IT'S THE dream of almost every young, aspiring footballer growing up in Ireland to one day be deemed good enough to make the move across the Irish sea to play professional soccer in England.

For the glamour, riches and the glory that English football offers; the opportunity to play in front of huge crowds week in week out; for the potential to grow as a player and to perhaps one day be fortunate enough to reach the dizzying heights of the Premier League and come up against the some of the best players in the world. That’s the dream.

But what is often overlooked is the sacrifices that those talented enough to earn the opportunity to ply their trade at a higher level in England have to make to turn their dream into a reality.

“I don’t think people realise how big of a step it is moving away from home,” admitted young Cork prospect Alan Browne, who currently plays for Preston North End of the Championship, England’s second tier.

After being scouted throughout his teenage years, Browne decided to take the gamble and move to Preston in November 2013 before putting pen to paper on an 18-month deal the following January.


At the tender age of 18, the young midfielder left the comforts of home for the challenge in Lancashire, a move which he admits was very difficult to come to terms with.

“It was difficult, even just settling in and meeting new lads was a new experience for me,” said Browne. “Moving over here was different meeting the lads, much older lads, it was a new environment to me and I just had to settle in.

“Things like finding my own place, cooking and cleaning on my own was new as well, back home it was my mum doing most of that for me but I settled in time.

“You had to concentrate on your football but you have to be happy off the field. Once I did settle in I thought my football did pick up, I was playing better once I was finally happy here and it did help a lot then that I did settle off the pitch first.”

Throughout Alan’s teenage years, whilst playing for local club Ringmahon Rangers, whom he joined at the age of five, he was subject to interest from numerous clubs including the likes of Hull City, Ipswich Town and Reading.

It’s often at such ages that the heart can easily rule the head, that the exuberance of youth, desperate for the chance of stardom, makes rash decisions and take that step into English before they are truly ready.


Countless young Irish footballers have fallen into that trap in the past with most failing to succeed and whilst Browne hinted he was keen to follow suit at the age of 15 and 16, he believes it would have been a huge mistake, a mistake avoided thanks to his mother, Mary.

“Over the years there has been a number of clubs who have expressed their interest in me but my mum always said to me to focus on my education first,” said the former Cork City man.

“She said to get my leaving cert finished before I do make any decisions which I think helped me and I now have something to fall back on if anything [bad] does happen with football.

“I look now and I see a lot of lads my age who made the move across at an earlier age than I did and most of them are back home playing now. I think it did help me that I came over at a later age because if I had come over at a younger age I would have got homesickness and maybe have wanted to move back.

“When the clubs came in I wanted to come over as soon as possible because I didn’t think I would be able to go over at a later age, I was young and I didn’t know what was going to happen in the future

“I’m grateful to my mum for that she knew exactly what she wanted for me, what was the best for me and thankfully it worked out well in the end, I will always be grateful to her for that without her I don’t think I would be here today.”

That greater life experience has given the 20-year-old midfielder a better platform on which to build his career upon. His first full season at the club saw make 32 appearances, scoring three goals, which helped him to establish himself as a regular in the Republic of Ireland Under 21 squad.


But it also led to what he describes as the greatest experience of his life, helping Preston North End achieve promotion to the Championship following their play-off final victory against Swindon Town at Wembley in front of a crowd of almost 50,000.

“It was unbelievable, probably the best experience of my life,” enthused Browne, who recently signed a new three-year deal at the club. “I look back and think if I had come over at an earlier age what would have happened and I’m glad I didn’t.

“It’s every footballer’s dream to play at Wembley and to do that at such a young age was a massive achievement for me, it was a great experience and one I will never forget.”

From his humble begins at Ringmahon Park in Cork, to the support and wise decision-making from his family, Browne has already achieved in the infancy of his career what many Irish youngsters could only dream of.

Perhaps, there is a lesson to be learned from his example.