The dark side of the football road

With the January transfer window in full flow and making headlines daily — whether it be the real deal or just a rumour — Shane Long’s move from West Brom to Hull for a reported fee of around seven million pounds has obviously been the story of most interest to followers of Irish football.

I’m delighted for Shane as he’s as genuine a fella as you could ever meet and, in recent seasons, has matured into a very accomplished striker.

This is obviously the top end of the game, with players moving within the Premier League for millions of pounds, and it got me thinking about what exactly it takes to get there — and how rocky that road can sometimes be.