HUNGER GAMES
WHEN Caolan Mcaleer assesses his time in Scotland he uses phrases like ‘soul destroying’ and ‘disheartening’.
But having stuck at it for five years, the effort to make the most of a bad situation tells you plenty about his determination..
Nobody can accuse the Tyrone man of not giving it a bash or for throwing his toys out of the pram at the first opportunity.
The new Sligo Rovers winger, 24, played against Rangers in front of 45,000 fans at Ibrox in one of his more standout memories.
He could be forgiven at the time for thinking his move to Partick Thistle in 2012 – who plucked him from Linfield’s reserves – would be a rip-rollicking adventure.
Not so.
Loans to minnows Arthurlie and Airdrie followed before earning a permanent deal at East Fife and then back to Airdrie full time.
From there he dropped into junior football again with a loan to Kilbirnie Ladeside and then he signed for Greenock Morton before returning home to Finn Harps last year.
Mcaleer (inset), who moved to Scotland aged 18, said: “I fell out of love with football to be honest. When I came back from Scotland, I just thought I’d play for fun.
“I know if I’m playing, I’ll play well. If a manager sticks by me, I’ll play my best and I was lucky enough that it attracted Sligo.
“But it was tough in Scotland – you’re just a small fish in a big pond. There’s a lot of boys in your position.
“You could be the youngest and there’s a boy a few years older in your position with more experience – it’s a business, the team makes
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money by winning games.
“Are they going to make money by throwing a young boy in? Know what I mean?
“There are times when you’re training hard during the week and it comes to the Saturday and you’re not in the team or not in the squad – it’s soul destroying.
“Trying to keep yourself going, it’s disheartening, especially living away from your parents and all your friends are back home.
“When you come home, you enjoy yourself, your mind is free.”
Mcaleer continued: “It’s every boy’s dream to get across the water. Where I’m from, it’s a real big step and I was lucky enough.
“But it was tough and I didn’t play as many games as I wanted. In the space of five years, maybe 50 games.
“I went on loan a couple of times to junior teams to try to toughen me up. But I knew I wasn’t going to go any further like Championship or League One.
“I wasn’t going to play for your Celtics or your Rangers – the big teams – so I came back to give it a good go.”
Mcaleer is grateful to Harps boss Ollie Horgan for offering him a deal last season and says the year restored his enthusiasm for the game despite relegation.
Now he’s back in the swing of full-time football with Sligo Rovers and wants to kick on again this season.
“My main priority is playing well and enjoying myself. If I play well week in and week out, I could possibly attract a team and go away again.
“When I first came back, I was just happy to be content but now I’ve got the hunger again.”