LIONS SHARE OF THE GLORY
Maguire follows in big brother’s footsteps
LAURENCE MAGUIRE spent the summer in Russia watching his older brother Harry reach the World Cup semifinals with England – now he wants to follow in his footsteps after pulling on the Three Lions jersey himself.
As Leicester City’s Harry prepared for Nations League action against Croatia and Spain with Gareth Southgate’s side at St George’s Park this week, Laurence was also donning the Three Lions shirt 125 miles away at Leyton Orient.
The Chesterfield defender, 21, was one of 12 new faces called up by England C boss Paul Fairclough for their first international friendly match of the season against Estonia U23 on Wednesday.
Laurence was diagnosed with “Russian Flu” by Spireites manager Martin Allen, who allowed him to take an extended break from preseason training to support Harry at the World Cup.
Now he’s lived the dream himself with the young Lions and Maguire junior relished every moment.
“It’s been brilliant,” he beamed. “The lads have been welcoming and so have all the coaching staff. We trained on Monday and Tuesday and the standard was very high. You can see that there’s a lot of good players around.
“Having been at Chesterfield in the Football League, I didn’t have the opportunity to be part of this group. It’s a real honour to be part of it and everything is very professional.
“It’s a very proud moment for me and my family as well to represent England. For me to be doing well, along with Harry, is a big bonus for us. It’s been a pleasure to be around this group of lads and I’ve really enjoyed it.”
Maguire, a left-sided centre back like his brother, played 87 minutes in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over the Estonians and barely put a foot wrong, comfortable in possession and easily dealing with the rare ventures forward from the Estonia attack.
He even caused chaos in the opposing area – winning a second half penalty which Alfie Pavey rifled home for the winning goal – where have we seen that before?
Competitive
Laurence is the youngest of the three football-mad Maguire siblings. His eldest brother Joe, 26, plays for Northern Premier League side Gainsborough Trinity and has been part of a defence that had conceded just eight league goals before yesterday.
The Non-League pair went head-to-head in a pre-season friendly which was watched by Harry, who had only just flown back from Russia.
He posed for endless photos and signed autographs for hundreds of fans on the night, but the £60m-rated defender is far more than just a spectator when it comes to supporting his brothers.
“We’re both centre-halves so we’re always talking about the game, he’s had a big influence on my career,” explained Laurence, whose dad, Alan, was also a centre-back. “I’m trying to follow in Harry’s footsteps with the way he plays.
“At the World Cup you saw how he stepped in with the ball and how comfortable he is on it. The modern game is coming to that and that’s what I’ve got to look up to and try to improve at. He keeps helping me to get better each week.
“My mum and dad said as soon as we could walk we were always kicking a ball about. It’s always been competitive in the house. We all love football, it’s always on in the house, we’re always talking about it.
Survivors
“My mum isn’t happy about it sometimes because it gets brought up at the dinner table all the time, but we’re a big football family. It’s nice that all three of us are doing well.”
Unfortunately, Harry was unable to take a night away from Southgate’s England camp to watch his brother in action at Brisbane Road on Wednesday night, just 48 hours before the Three Lions took on Croatia behind closed doors in Rijeka.
“He kept messaging me asking whether I had a stream for him to watch it!” Laurence. smiled. “I think he probably found a way to follow it.”
Maguire has impressed this season in a stuttering Chesterfield side tipped for promotion but without a win in 12 matches before yesterday’s game with FC Halifax, with the pressure mounting on Allen.
He is one of the survivors of Allen’s cull from last season’s squad and has backed his manager and teammates to turn their form around.
“We started really well and then hit a bad patch,” he added. “We feel like we’re just coming out of that now on the back of two recent good performances against Maidstone and AFC Fylde. Hopefully now we can kick on.
“I feel like I’ve done well in games. It’s been recognised by the England coaching staff so hopefully I can keep carrying on and get more caps.
“We’ve got a very good squad, you see it every day in training that the standard is very high. It hasn’t quite clicked, but we know we have the players to push on.”
“IT’S A VERY PROUD MOMENT FOR ME AND MY FAMILY WELL TO AS REPRESENT ENGLAND – Laurence Maguire