SOCCER STAR SEAN THORNTON ON HIS 16 YEARS AS A PROFESSIONAL
HUBERT MURPHY MEETS UP WITH LOCAL SOCCER ACE SEAN THORNTON TO LOOK BACK ON A PROFESSIONAL CAREER THAT SPANNED ALMOST TWO DECADES
THERE he stood on the edge of glory. It was the dying minutes of a Premier/First Division promotion playoff late last year. Drogheda United had lost 2-0 to Wexford Youths just a few days previously. But in a dramatic second leg, they had come back to lead 2-0 and Sean Thornton was suddenly in the limelight. He had a penalty - one kick - to send United back into the big time. He stepped up and fired home. United were back from the dead - and won 3-2.
It was, he admits, one of the highlights of a career spanning almost two decades, a life that has seen so many ups and downs, but from time to time sprinkled with a bit of Thornton magic.
As he looks back at some of the moments, he confirmed one or two stories that have always flicked between legend, myth, hearsay and fact.
Did Gianfranco Zola once ask him for HIS jersey? ‘You’ve asked so I’ll answer,’ he states. ‘yes he did.’
The moment came in January 2003 and his then club, Sunderland, were playing a star packed Chelsea side in the FA Cup. With passions running high, Thornton took the ball down 30 yards from goal, beat a man and let fly over the keeper. It’s a strike he’s remembered to this day for.
‘I was really up for it that day,’ he explains. ‘ Towards the end we got a free kick on the edge of the box and Kevin Phillips had the ball in his hands. I went over and asked could I take it and he said yes. I stepped up and got it over the wall and can still hear the thud of the ball against the woodwork. It was so close.’
The whistle went and the Black Cats had lost out narrowly. Back in the dressing room manager Mick McCarthy was in full voice when Sean noticed fellow player Kevin Ball calling him over. He whispered to him, ‘Zola’s at the door and he wants your jersey!’
Naturally taken aback, the young Thornton went outside and there was the Italian star. Thornton handed over his jersey and Zola handed him his Chelsea one. A surreal moment.
‘I still have his but I don’t know if he has mine!’ he quickly adds.
A few years later, he had moved on to Leyton Orient - where he played perhaps his best football. But one season hadn’t gone well and the side were towards the bottom of the league and faced a vital game against Brighton, needing to win.
Again, Thornton’s habit of big goals served him well. In the last minute, he got free on the left and cut in and the rest was history. He was a folk hero again.
It was only after he left the club did he find that local singer Steve White and the Protest Family wrote a song about him.
‘People still tell me it’s on You Tube and it has appeared from time to time,’ he states. ‘I never met the chap, but I get a bit of stick whenever it comes up.’
Throughout his life he has met so many managers and players, but it all began in the humble surroundings of Boyne Rovers.
He joined the Parkview club at eight years of age and stayed there for four seasons before moving on to St Kevin’s, Hartstown and a year at Bohemians before a move to Tranmere Rovers in 1999.
He had also blossomed at St Oliver’s CC under Paul O’Neill and Tony O’Callaghan, a school where his brother Kevin, also an accomplished player in England, had also attended.
Before he made his move to Merseyside he enjoyed trials on a constant basis - Arsenal, when he was just 14, Sheffield Utd, Stoke and Southampton.
Clubs then had Youth Training Schemes and when he arrived at Tranmere his job was cleaning the boots of John Aldridge and Kevin Sheedy. ‘Clean, polish and shine, that was the job,’ he recalls. ‘It was a good experience, you grew up fast. We’d be at the club early and then train and get home for 4 or 5pm. You’d sweep out the dressing rooms and get everything ready for the pros.’
Soon, Sunderland came calling, a chance to play in the Premiership and after his fee went to a Tribunal - believed to have cost just under £1m - he moved to the North East and that’s where he encountered Howard Wilkinson.
ALWAYS BELIEVE IN YOUR TALENT AND YOURSELF. THERE ARE ALWAYS NEGATIVE PEOPLE WHO WILL TRY TO PUT YOU DOWN WHEN YOU ARE GOOD AT WHAT YOU DO, NO MATTER IN WHAT JOB YOU HAVE
More than a decade earlier, Wilko had been guiding the career of Gary Kelly at Leeds United and here he was working with a lad from the other side of the town.
