January — I know it didn’t happen, but the fact I was linked with such a big club means that other managers, maybe in England, may lift up the paper and see I’ve been linked with Celtic and think he must be doing alright up there.
“Ultimately, I know it works both ways. You can enjoy it when it’s going well but don’t be too hard on yourself when things aren’t going as well.”
Carson has made no secret of the fact he wants the Northern Ireland No.1 shirt on a permanent basis and is ready to battle Michael McGovern for that right. But this week in Central America, two young goalkeepers have emerged and Carson expects Leeds United’s Bailey Peacock-Farrell, who made his debut against Panama in the second half, and Celtic’s Conor Hazard to be serious challengers.
He added: “Bailey playing at Leeds every week at a high standard and Conor coming through means these are exciting times for Northern Ireland.
“My challenge is to fight Michael for the No.1 spot while Bailey and Conor are fighting for the third and final place in the squad. Once they get that nailed down, they’ll be trying to dethrone me. It is competitive but we’re lucky to have two young lads who are good as gold.”
PARENTAL sacrifice is often forgotten about as a young footballer starts to achieve their goals and ambitions. With a sole focus on the immediate progression of their own careers and the new relationship they have formed with team-mates, players — especially those who have moved away from home at a young age — can become insular.
Yet as Northern Ireland’s new rising star Shayne Lavery reflected in San Jose yesterday on his international debut in Panama earlier this week, his thoughts immediately turned to the sacrifice, encouragement and dedication his parents, Margaret and Martin, made so that he could fulfil his dreams of playing at the same club as idol Wayne Rooney, making the bench for Everton against Apollon Limassol in the Europa League and representing the Northern Ireland senior team against a side headed for the World Cup finals in Russia.
The 19-year-old from the Co Armagh village of Aghagallon near Lurgan is only too aware that four years ago he was helping Portadown win the Harry Cavan Youth Cup before making the Mid Ulster switch to Glenavon a year later where he was spotted by an Everton scout and offered a trial which then resulted in a contract at the Goodison Park club.
Lavery is playing mostly with the Everton Under-23s but he’s impressed so much that he could soon be fast-tracked into the first team — although that obviously depends on new boss Marco Silva.
Now in Central America, he may have only made a brief cameo — thrown on for the finaltwominutesofthe0-0 draw with World Cup-bound Panama inside a packed Estadio Rommel Fernandez — but it has given him the taste to go back and work hard so that he is selected in future squads.
And when he returns home on Tuesday morning, he plans to present the shirt he wore on his debut to his parents to signify his appreciation for their unstinting support.
“My mum will probably frame it and put it up. I’ve got a few from the Under-21s that I have framed. This one is going somewhere special,” confirmed Lavery. “My parents are my biggest supporters. Mum’s always got me to the football, when I was back playing under-ages and all. She’s always brought me to football and my dad’s got me into football. They’ve been there forever.
“I think it was six o’clock every Tuesday and Thursday night my mum would be beeping the horn to get me out to football practice because I had just got back from school and