Meet the man who put Stephanie Roche in the picture

John Flood could have been at the Fifa Ballon d’Or gala in Zurich last night rubbing shoulders with the great and the good of world football.

Instead he was hard at work in his Centra shop in Ramsgrange, New Ross, planning his St Valentine’s Day promotions.

“I did get an invite to go to the awards,” the former Wexford Youths Women’s boss explained, “but I didn’t get into football to be wearing tuxedos and that stuff. There were a lot more people deserving to be going than me. People like Stephanie Roche and her family.”

But here’s the rub.

John Flood

Without Flood’s foresight, the world outside of Ferry-carrig Park and its 95 spectators on a miserable October afternoon in 2013, would never have seen the piece of wizardry which transformed the Republic of Ireland star into an internet sensation and into a battle with Robin van Persie and James Rodriguez for the Puskas Award.

As copyright holder of the footage — which has had almost 6m YouTube views — Flood was on the Fifa guest list in Switzerland but was happy to watch from Wexford and downplay his role in a football fairytale.

Flood, club manager for the past three seasons, is a passionate supporter of the women’s game and has approached his role on the sidelines with the same standards and protocols that the men would expect.

“People talk about it being a fluke that the goal was caught on camera. There was no fluke about it from our perspective. We record all our home games, and indeed some away matches, and then use the footage for analysis each week. We bought the camera equipment, stands and that stuff out of our own pockets. On that occasion we were using a standard Sony HD camera. Besarta Ajeti, who is from Kosovo originally, was filming that day.

Roche walks past Messi and Ronaldo at the awards

“Besarta had been out with a long-term injury and to keep her involved with the squad she was doing a lot of our video work at matches, and has shown a real flair for it.

“People might complain the footage was a bit grainy, but it was an awful day with thunder and lightning so it was great credit to Besarta that she got what she got.”

Ajeti, 21, remembers the day for other reasons. “It was a very, very cold and windy day. I was filming up on top of scaffolding and it was very tough to hold on to the camera because of the conditions. I had missed a goal in a previous game because I had put the camera down to blow my hands to warm them up. So I wasn’t going to let that happen again!”

Roche’s reputation meant that even though they led Wexford 3-0, Flood and his management team feared there was more to come from Peamount’s danger woman.

“We are always very aware of Stephanie. People are raving about this goal but that sort of magic is her stock in trade. She has always been scoring fantastic goals. Thankfully this one got the rewards and kudos it deserved.”

Watching it in real time Flood knew they had witnessed something special.

Ajeti had a bird’s eye view of reactions on the sidelines. “I was amazed by it. Everyone was just shocked. People started screaming, my manager started clapping.”

But it was only when they looked back on the images afterwards they realised just how special.

Flood recalled: “We called Eileen Gleeson [Peamount manager] over to have a look at it. We have a great relationship with Eileen and there is a great spirit of camaraderie in the women’s league. We were all just blown away by it. She asked for a copy of the video and put it up on YouTube a few days later. It just morphed into something incredible then.”

And it’s not just Roche who is benefitting.

“I’m delighted for Steph. This wasn’t a once-off, this is just a taste of what she can do and has done on a regular basis for her club and country. But the most pleasing thing from all of this is that it has put a spotlight on women’s football and helped promote the game here. There are at least 15 or 20 players in Ireland who could easily make it in the professional ranks and hopefully this will get them more recognition.”

Ajeti agreed: “The great thing about the goal is that it shows that girls are just as good as boys at playing football. It is a great feeling now when I hear people talking about the goal that I can say ‘I was the person who filmed it’. I made contact with Stephanie on Twitter and she thanked me for it.”

Speaking of recognition has Flood seen any monetary rewards from the clip?

“I have been told the copyright on the footage is mine. I have no problem if people want to use the video to promote women’s football. I’d welcome it. If any money comes my way for it I promise you that it will get back into the women’s game.

“The first person entitled to money is Stephanie — it is her goal, we just helped to capture it.”