‘Wilkinson was the best manager I had, a father figure in many ways. He gave me my break, although at one stage he told me to get rid of the white hair and the white Predator boots which I loved. I didn’t, by the way,’ he quips.
One Tuesday evening he was in Durham, playing in a reserve game and half and hour in, was taken off.
‘I felt I was doing ok, but the manager, Ricky Sbragia, told me to go into the dressing room and get changed. I was in there and Howard walked in. He told me to get a shower and get home to bed because I was in the team for an FA Cup tie the following night against Bolton!
‘ That was my debut and the following Saturday I had my Premiership debut away to Everton.’
But two months later, Howard Wilkinson was sacked and Mick McCarthy came in.
He continued to be involved but like any club, things change and circumstances dictate career paths.
He had just two years of a five year deal completed at Sunderland when he feels he made an error in judgement, bad advice turning his head when Doncaster Rovers expressed an interest in him. He went for it, joining them for a then record club fee.
Still, his goalscoring reputation came with him, one classic strike against Aston Villa the highlight.
He also got to play for them at the Millennium Stadium in the Football League Trophy final, where they beat Bristol Rovers,
In July 2007, he was on his way again, a move to Essex and a new chapter at Orient. Here, he’d meet another big influence in his career, Geraint Williams. ‘ There was a great team spirit there, a fine club.’
Life would take him back to the Wirral six years ago, where it all began when he was 16. He had parted company with Orient where Russell Slade had become the boss and looked to be heading to Stockport County when Aberystwyth Town appeared on the horizon.
They had a few Liverpool based players with them and Sean knew the manager and suddenly he was in the Welsh League. The club released a statement, saying Sean’s signing was ‘one of the biggest in Welsh League history.’
‘I really enjoyed it there too,’ he admits. However, home was calling. In January 2015, he spoke with Drogheda United and signed.
‘ There was nothing else I wanted to do but play for my home town club. We were relegated that first season but I felt I did ok, but the second season was real Roy of the Rovers stuff.
‘I remember those games with Cobh and then the play off with Wexford.’
When he was handed the task of slotting that penalty away to send the club back to the Premier, he says there were no nerves, the only time he felt like that when taking a spot kick.
‘I felt no pressure, it was in my head to score. It could have been hero to zero with one kick but it wasn’t.’
But he revealed he almost missed the game after suffering a dead leg during the week - but that provided a chance for his old friend, Sean Brennan, to step up.
‘Sean is a great player and throughout the season we had swapped places. That week, when I knew I couldn’t start, I told him to go out and ‘make yourself a hero’ and he got a great goal for us. I came on to replace him at half time.’
Last season, with the likes of Killian Brennan joining the club and featuring some fine players, hopes were high that Premier Division survival would be achieved. It didn’t happen - so what happened?
‘What happened?’ he muses. ‘It was a combination of things, losing Griff, McCaffrey and then Killian and Gavin (Brennan) with injury were factors.
‘People ask me to this day why did I leave and I didn’t want to say while the season was still on. I had said I was going to retire at the end of the season and wanted to play to the end.’ But he says he was forced to take ‘ early retirement’.
His involvement with Rathmullen Celtic was cited as the cause of a ‘ breach of contract’ with the club. ‘I didn’t want it to end like that. They knew I was helping with the coaching at the club. I lost respect for people involved.’
Today, Sean lines out with Rathmullen in the North East League and with 13 goals in the bag, he’s helped them to top spot. ‘It’s like being a kid again. I’ve worked with these lads for three years and this has given me an extra spring in my step.’
An old pal, Robbie McDonnell - termed ‘Mike Bassett’ by the players - manages them and he admires the work he has put in to create and mould the team.
No matter what this season brings, Sean admits he’s loving it all again.
‘I felt I never let myself down on the pitch,’ he remarks. ‘If you ask me what young players have to do to be one of the lucky ones to make it, then it’s hard work, discipline and good guidance.
‘Always believe in your talent and yourself. There are always negative people who will try to put you down when you are good at what you do, no matter in what job you have.’
But the final word, as always, rests with those closest. ‘It’s been a great career for me, but only for my mum and dad, Janet and Johnny, it might not have happened. They put the time and effort in with me and my brother and brought us training to Dublin three times a week when there was no motorway. My partner Lili and son Leon are great supporters too.’