TIMES are good for Michael McGovern at present. Enjoying married life for the past two and a half years he and his wife Leanne have welcomed their first child, a son, Ciaran into the world.
On the pitch things are shaping up nicely too; he’s club captain with Scottish Championship side Falkirk.
“Aye, things are going well,” says McGovern with more than a lilt of a Scottish accent in his voice.
But that twang is hardly surprising. The 29 year old has spent the best part of 13 years in Scotland.
He joined Glasgow Celtic from home club Enniskillen Town United the same month as he turned 17 in 2001.
McGovern spent seven years at Parkhead learning his apprenticeship before moving on to Stranraer, St Johnstone, Dundee United, Ross County and now Falkirk.
His move to Ross County really saw the kick starting of his career and over the past five years McGovern has been putting in some brilliant performances.
But the life of a goalkeeper can be tough. One slice of bad luck can see you spend a season on the bench;
“It really can be down to luck if you get a chance or not. I was 24 before I really started to play so I was a long time sitting on the bench but I suppose goalkeepers are lucky too because we can have longer careers. You see keepers playing into their 40’s now and they are just as good,” McGovern explains.
And the Fermanagh man has designs on a long career himself;
“I would like to think I have another ten seasons in me. I try and look after myself and keep in good shape and work hard so I don’t see why not.”
McGovern is club captain at Falkirk and something of a favourite among fans and team-mates alike.
At the end of the 2011/12 season he was named players and supporters player of the season as well as being selected on the league team of the season and short listed for the divisions player of the season.
As a squad member he has two Scottish Cup medals with Celtic and played in a Scottish Cup final with Ross County in 2010 beating Celtic in the semi final.
Dundee United ended their dream of winning the trophy in their first final appearance.
But McGovern is not one to look back on past glories too much and instead wants to focus on the future and he is very clear about where he wants to go;
“I want to play at the highest level. That is my aim. I hope that I can do that with Falkirk; that is the dream at the moment.”
The 6″2 goalkeeper is adamant however that he wants first team football first and foremost and one gets the feeling that any move away from Falkirk would only be made if he thought he was going to be number one.
“I don’t want to sit on the bench even though I know that at some points in your career a keeper will have to do that. But I want to play every week and I want to do to that at the highest level.”
McGovern though is quick to point out that life is very good at Falkirk at the moment;
“Things are going really well. It is a great club and I love it here. I am club captain too which is a nice responsibility to have and I think we can go places.”
The recent run of good results have helped lift ‘the Bairns’ up the table and their goalkeeper believes that the next cluster of games will decide their season;
“We had an up and down start but have put together a good run recently. The next ten games or so will make or break our season.”
The Fermanagh man won his first International cap in 2008 and is looking forward to fighting it out for the number one spot in Michael O’Neill’s squad over the coming years and the former St Michael’s College student has nothing but good things to say about the Northern Ireland manager;
“I would hold him in the highest regard. He is a great talker and does things the right way.
“I was involved in 8 of the ten qualifiers for the World Cup so I’m hopeful of getting that number one spot.”
While his aspirations remain to improve at his game every year McGovern admits to missing home and says it is the one draw back of life as a professional footballer.
He still is in touch with a lot of his friends from Fermanagh and regularly meets up with members of Enniskillen Town when they travel to Glasgow to watch Celtic and he has fond memories of his home town club.
“I loved ‘the Town’. I have great memories there and got a great grounding. It taught you small things that stood to you. Like being on time and working hard and I owe the club an awful lot.”
McGovern returns to Fermanagh whenever he can although being away from home for every Christmas is something which certainly stings a little;
“I suppose I am used to it at this stage but you always miss family and friends around that time.
“We get good time off at the end of the season and I try and get home for as long as possible then. My wife is from Glasgow and she loves coming to Fermanagh too although I tried to say that Ciaran was Irish but she was having none of it. He is a Glasgow boy too.”
Young Ciaran McGovern may well be a Glasgow boy but no doubt as he grows up he will be very proud of his Fermanagh father.
