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Colin Sheridan: A nation’s footballing identity is shaped not by its loudest figures but its truest

Whatever Seamus Coleman has, sums up what's best about us - we should build on that.

Mon, 17 Nov, 2025 - 07:06

Colin Sheridan is a writer and columnist. A former officer in the Irish Defence Forces he has extensive deployment experience as a peacekeeper with the United Nations, having lived and worked in the former Yugoslavia, West Africa, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine.

On his return from a trip to Cairo, the French novelist Gustave Flaubert wrote to a friend; ”I’ve come to the conclusion that things we expect rarely happen.”

That’s how it was last Thursday night at the Aviva, and that’s how it’s always been for Seamus Coleman. From a young lad growing up in Killybegs to one of the most respected footballers in England's first football city. Brutal injuries. Missed opportunities with other clubs. His has been a career of unexpected twists and turns and quiet rebellion. He owned last Thursday night, but, knowing him as we think we do now, you can be certain he will never seek the deeds.

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