Egan has Wembley in sight

After attending Wembley twice in the past year as a mere bystander, Corkman John Egan is two games away from becoming an active participant at English football’s biggest stage.

Southend United has been the defender’s temporary residence since February and, now that his departure from Sunderland has been confirmed, there’s added significance to the League Two play-off series that begins with Sunday’s semi-final against Burton Albion.

On the same weekend his former team-mates will most likely complete their great escape at the Stadium of Light against Swansea, the Sunderland trainee for the last four years will be charting a future of a different kind in the more humble setting of the Pirelli Stadium.

Remaining with the Shrimpers on a permanent basis is just one of the options for the 21-year-old, though the possibility of shuttling up Wembley way on Monday week could expand the list of suitors further.

By then, both his Munstermen buddies from days gone by at Sunderland, John O’Shea and David Meyler, will have savoured their Wembley visits.

Egan was present in March to see O’Shea lead the Black Cats out for the Capital One Cup final, by which time he knew Gus Poyet was planning without him.

“Bradford City, with whom I played a few games last season before breaking my leg, invited me to Wembley for their League Two play-off a year ago,” explains the son of the great Kerry Gaelic player of the same name who passed away 13 months ago. “I was back there to watch Sunderland but I’d much rather be a player than a spectator at such a fantastic ground.”

A fracture of both fibula and tibia in November 2012 sent what looked a promising career into a tailspin from which he’s only now regained his bearings.

By that point, Steve Bruce has already trusted the former Greenwood centre-back enough to stick him on the bench for Sunderland’s Premier League game at Old Trafford a year earlier.

Bruce’s successor, Martin O’Neill, was equally fond of the Irishman, including Egan in his pre-season squad and handing him a first-team squad number. Not only did the Leesider’s campaign end after just three months that night at Valley Parade but O’Neill was subsequently sacked, giving way to a pantomime period on Wearside under Paolo Di Canio.

Egan was still working his way back from such a serious injury to full fitness while mayhem engulfed the club through the iron grip of the Italian.

When Gus Poyet arrived in October promising a clean slate, hope of an upturn existed for the match-fitdefender in the final season of his contract.

The Uruguayan, however, deemed blooding rookies not conducive to the relegation battle he inherited.

“I’d trained regularly with the first-team under the two previous managers when I was fit [Bruce and O’Neill], so I knew this manager had made up his mind on me when I wasn’t even doing that this season,” he outlined. “I was frozen out. There was no interaction with the manager and I found that very different.”

The news that every aspiring Premier League dreads wasn’t even delivered by Poyet. Reserve team boss Kevin Ball, who had taken charge of first-team affairs in the fortnight between Di Canio’s sacking and Poyet’s appointment, was delegated that duty.

“It was just a phonecall from Kevin,” explained Egan, in a matter-of-fact manner. “I can’t say I was surprised at the news by that stage.”

The man who as a boy captained Ireland’s U19s at the 2011 European finals was well immersed into Southend’s promotion quest when that call from a familiar number flashed up on his phone. No longer were his mother Mary, sister Máirín and various friends traipsing over from Cork to watch Egan line out in mundane reserve matches. This is the real thing and he’s loving it.

“I’ve played 13 club games in a row, the longest stretch of matches in my career,” he beamed. “Very few youngsters go straight into the Premier League these days with the amount of money around and foreign recruits.

“It’s a long road and I’ve had some bumps but a lot worse things can happen in life. Right now, it’s all about getting Southend promoted and then I’ll think about my next move. This doesn’t change my belief that I can play at the highest level. If I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t stay in England.”