My father was a goalkeeper. He left Dublin for London in the 1940s, and played for the Charlton Athletic reserves. He never got into the first team but he did play for an amateur Irish XI at one stage, and they beat England 1-0. It was one of those obscure off-the-radar games, but he was made Man of the Match and got a nod in the local newspapers. While at Charlton he got paid "two and six" which was two shillings and six pence a week, which is basically about the equivalent of $20 a week. Not even drinking money. He was the second-in-line understudy to the great Sam Bartram, but mostly he had to clean the boots of the senior players and fold their jerseys before a game. Different days. Different dreams.
But a goalkeeper is always a goalkeeper. And when he finally returned to Dublin, after a short career at the BBC reporting on games, and then a stint in the Fens on a newspaper, he maintained his passion for the game. He was, like any sane man, enthralled by Gordon Banks, among the greatest goalkeepers of all time. And later by Peter Shilton who wasn't too far behind Banksy. And so by curious turns -- ah! the burden of it all! -- I became a Stoke City fan. My father would take me across (on the cattle ship from Dublin to Holyhead and then the train) once a year or so to watch Stoke play. I was a midfielder and I wanted to watch Terry Conroy all day long, but my father would keep nudging me and turning my head, gesturing at Banksy at the edge of his box, pointing out the positioning and the way he prowled the 18-yard line.
They were also rough days. There had been bombings and kidnappings back home. I had to keep my Irish accent hidden in the terraces. Here I was, a loyal Stoke fan, given over largely to silence. But I never stopped adoring them as a team and have been a fan now for close on six decades. Strangely, I find myself becoming even more of a fan as I get older.
And so it was with great joy that I saw that Mark Travers, a Maynooth lad, joined us on loan in late July. Another Irish goalkeeper between the sticks. Joining up with Jack Bonham, an English-born Irish international. Of course, Shay Given has played a few games for us, and there has always been an Irish contingent at the club, but this time it feels different. Travers is a good keeper, a very good keeper, and maybe even a very very good keeper. And a very very good keeper can bring home 12-15 points a season. My father would have approved.
Mark Travers, left, with fellow Irish squad goalkeepers Caoimhin Kelleher and Gavin Bazunu during training in Dublin in March. [Inpho/Ryan Byrne]
The team has been turned inside out since last year which quite frankly was a big disappointment.
But this year, ah this year. This year it's going to be different. It certainly does promise a shake-up. We have been invigorated with no less than 12 new signings, including Enda Stevens and the hope, as I write, that Luke McNally might join us too. Jordan Thompson is there too. And a few others who will help bring back an Irish accent to the stands.
I think we will have a good season. I'd like an assault on the playoffs at least. I can't wait to take on Leeds. It's like the old days all over again. I think Alex Neil, a Scot, knows how to invigorate a team. And he has pulled together a vibrant international unit. I'm predicting a bag of goals for Wesley Moraes, our one Brazilian player. And we have Ben Pearson at the heart of it all.
But, let's face it, Stoke are good at disappointing. We relish the position of the pessoptimist. But this time around I think the optimist is going to get a slight advantage over the pessimist. I'm predicting a fifth-place finish. We will get to the play-off final after a mighty battle in the semis. And then I will say no more. But I will swim all the way from New York to Wembley just to watch Travers save that final penalty....
Novelist Colum McCann is the author of seven novels, including “Apeirogon” and the National Book Award-winning “Let the Great World Spin.”
