Keeping the faith
Ah, the loneliness of the long distance goalkeeper.
With 10 minutes remaining in Gelsenkirchen last month, David Forde did brilliantly to deny World Cup match-winner Mario Gotze at the expense of a corner.
As things would turn out, it was a save that was as good as a goal for Ireland, but there was no time for the goalkeeper to revel in the moment.
“It was one of those ones where you make a save but, immediately, you’ve got to concentrate and get everyone focused for the corner coming in,” he says. “Otherwise the save mightn’t count for anything. You see it so many times: the keeper makes a save, the corner comes in, and the ball’s in the net. That’s just being a goalkeeper.”
With Germany prevented from doubling their advantage, all that mattered to Forde then was what Ireland might do at the other end.
“I remember as the minutes ran down just barking out to John (O’Shea) and everyone, ‘C’mon, we’ll get a chance, we’re still in it, let’s keep going’. Because, no matter what game of football you’re in, you’ll always get a chance in the last five minutes — it’s whether you take that chance that matters. And it happened that night. I couldn’t have been more delighted for John on his 100th cap. It was Roy of the Rovers stuff.”
Looking down the length of the arena from his own penalty area, Forde had a perfect panoramic view of how the game’s dramatic final act unfolded.
“We have a throw in, it’s gone to Aiden McGeady, he’s slipped it back to Wes (Hoolahan). First, I’m thinking Wes has over-hit it but Jeff Hendrick has done phenomenally well to knock a first-time ball back into the box. And John, like a true centre forward, just manages to get in front of the centre-half. It was a special moment, one of those where pure joy and emotion take over and, afterwards, you can’t really say what you were thinking at the time.”
Forde’s view also took in the uproarious celebrations on the Irish bench, as staff and substitutes erupted onto the field of play.
“Robbie Brady had the best line of the night,” the ‘keeper recalls with a grin. “He said to me, ‘I was that far out on the pitch, the FAI should give me a cap’.
“But you know what,” Forde adds, “the truth is I can’t really reflect properly on that night. Not now. Not yet. I don’t think too many teams will go to Germany and get a point but the one we got will only count if we qualify for the Euros.”
That’s typical of Forde’s hard-earned philosophy: No matter how high the moment, there’s always another summit to conquer. Equally, no matter how low the blow, you can always be improved by the experience.
Before we sit down to talk at the Irish team hotel in Portmarnock, the photographer poses Forde in a dimly lit room so that half his face is illuminated by the natural light coming in through the window.
“Ah, the moody look,” I observe. “Yeah, that’ll be the cover of the book,” Forde deadpans.
By coincidence, a member of the FAI backroom team, who, had earlier been singing Forde’s praises to me, had described his roller-coaster career trajectory as “a great story”. And if the book is ever written, they could do worse than borrow one of Forde’s own pet phrases as a title: Better late than never.
The self-described “late developer” from Galway has certainly put in the hard yards to get to where he is now: Ireland’s No. 1 at the age of 34.
Since making his League of Ireland debut with his local boyhood heroes Galway United in 1999 — “Ah, the old Terryland Park,” he smiles, “it must have been the first and only square pitch in the world” — his story has been one of slow, occasionally unsteady progress away from the glare of the spotlight, with notable success in Ireland with Derry City not matched by his various spells across the water with Barry Town, West Ham and Cardiff City.
He finally put down roots in England with Millwall in 2008 and has recently signed a new contract with the Championship club who, despite struggling so far this season, he believes will come good under manager Ian Holloway and give the goalkeeper a chance to fulfil another ambition by making it to the Premier League.
“It’s a strange one. I’ve always been a late developer, things have come late to me in my career. Potential is one thing but to achieve it only comes with success. It didn’t happen for me the way it happened for some other Irish fellows who were getting clubs in England at a young age. But, really, I wouldn’t have been ready for the transition.
“When I signed for West Ham having played semi-pro in Ireland and Wales, it was a big shock to the system — the Premier League, the bright lights of London. But whatever you lose in life, you don’t lose the lesson — that’s a big motto for me. Sometimes a bad experience is better as a learning curve. I probably got a bit disillusioned with the game and I was a bit homesick as well, even at that age, 22/23, being away from family and friends. I look at the likes of Robbie (Keane) going over at an early age and you’ve got to hold your hands up and say, ‘that takes some strength as a young kid to go and do that.’”
But Forde is convinced the fact he sometimes had to take a step back in order to taking two forward meant that, when his international breakthrough finally did arrive, he was much better prepared for all that it entailed.
“Definitely, I was a lot more grounded and a lot more focused,” he says. “I’d played a lot of club football. I had a lot experience. I always believed I would play for Ireland and, if it did come late, well, better late than never.”
It was Giovanni Trapattoni who gave Forde the nod, his full debut a memorable night when he kept a clean sheet as Ireland shocked Italy 2-0 in a friendly in Liege. He was back to a watching brief when Ireland went to the Euro finals in 2012 but, even then, was able to mine personal inspiration from one of the country’s darkest international nights.
“I know it wasn’t a great time in Irish football because we didn’t play to our ability after promising so much going into the tournament,” he reflects. “But one of the things I’ll never forget is sitting on the bench when we were four down to Spain. My family were at the game, my wife and my mum and my sister and so on, and suddenly the supporters started singing ‘The Fields Of Athenry’. I’d had my wedding reception in Athenry so hearing that — it was hairs on the back of my neck time. And I just thought, ‘Wow, this is phenomenal — I’d love to get to a major tournament with Ireland and be on that pitch’. Things like that spur you on. And that’s my next goal now.”
When Shay Given unexpectedly came out of retirement before the start of the current campaign, the media was full of speculation the veteran might automatically reclaim his shirt. And for all his own self-belief, Forde admits he was appreciative when Martin O’Neill made a point of privately giving him an early heads-up that he would play against Georgia.
“Otherwise, you’re approaching the game wondering what the scenario is,” says Forde. “So when he pulled me aside a couple of days before and said I’d done fantastically well for him and that I was going to start in Georgia, that was fantastic. Like any human being, it’s natural that we all like a bit of reassurance.”
Now, Forde is relishing a game against Scotland which will bring him to the home of the club he supported as a boy (along with Liverpool). He agrees that there is a unique buzz around this game, quite unlike anything he’s experienced before.
“The fact it’s at Celtic Park adds to the significance. Because Celtic’s like a second Irish team, isn’t it? Look at the history within our own ranks: the manager managed successfully there. Roy Keane has played there. Robbie Keane has played there. There’s a huge emotional clout to it and I think it’ll make for a great occasion.”
It’s been said by many of his former players that O’Neill is at his most inspirational on match day, and Forde wouldn’t disagree.
“You can certainly see that in him. During the week he does a lot of observing while the coaches get on with their job. Come the day of the game and the team meeting and you can see that change in his eyes. There’s a focus and a real drive there and that can be inspiring. You just know it’s game time and it’s time to go to work.”
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