John Heslin
By Brian Murphy
In 2007, John Heslin was sitting in his digs in Derby after training when he asked himself a simple question: “Would I rather score a goal for Derby County or score a goal against the Dubs into the Hill?’”
The answer came quickly and clearly to the 15-year-old, and within a week it brought him home to Westmeath.
That was the end of Heslin’s brief soccer career, which took him on a whirlwind journey from Mullingar Athletic to Cherry Orchard in Dublin and to the DDSL representative side, on the Ireland U15 team and, finally, to Derby County FC.
“A week after being over at Derby I just packed it in,” Heslin says.
“You could say it was a rushed decision, but I knew in my heart that wasn’t the plan of action for myself. I was only in third or fourth year at the time and I was always going to finish my Leaving Cert so all that came into it.”
A phenomenal athlete, Heslin had played just five times for Cherry Orchard when the scouts became aware of him and the offers from English clubs came rolling in.
A hugely athletic and physical striker, he was capped by the Ireland U15 side in a tri-nations tournament featuring Wales and Northern Ireland.
Robbie Brady and Jeff Hendrick, who will play for Ireland at Euro 2016 in France this summer, were among the stars of the Ireland side that included Waterford inter-county footballer Paul Whyte and Connacht out-half Jack Carty.
While Hendrick and Brady will have the eyes of the world on them next summer, Heslin has no regrets over his decision to pursue his passion for Gaelic football with Westmeath and his club, St Loman's.
“You make your bed and you lie in it,” he says. “When you are watching them and cheering them on it’s great to have that connection and that link to them as well.
“I remember staying in the same house as Robbie Brady on a training camp. He was at Manchester United at that time and of course we were all aspiring to get to that level.
“Who knows what might have been? They were phenomenal soccer players and I can still remember back to some of the things that they did on the training ground, which were just class.”
John Heslin celebrates the 2015 Leinster Championship win over Meath
Having spent the first six years of his life in Boston before moving back to a farm just outside Mullingar with his family, it was more the culture at Derby rather than homesickness that left him cold.
“I went over to Derby, but I was just so far away from the first team players. You could pass them in the hall and there wasn’t much of an interest.
“You’re just another number really because the amount of players they would see over on trials and it means nothing to them.
“To be honest, it just wasn’t the environment I wanted to be a part of. You come home to Westmeath and it’s completely different.
"I remember when I first went into the Westmeath panel, Dessie Dolan was one of the first players to have a conversation with me and he’s probably Westmeath’s greatest ever player.
“It’s a totally different culture. You can say, ‘Sure, you’re only local lads’ but it’s the way you treat each other and that you are friends is something I much preferred.”
During the time Heslin spent at Derby County, the club had just been promoted to the Premier League – they would subsequently be relegated with the lowest points total in history of the competition – and were stacked with seasoned internationals.
At the time, however, his heroes were a little closer to home.
“I’ll never forget watching my St Loman’s clubmate Paul Martin,” he recalls. “He didn’t get to progress on and play into his 30s, but I remember going down to the club as a kid and watching him kicking 45s.
"I could still tell you the boots he was wearing and I have that picture still clearly in my head. He scored 2-3 against Garrycastle as a young fella one time, which was phenomenal.”
In 2011, Heslin’s athletic gifts caught the attention of the AFL side Richmond Tigers. He signed an international rookie contract with the Melbourne outfit, but he only lasted a few months before coming home, giving up his shot at being a professional sportsman for the second time in four years.
“GAA has always been my life and I like it being my life," Heslin explained of his decision at the time. "You have to have heart and passion when playing sport and that's what I had for the GAA. I always put my heart into everything I do but it just wasn't there for AFL so I knew what I had to do."
A talented swimmer, tennis player and a former Westmeath underage hurler, Heslin could have sought fame and glory in a number of disciplines, but the 23-year-old keeps coming back to Gaelic football.
He still hasn’t scored a goal against Dublin into the Hill, but you wouldn’t bet against him doing it some day in Croke Park.
