Being Troy Parrott: all you need to know

Five World Cup goals in four days, each more important than the one before. Truly the football journey of th einnr-city Dub has taken flight as Ireland move within reach of World Cup

COMING OF AGE: It may have taken time but Troy Parrott has come to the forefront of Irish football with a hat-trick to ensure play-off spot. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

This was the week the golden boy of Irish football morphed into the main man.

He may be 23 but the name of Troy Parrott has been part of the footballing dialect for almost a decade.

That it entered discussions beyond Ireland from his early teens verified this being beyond mere hype.

Tottenham Hotspur made a big play to broker a pre-contract and once that destination from Belvedere was known, all eyes centre on what contribution he could make for the international team.

Robbie Keane comparisons were unavoidable, given the Spurs connection, and Ireland’s record goalscorer was on Mick McCarthy’s staff when a senior debut was granted at the age of 17.

Reaching this week’s heroics has been an arduous toil over a six-year period.

Injuries were a factor but it shouldn’t be forgotten that Stephen Kenny left Parrott in the Lansdowne Road stand as his 24th player when the last Euros campaign kicked off against France.

“I’ve been disappointed not to play in many of the big games for Ireland,” he revealed last week. “I’ve always had belief in my ability to perform and score against the best teams.” 

Tottenham might have felt that too but soon changed plans.

From being part of the first-team squad as a 17-year-old, he was shipped out in loan deals to Millwall, Ipswich Town, MK Dons and Preston North End.

David Pleat, the former Spurs manager and advisor to then chairman Daniel Levy, witnessed Parrott shine during Ireland’s march to the quarter-finals of the 2017 Euros, scoring in three of the four games at the finals in England.

Wes Hoolahan may have the balance of a roller-skater, Graham Burke a wand of a left foot but it was the instep of their fellow north inner-city Dubliner which stood out.

All three were born and raised within a mile of each other around the north strand in Dublin, an epicentre for gems.

While Eamon Dunphy and John Giles attribute Ireland’s woes at senior level to the death of street football, the illness didn’t touch this district.

Not even the scourge of gangland feuds blighting the area since the Regency Hotel murders in 2016 could suppress the hothouse of football.

“My mother couldn’t get me off the street every day,” said Parrott, hailing from Buckingham Street, a stone’s throw from Burke’s family home on Sean McDermott Street, in 2017.

“Whether I was out on the road or in the local park with my mates, I enjoyed having the ball at my feet.” 

Now, he’s got the world at his feet.

Marty McGuigan, Tottenham’s Irish scout who first spotted their prospect, has noticed the change in Parrott’s physique since he started full-time training.

“He already developed into a man,” McGuigan said of the teen who has towered above him in height.

“I was over at the club training ground and Troy ran across a couple of pitches to greet me.

“He has adjusted to the professional environment with ease and I could sense his degree of focus.” 

 That focus has switched in recent years to the continent. Excelsior, first, and fellow Eredivisie outfit AZ Alkmaar moulded his traits, the latter shelling out €8m to Spurs for his signature on a permanent deal.

"There is something about the air over here,” he said of leaving the UK goldfish bowl behind.

“I don't know, it is like a feeling. I just enjoy it. If you asked me two or three years ago where I would be now, I would have never said here. That is something that kind of excites me. I am getting to live in new places.

"It is just about experiencing new things. There are not many people that do it. So, to try something new, it is exciting for me. It is a short life that we have. And I am not even just talking about football. It is something you cannot get back. To be living that, it is nice."

Ireland have profited from his club revival. Not many people remember the Nations League playoff against Bulgaria in March with fondness but they were the pair of games in which Parrott showed the international manager of his capacity to act as the attacking spearhead. Evan Ferguson and Adam Idah also scored in that window but the sense was that Heimir Hallgrímsson had got his man.

That relationship has excelled, combining to push Ireland to within potentially 180 minutes of the World Cup. Parrott’s, having come of age, will have a big say again next March.