A FORK’ IN THE ROAD

Armagh ace Conor on his conversion to GAA from soccer

THE last time Armagh won an Ulster title, skipper Aidan Forker was more of a soccer man.

That was before his road to Damascus moment.

The Maghery man is now the main driving force in Armagh’s bid to bridge that divide to their last Anglo-celt Cup, which is in its 16th season.

Forker’s memories are hazy of that 2008 Ulster decider, which Peter Mcdonnell’s Armagh won after a replay against Fermanagh.

Paul Mcgrane and

Steven Mcdonnell were still there but Armagh were on the slide following the most glorious era in their history when they landed an All-ireland title and six Ulsters in eight years.

Last year’s penalty shootout defeat by Derry was the Orchard County’s first Ulster final since 2008.

It could all have been very different for double All Star nominee Forker, who turned 32 earlier this month.

He spent time at Liverpool as a teenager and trialled for Northern Ireland alongside Shane Duffy (inset).

“I was more of a soccer man at that point,” he explains. “You’d have had to drag me to Gaelic matches at that age. It’s funny how things come full circle and what it means to me now.”

Forker was just 14 when he went to Liverpool and as “a bit of a homebird” he found it hard.

At the time his oldest brother Paul was at Preston North End.

“It was daunting,” he says. “My brother spent a few years over there and ended up coming home again.

“I was able to sort of bounce off him when I felt a wee bit weird. I was on my own but you wouldn’t change it – a great experience. I got to meet all the players at that time, the Gerrards and Carraghers. Sami Hyypia was playing and Djibril Cisse was there.

“I think Peter Crouch was there. It was nice. I got to play with the academy guys and see the level and see the youth set-up.

“The first team players were in having a coffee and then heading out to training. We were able to watch from the balcony, them getting ready for a Champions League game.

“I wasn’t a Liverpool fan but it was great to see. I always loved Gerrard.”

Forker had other trials, including a spell at Tranmere Rovers with former Derry City manager Kenny Shiels, who was head of youth at the Birkenhead club.

“It was all good experiences and good exposure to the high performance set-ups, it whetted my appetite a wee bit,” continues Forker.

He made final squads with Northern Ireland but never got a full cap.

Forker’s first trial was memorable though, lining out alongside future Ireland centre half Shane Duffy.

“There was maybe 44 players trialling and I was put in centre-back, which I was raging about,” says Forker.

At the time he viewed himself as an attacking midfielder who could score goals and “a good passer of the ball, good vision and I suppose aggressive in the tackle”.

He continues: “Who was beside me? Shane Duffy. Me and him lined out at centre-back in trials.

“He was the same size he is now when he was 14 so I think that helped him along with heading the ball.

“He was a great communicator and talked very well, chatting beside me and keeping me right.”

Forker believes a professional career in England is attainable for players that are focused on what they want and prepared to continually practice their skills.

“With my more adult eye, it was just the fact those boys were playing football every day,” he says of his peers in England when he was a teenager.

“Just technically they were a lot better because they were tidier and used to the pace and the quick thinking and decision making. Look at Conor

Bradley. He was a

Dungannon player and look where he is at now.”

Forker says

Armagh’s

2009 All-ireland minor triumph was a big moment in his conversion to GAA.

“There probably was a road to Damascus moment, a conversion moment,” he adds. “I had been asked into that minor team but said no. I was focused on soccer and was in the first team for Dungannon Swifts. I still had aspirations of doing something in that regard at 16 or 17.

“But it was tough to watch because it would have been really nice to be a part of it in some capacity. They had a real top, top team there so I always said if Armagh came knocking again I wouldn’t say no.”