When it comes down to it, Jason Sherlock will always be remembered first and foremost for his career with the Dubs and the fairytale success in the 1995 All Ireland on the Gaelic football field.
But for a time, his soccer career ran in tandem with stints at UCD (1994-1998) and Shamrock Rovers (1998-1999) in the League of Ireland where he had a knack for goalscoring which mirrored his GAA exploits.
It wasn't just club level either. Having had the opportunity to train with the Ireland senior side in the Big Jack era, he was also capped once at under-21 level for Republic of Ireland in a match against Austria, the Dubliner, who recently released autobiography Jayo, was also on the bench for a match against an England under-21 side featuring the Neville brothers, Ray Parlour and Trevor Sinclair, all of whom would win senior caps and shine in the Premier League.
And there could have been so much more as he discussed with Derek Ryan and I on this week's Team 33 in an interview focusing on his soccer career.
You can listen to the interview with Jason Sherlock on the podcast player or stream/download on iTunes:
Recent interviews on Team 33 include former Man United cult hero Andrei Kanchelskis, ex-England international Carlton Palmer, Chelsea legends Bobby Tambling and Paddy Mulligan, Dutch legend Johan Neeskens, ex-England striker Darius Vassell, Liverpool legend David Fairclough, former Ireland midfielder Mark Kinsella and former Everton forward Tomasz Radzinski. Plus our in-depth chats with Tony Coton, Packie Bonner, Nobby Solano, Ron Atkinson and Alan Curbishley are still available on iTunes. You can find them all in one place by subscribing to Team 33 on iTunes.
The fabled May 1995 friendly match against Liverpool, while with UCD (it featured him nutmegging Ireland international Phil Babb), which resulted in then-Reds manager Roy Evans telling him of his interest in bringing him over to Anfield of course came up.
"I remember getting a couple of one-on-ones with David James and I thought this must be the biggest man in the world. I just literally couldn't get the ball past him," he said of that match.
The temptation though to move to Liverpool wasn't particularly strong especially as it just came months before his life changed forever via the Dubs and the start of Jayo media.
"Particularly in that time, it was crazy [around] '94, '95. I was just going from game to game, team to team and again when Roy Evans said it to me after the game, I was there, 'Yeah, that's fine. As soon as I've finished the summer with Dublin, we'll talk about it' and that's as much as it was in my head. I knew I was going to be given the summer to play for Dublin and that was what the focus was."
But long before that, other clubs had shown interest. Indeed, he'd had trials at West Ham as a teenager.
"Back in those days, it was all about scouts going to games and whether you'd get across for trials and that, so around that time, I did get over to West Ham for a couple of trials," he recalled of a January where he also got the chance to watch a West Ham FA Cup game from the sideline.
"Even when I did go over to West Ham and went over twice, at the time I was with St Kevin's and the scout at the time, was a guy called Shane Noonan who would have played with Drumcondra and he got me over. And the first time, I did really well when I got over there but I remember going over the second time, and I probably hadn't played a game of soccer between that and the second time I went over because I was playing basketball and GAA, so I never did myself justice."
And one Christmas Eve, he could vividly remember a Nottingham Forest scout, who had also had a role in signing Roy Keane, turning up at his house with signs of interest, although nothing came of it and the scout was never heard from again - which may well have dented any future desire to prioritise soccer.
"Around the same time [as West Ham], I remember a guy, Noel McCabe, who was a Notts Forest scout and he did call to the door on a Christmas Eve in Finglas, on a cold, Christmas Eve with the headed paper that 'we'd get you over' and again, looking back, obviously it was a big deal. I'm sure I would have told all my friends and family and all that. But I never heard from him again which is strange that he went to all that effort on a Christmas Eve to do that but probably maybe subconsciously, it mightn't have supported why I would play soccer."
Our next guest on Team 33 will be ex-Wimbledon player and former Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez
âš½ï¸ðŸ“» One of our upcoming guests on the podcast/show: Lawrie Sanchez!!!
We've recorded an interview with him about managing Northern Ireland, Sligo Rovers and teams battling relegation plus there's his view on the Wimbledon Crazy Gang legacy pic.twitter.com/tYAUoejIlE
— Newstalk Team 33 âš½ï¸ (@teamthirtythree) November 22, 2017
