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Paddy McCourt

Discussion in 'Ex Players' started by Heisenberg, Apr 30, 2011.

Discuss Paddy McCourt in the Ex Players area at TalkCeltic.net.

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Jozo The Provo

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He'll win the champions league next season with Luton you heard it here 1st

Jozo The Provo, Oct 27, 2015

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terrasidius Sonic Attack Orchestrator

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blink1eto'o said: ↑

Remember lads if you see anyone from this forum hangin about with huns, give this man a phone!
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:smiley-laughing002:

terrasidius, Oct 28, 2015

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Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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Henrik 07, Jan 16, 2016

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Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

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Paddy's wife successfully had a brain tumor removed. Great news.

McCourt was due to be in France. Then his wife was told she had a brain tumour

Paddy McCourt, a cult hero for his solo goals, explains why he had to pull out of Michael O’Neill’s plans for Euro 2016

In Paddy McCourt’s mind this summer had promised to bring a glorious swansong to his Northern Ireland career. He could not take a place at Euro 2016 for granted, but 13 years after making his debut as a teenager, back in the bad old days, the former Celtic cult hero had cause to be hopeful. He had featured in every squad during the qualifying campaign and, as the tournament drew closer, he looked likely to make the final cut.

Northern Ireland’s players are having the time of their life at Euro 2016, yet McCourt is not among them. In fact, when Michael O’Neill named his squad last month, the winger’s name was pretty much off-limits. O’Neill straight-batted questions on the matter. That same week it emerged that McCourt had asked for his contract with Luton Town to be terminated and was going to move back to Londonderry — “personal problems”, according to Nathan Jones, the Luton manager. It all seemed very strange.

McCourt has been waiting for the right time to explain. He wanted to wait until he had good news to report. He can do that now. The day before the tournament began, his wife, Laura, had surgery to have a brain tumour removed. It is early days, but the operation appears to have been a success. The timing was lousy from a professional viewpoint, but Euro 2016 pales into insignificance next to a serious scare over his wife’s health.

“When something like that happens, your only thought is for your family,” McCourt says. “My sole focus has been on Laura and our kids. That’s the kind of person I’ve always been, but it’s amazing how, when you’re in a situation like this, everything else becomes secondary. That would be no different if I had played every minute of every game in qualifying and we got to the final. As much as I would have loved to have been there with the lads if this hadn’t happened, the fact that it happened changes your perspective totally.”

McCourt has been in near-constant contact with his Northern Ireland team-mates via their WhatsApp group, revelling in their remarkable victory over Ukraine on Thursday, relishing their final group game against Germany tomorrow. He is enjoying the Euros like a fan, not a luckless, exiled team-mate. He will be desperately rooting for them tomorrow, but it will be nothing like his most important result of the summer.

He goes back to the moment his life was turned upside-down. “Laura was on a flight back from Marbella,” he says. “I was waiting for her in arrivals. The flight landed at Gatwick and was taxi-ing to the airport when she had a seizure on the bus. Paramedics were called to the scene and they rang me. They were asking me if she was epileptic or anything like that. No, nothing. They said they were going to send her to East Surrey Hospital. Naturally, I was very concerned.

“I went to hospital and met Laura. They did some tests. By the end of the night they had found something on her brain. That was what had caused her seizures. Within 48 hours it came back that they had found a brain tumour. We were told that the tumour was benign, but it was growing and it had caused these seizures and it was a real worry. They said they could operate to remove it and we agreed it was definitely the right thing to do. The date they came back with was June 9 [the day before the Euros began]. From my point of view, that changed nothing. Family has always come first and it always will.

“I called Michael. He was going to be naming his squad for the Euros. Would I have been in the 23? I wasn’t guaranteed to go. I would have been one of seven or eight that was competing for four or five places, but I know I would have had a good chance of going.

“Without blowing my own trumpet, I know Michael thinks of me as someone who can offer something different in the last 15-20 minutes of games.

“I called Michael, explained what had happened and told him I wasn’t going to be available for the Euros. As much as he’s incredibly serious about his football, when I told him, he said, ‘Don’t even think about the Euros. Just be there for Laura and make sure she gets better.’

“Michael has been a very good friend to me over the years as well as a team-mate and now a manager. He asked me how I wanted him to handle it in terms of the media. I said I didn’t want to speak about it until I knew the operation had been successful. I knew he was asked the question, but he batted it off. I’m very grateful for that because we, and especially Laura, didn’t need the attention it would have created if he had said what was really happening.”

McCourt asked Luton if he could be released from his contract. The club assented. Whatever was going to happen, whether surgery was successful or not, he wanted to be back home in Londonderry, among his family and his in-laws. That had always been their long-term plan. Circumstances had conspired to accelerate that move. His professional career, which had featured such highs with Celtic in particular, was effectively over. None of that mattered. All that mattered was the operation.

