Gillespie still game-ball

THERE was a time, maybe 15 or more years ago, when if you’d imagined Keith Gillespie playing in red and black stripes, the club you’d have had in mind would have been AC Milan.

But the life of a professional footballer can move in mysterious ways and now, at 36, it turns out that his debut in that famous strip will be with the Rossoneri of the Irish midlands, Longford Town, who play Athlone Town in the Airtricity League First Division at Flancare Park tomorrow evening.

For the former Manchester United, Newcastle United and Blackburn Roves star, who also won 86 caps for Northern Ireland, it could be the last stop in the last leg of a long career which has recently seen him playing for Glentoran and Darlington before spending the last three months without a club in Belfast.

“The move to Longford came about through my agent, Phil Munnelly, who is one of the sponsors at the club,” the softly spoken Gillespie explained, as he met the press in his new home ground looking, it must be said, as sharp and lean as he did in his pomp.

“He approached me a few weeks ago and asked me would I be interested, so for me it was all about getting back into football, back playing. The added advantage was that the season’s just started here as well so hopefully it gives me a lot of game time this season.

“I’ve always maintained that if I felt fit enough and in good condition, then I would play for as long as I could. I felt once you retire, there’s no going back so I didn’t want that. I wanted to carry on playing for as long as I can.”

Does he find the idea of retirement scary?

“I sort of do, yeah. I have started doing coaching badges so hopefully I’ll be involved in the managing side of things but you can’t beat playing.”

Nevertheless, the prospect of playing an Irish midlands derby surely can’t be as thrilling as the anticipation he used to feel back when he was doing battle for United against City in the Theatre of Dreams.

“You won’t be at the top of the game forever. There comes a time where you’ve got to drop down. But as a sportsman you always go out giving 100%. That never changes, no matter where you are at. I spent a year at Glentoran. I played between 40 and 50 times that season. I had to get used to playing in front of less than 1,000 people and I didn’t find it a problem. You can’t expect to play your whole career at the top level; there comes a time when you can’t play in front of 30,000 to 40,000. I’m prepared for this and I don’t think it will be a problem.”

The video reel of Gillespie’s career certainly has plenty of highlights, from the first sighting of the dark-haired northern winger who, inevitably, evoked comparisons with the one and only Georgie when he broke through as part of ‘Fergie’s fledglings’, the celebrated United youth team which also contained David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville (not to mention Robbie Savage).

Alex Ferguson sold him to Newcastle United in 1995 as part of the deal which brought Andy Cole to Manchester but, as Gillespie likes to remind you, Fergie tried to buy him back six months later. Gillespie went on to enjoy further acclaim as a member of Kevin Keegan’s Tyneside entertainers.

“Some people say to me now, ‘Well, with Newcastle, you came second in the league’ but many people can’t remember who came second last year, and this was back in the 90s,” he observed before experiencing the last of his top-flight successes by winning the League Cup with Blackburn against Spurs in 2002.

But even then, his best days in the Northern Ireland shirt were still to come, in 2005 and 2006.

“Beating England and Spain in consecutive years was something,” he smiles. “I think the Spanish team we beat went on to win the European Championships. It was a great feeling to beat England as well. They had a full team that night. So, no excuses.”

But, off the field, it wasn’t all plain sailing for the Larne man who developed a gambling problem when he was at Newcastle and, only last year, was officially declared bankrupt after proceedings initiated by the UK tax authorities. He declines to speak about the bankruptcy because of an ongoing legal case but conceded he’s had to learn to live with negative headlines.

“Those types of things don’t bother me any more because I’ve had controversy throughout my career,” he said.

“I think once something gets written like that, it sticks with you. It was well documented about my gambling but that story was 1996 and it still gets mentioned when they write about me now. It doesn’t really bother me any more. As for the gambling, no, I don’t get involved in it now.”

He denies joining Longford is a move motivated by money necessity.

“I’m not playing for Longford for financial gain. I’m playing because I want to play football and that’s it. I’ve been in Belfast not playing for three months and you miss your Saturdays. You don’t want to be sitting watching scores on Sky. You want to be playing. That’s what I really missed.”

And his ambition at Longford?

“Hopefully to bring some success to the club. It’s all about what happens on the pitch. Hopefully the club can have a successful season and success would be promotion. I want to get this club back into the top division and hopefully my performances can help do that.”

Picture: SPORTSFILE