Danielle Lerner

The Courier-Journal

Paco Craig was 16 years old when his soccer career came to a fork in the road.

The current Louisville City FC defender was in high school in London, and he had just received a scholarship to play for English Premier League club West Ham United after two years with the academy. He was also a blossoming drummer, occasionally making guest appearances with his older brother's band.

Paco Craig had spent his life playing soccer, kicking rolled up balls of socks around the house with his father, Mikey Craig. But Paco Craig had also been around music his entire life, watching his father play bass guitar in the popular British band Culture Club.

Soccer was in his blood. Music was in his blood. For Paco Craig, there wasn't really a wrong choice.

"I was getting pretty good at the drums, and we were having a good time and we could tell that we had some sort of talent for it, but my football kind of took off quicker," he said. "I'd been doing that much longer. I kind of had to go with that instead, which meant I had to sacrifice my drumming."

Though Paco Craig now only drums as a hobby, he will always have a strong connection to music thanks to his dad.

Mikey Craig and the other three members of Culture Club formed the band in London in 1981. They rose to international prominence with lead singer Boy George, featuring songs such as "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" and "Karma Chameleon."

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By the time Paco was born in 1992, the majority of Mikey's touring days were done. Mikey became a stay-at-home dad while his wife studied alternative medicine. He took Paco to all his soccer games and watched his middle son play on school teams for the West Ham youth academy and later with semi-professional English club Bishop's Stortford FC.

Paco eventually left England to play college soccer in the United States. After two years at Young Harris College, he signed his first professional contract with the United Soccer League's Louisville City FC in March.

A former youth soccer player himself, Mikey was incredibly dedicated to and supportive of his son's career, although at times perhaps too enthusiastic for Paco's taste.

"I think I used to get on his nerves sometimes, to be honest with you," Mikey Craig said. "I was one of these parents who coach from the touchlines, which is totally wrong. You should never do that. It's one thing being on the touchlines giving commands. It's another thing when you're on the field in the heat of the battle."

“Dad, I'm not listening to you anyway!" Paco would say to him. "I'm focusing on the game.”

Mikey knows what being on the pitch is like; he had his own glory days on the soccer field as a young boy. He recalled a match his school team played against English club Fulham's U-16 side. The school team was a goal down when Mikey, nicknamed "Midfield General," scored the equalizer from outside the box. The game ended a 1-1 draw. A few days later, Mikey's school received a letter inviting all 11 members of the team to sign for Fulham.

Mikey did not sign. His parents wanted him to stay in school and get an education. They were concerned about the unstable and often scrutinized lifestyle that comes with being a professional soccer player.

So, naturally, he became a professional musician instead.

Paco might not have followed in Mikey's musical footsteps, but years later he is achieving the soccer career his father never got the chance to test out.

Nevertheless, father and son each ended up in lines of work that most people only dream about.

"It's a funny coincidence, but it makes sense because I was able to have a real-life example of making it in a more romantic industry," Paco Craig said. "I never thought about getting a normal job. I always in my head wanted to be doing something more creative."

In his rookie season with Louisville City, Paco Craig has played in 13 games for the club. He broke into the starting lineup midseason and has since played a full 90 minutes in all but one appearance. The defender's first professional goal was an equalizer late in the second half Aug. 13 against Rochester.

At 6-foot-2, Paco Craig's strength is winning aerial balls. Despite his wiry frame, he is fearless when it comes to using his body to protect the goal. In Louisville City's recent win over Bethlehem Steel, the 23-year-old made three crucial blocks in a single play to dissolve a threat in Louisville's goal box.

Mikey Craig said his son has always been vigorous on the soccer field — and on the drums. The first time he saw Paco play the drums was at a school event for prospective parents, where 14-year-old Paco was performing with the jazz orchestra. He had only picked up the drumsticks six months prior.

“He was a little loud," Mikey recalled, laughing. "The conductor kept telling him, 'Tame it down a little bit. This is not rock n' roll.'”

Usually, it was Mikey onstage as Paco looked on. Although Culture Club's touring was limited during Paco's childhood, he and his family did sometimes accompany the band on the road. Mikey would make his sons write about whatever they saw to compensate for missing school.

This summer, Culture Club is in the midst of a tour that kicked off June 6, with stops in North America, Australia, Japan and Mexico. Paco recently saw the band perform in Nashville but said he never quite got used to seeing his father as a celebrity.

"It's a little strange, to be honest," he said, "because I know him to be completely human and a down-to-earth guy, but people who are fans of him see him as an unattainable otherworldly thing. It was always funny to me because of how he was as a father: very present, always there and provided a good example for me. It was incredible to see him play, always. I loved seeing how people were adoring him."

Besides the occasional rookie karaoke night at Louisville City team dinners, Paco Craig will leave the performing to his father. That doesn't stop him from occasionally jamming out to his favorite Culture Club song, "Church of the Poison Mind."

"It's the grooviest. I like the chorus a lot. I oftentimes sing along to it, actually," he said. "I sing in the car, the shower, the changing room a little bit. I'm not that great so I don't really know what my teammates think about it, but I don't really care to be honest."

At the conclusion of Louisville City's season, Paco Craig plans to return to London for an extended period for the first time in a few years. He will use the offseason to stay in shape and hang out with his family — and maybe jam out with his older brother, Milo, and his father.

Going forward, does Mikey Craig have any advice for his son about the pressures of the spotlight?

Paco doesn't need any advice, Mikey said confidently.

"It’s in him already, you know?"

Indeed, it's in his blood.