“It was absolutely nerve-racking,” he says, “but thankfully we were given the best possible news afterwards, which was that everything had been positive. Laura is now recovering and we’re told that in four to six months, please *, she will be completely back to normal.”

Either way, his life now is back in Northern Ireland. After five years at Celtic, where he is remembered with great fondness for a number of spectacular solo goals, and subsequent spells in England with Barnsley, Brighton & Hove Albion and Luton, he is moving back home for good.

“That was always our plan anyway, so it’s not a massive change,” he says. “We’ve just brought it forward a year or two. Laura would have been happy to stay in England, but I just felt it was best that we moved back to be closer to our families.”

His return has triggered strong interest among clubs both in the Danske Bank Premiership and the SSE Airtricity League, where Derry City have expressed an interest. “I want to keep playing,” he says. “I’ve spoken to a few clubs who have shown an interest. I’ll start to look into it over the next few weeks.”

In the meantime, it is all eyes on Laura — and of course the Euros. “I’ve loved watching the lads,” he says. “Even in the game against Poland [a 1-0 defeat], I thought we were organised, but the [2-0] win against Ukraine was brilliant. I was so delighted for the lads and for Michael. He deserves so much credit for the transformation that has happened over the past two or three years.

“Of course it would be great to be out with them, but it wasn’t meant to be. Football is important, but family is what matters most.”

Wonder goals worth watching

St Mirren v Celtic, September 2009
He takes possession on the edge of the centre circle, slaloms his way past desperate tackles and into the penalty area to finish across the goalkeeper and inside the far post.

Celtic v Inverness Caledonian Thistle, November 2010
McCourt picks up the ball 40 yards from goal and goes past one player before a body feint takes him round another and into the box. He then weaves back the other way to go round the centre back, and slides the ball home from an angle.

Northern Ireland v Faroe Islands, August 2011
He receives the ball wide on the left, ten yards inside the opposition half. He glides past a central midfielder before sending the full back one way, then the other. He carries it into the area and beats the goalkeeper with an angled chip.
Click to expand...

Sean Daleer, Jun 20, 2016

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Swervedancer likes this.
Zander Gold Member Gold Member

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Saw that earlier. Brilliant for him and his family . Must have been so * scary

Zander, Jun 20, 2016

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Avatar Daizen The Last Hunskelper Gold Member

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Absolutely delighted that his missus is on the mend.

Still a shame we never got to see him megging Boateng at the Euros though. :icon_mrgreen:

Avatar Daizen, Jun 21, 2016

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KRS-1888 Scott La Rock

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Good to hear,wish her all the best..YNWA.

KRS-1888, Jun 21, 2016

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Just Kieran Gold Member Gold Member

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Glad she's on the mend.

I loved Paddy McCourt.

Just Kieran, Jun 22, 2016

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faw cough Gold Member Gold Member

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Can not believe he has signed for Glenavon.

faw cough, Jul 19, 2016

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Seosamh Máirtín

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Better than Linfield.

Shame Derry turned him down. Mad that they did.

Seosamh Máirtín, Jul 20, 2016

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Liam Fraser

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How is * doing now?

Liam Fraser, Dec 31, 2016

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faw cough Gold Member Gold Member

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Liam Fraser said: ↑

How is * doing now?
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Not playing football.

faw cough, Dec 31, 2016

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Liam Fraser likes this.
We named the dog Indiana Gold Member Gold Member

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Guy ruined his own career. Fabulous ability with zero professionalism.

We named the dog Indiana, Dec 31, 2016

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Liam Fraser likes this.
Liam Fraser

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faw cough said: ↑

Not playing football.
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Thanks. Why were people on this thread talking like he was the best footballer ever?

Liam Fraser, Jan 1, 2017

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Officer Doofy Come to me, human man Gold Member

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Liam Fraser said: ↑

Thanks. Why were people on this thread talking like he was the best footballer ever?
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Cult hero for some, extremely overrated by others.

Officer Doofy, Jan 1, 2017

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Liam Fraser

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Dear Hunter said: ↑

Cult hero for some, extremely overrated by others.
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Thanks but why is he a cult hero?

Liam Fraser, Jan 1, 2017

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faw cough Gold Member Gold Member

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Liam Fraser said: ↑

Thanks. Why were people on this thread talking like he was the best footballer ever?
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* up.

Happy new year.

faw cough, Jan 1, 2017

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Sean Daleer likes this.
Liam Fraser

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faw cough said: ↑

* up.

Happy new year.
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Thanks. Happy New Year.

Liam Fraser, Jan 1, 2017

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Callum McGregor The Captain Gold Member

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Liam Fraser said: ↑

Thanks. Why were people on this thread talking like he was the best footballer ever?
Click to expand...

Because he is.
Callum McGregor, Jan 1, 2017

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StPauli1916 and Sean Daleer like this.

Liam Fraser

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Alan Turing said: ↑

Because he is.
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* off. I read through this thread and I don't want to get into this argument.

Liam Fraser, Jan 1, 2017

#2120

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