Bravery is at the core of Egan’s sporting DNA
Martin O’Neill shares a link with the famous dad of our newest cap
WHEN John Egan attacked the ball inside the first minute at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday, shipping an Icelandic elbow on his scalp, he was making history as the first son of an All-Ireland SFC winner to play at senior level for the Republic of Ireland.
Others before him, such as Don Givens, Mick Martin, Niall Quinn and David Meyler, had strong family ties to famous Gaelic football and hurling kin – Meyler’s Dad John was a sub for Cork hurlers’ 1986 All-Ireland triumph.
But the Egans have become the first father-son duo to pair a Celtic Cross for football with an Ireland jersey.
Egan’s late father John, who passed away five years ago aged 59, would have cherished the moment but the Brentford defender, at least, had family members present in Dublin, some of whom would have known of Martin O’Neill’s GAA connection to the clan.
In 1970, O’Neill drove St Malachy’s College to Ulster Colleges’ glory in the MacRory Cup and also inspired Derry to win the Ulster minor football title.
The Oak Leaf lads were two steps from lifting the ‘Irish Press Cup’ when they met Kerry in the semi-final at Croke Park.
O’Neill had a blinder but is recalled, instead, for a penalty miss as his team lost by two points to a Kerry side which included none other than Egan snr, as well as other fledgling Kingdom legends Ger Power, Ger O’Keeffe and Mickey Ned O’Sullivan.
It’s not known if the Derry man shook hands with Egan at the final whistle in Croke Park as the two 18-year-olds embarked on their separate, yet curiously parallel, sporting ways. Born three months apart in 1952, the pair blazed extraordinary trials over the subsequent 14 years following their Croke Park encounter.
As an industrious midfielder, who sniffed out a goal every six games, O’Neill won the Irish Cup with Distillery and then the English League, two League Cups, two European Cups and European Super Cup with Nottingham Forest.
On this side of Irish Sea, Egan was a free-scoring corner-forward for Kerry, winning six All-Ireland SFC medals, nine Munster SFC titles, four NFL titles and five AllStars.
Known for buying space and pinching scores, the Kerry man scored 14 goals and 69 points in 41 Championship games.
In 1982, both wore the captain’s armband, with contrasting success. O’Neill famously led Northern Ireland to the quarter-finals of the World Cup which included a stunning victory over hosts Spain.
At home, Egan was entrusted with the honour of leading Kerry as they sought a record-breaking fifth AllIreland in a row.
Incredibly, Kerry dropped their guard in the final as they blew a four-point lead with eight minutes left against Offaly and Egan never got to lift Sam Maguire in Croke Park.
Both played on until 1984, a knee injury forcing O’Neill into early retirement while Egan bowed out after Kerry’s All-Ireland triumph in the GAA’s Centenary Year.
Their sporting association was rekindled when O’Neill became manager at Sunderland in December 2011 where Egan was a teenage centre-half striving to make a breakthrough. O’Neill gave the youngster his first game for Sunderland in a preseason friendly in July 2012, and this season has closely followed his development at Brentford, the club nearest the Ireland boss’ Buckinghamshire home. O’Neill has liked the cut of Egan’s jib and on Tuesday he thrust him into the front rank.
ASKED afterwards was there a horror moment when he thought he might have to be replaced as blood seeped from his brow, Egan gave the reply of a hardened GAA man.
‘No, I never thought I would have to go off, but I just wanted the medical team to stop the bleeding. Obviously, you can’t go on with blood flowing, but there was a bit of a head-throw for about 20 seconds while the lads were working on it,’ he said.
Egan’s bandaged head brought to mind Kevin Moran, then at Manchester United, similarly swathed in dressing in that famous Croke Park scrap against Egan senior’s Kerry in the 1978 all-Ireland final.
And there was a smack of Moran’s bravery, which Kerry folk always admired, at the way Egan attacked every ball on Tuesday night, at times overly so, for he conceded the free from which Iceland scored. Even so, he left his mark. ‘It was a very proud moment to make my debut, but I’m very disappointed that we lost the match.
‘My family was at the match and it was a great occasion and now you want a taste of more,’ he said, as he clutched tightly to his first Ireland jersey.
Will there be more? There should. He has a rugged aggression which defenders need in their DNA and is also a threat from set-pieces, which is vital to a team light on goals like Ireland. Egan is fifth, if not sixth, in line at centre-half and O’Neill is not likely to call on him against Austria on June 11 if everyone is fit. ‘Let’s see if the injuries clear, the likes of Shane Duffy and Ciaran Clark, particularly,’ said O’Neill. ‘Will they clear up in time for the Austrian match? I don’t know is the answer. I would hope we could be going into the game against Austria with a stronger force.’ For Egan, there is the outside possibility that Brentford might be involved in the Championship play-offs which could affect his availability for the two friendlies before the Austria qualifier. ‘We’re mid-table, so I suppose we could really only crash the play-offs by going on a long unbeaten run. ‘If we did, the play-off final (May 29) might mess me around for the next friendly against Mexico on June 1. But we’ll deal with that if it happens. When you’ve been in the international set-up, you want to stay there,’ he said. His late father, who served the green and gold for 11 distinguished years (1973-1984) under Mick O’Dwyer, would appreciate such an attitude. You sense Egan is here to stay. After all, he and O’Neill have previous.