Felix Healy: The wee fella from Derry who played in the World Cup

Felix Healy is the only Irishman, north or south, to make the leap from domestic leagues to a major international tournament. Brendan O’Brien spoke to him about 1982, the World Cup, balancing his days playing football with nights as a gigging musician and a life less ordinary.

It’s 34 years since Felix Healy made the late burst from the unlikely surrounds of Coleraine’s Showgrounds to the football cathedrals of Valencia, Zaragoza and Madrid, but the recall is razor sharp as he looks back through a lens unfiltered by nostalgia.

A gifted raconteur, he is best known ‘down south’ for guiding his hometown club, Derry City, to League of Ireland glory at the end of the 80’s, but his part at the 1982 World Cup with Northern Ireland was, if anything, more extraordinary.