Resilient character: Sydney captain Terry McFlynn after training on Wednesday. Photo: Anthony Johnson
Shortly after he was booed off during Sydney FC's 3-2 loss to Newcastle last October, Terry McFlynn called his uncle Mark back home. Uncle Mark had been McFlynn's mentor along a tough football journey that began at 12, when he quit gaelic football and hurling, sparking accusations of disloyalty to fellow Catholics in sectarian-charged Northern Ireland in the early 1990s.
This was one of biggest challenges he had faced. The Sky Blues were last and the captain was in poor form. His contract was nearly up and he was expecting questions about why he shouldn't quit.
"My uncle said, 'Look, for eight years the supporters have been great for you. They've supported you all the way. Now they're unhappy with your performance and the group's performance. And they've got every right to be," McFlynn says.
Quitting, to Uncle Mark, wasn't an option. "When people were saying I should give up, he said, 'Why? Why quit when this is all you ever wanted to do?"' McFlynn says. "He said it would be disrespectful to the game, to the club and myself to walk away. He gave me the determination to go on."
To conclude that a relative a world away was responsible for McFlynn's resurrection – he recently signed a new one-year deal – would be to sell McFlynn short. Of the competition's players to have got the most from their ability, McFlynn is at the apex. It's a strength seeded from a hard youth and an even harder career.
"Any animosity I've come up against, I've always believed in myself," he says. "The more opposition I receive, the more determined I become. It could be a stubborn thing, but you need resilience to prove you're right."
McFlynn's resilience was tested early. In his Catholic-only village, love of football was not well-received. "It was in the early '90s and The Troubles were on our doorstep," he says. "I'd wake up every morning to news of shootings and atrocities and bombings. I didn't know any different."
Football opened his eyes. Playing at a nearby village, McFlynn met Protestant boys. He became interested in other cultures and beliefs and saw football as a uniting force.
He trained with Uncle Mark till 10pm every night, spurred by the challenge of football and the indignation of some around him. Within a couple of years he trialled with Manchester United, was selected in the Northern Ireland under-15s schools side and signed a three-year deal with Queens Park Rangers. But QPR soon hit financial trouble and McFlynn, despite being paid a pittance, was discarded. "I took that particularly hard," he says. "I was disappointed with how it was handled. But I used it as motivation."
At Woking he met a similar fate, went to Margate and was loaned to Morecambe. Despite being a Northern Ireland under-21s player, the club let him go after a year.
It might have been the cue to quit. But McFlynn's wife, Emma, who he had met in London, was keen to return to Perth and having exhausted opportunities in England, McFlynn sensed an opportunity. The A-League was about to start and he wrote to every new club. Only Sydney FC replied. He trialled, snared one of the last two contracts and has been there ever since.
McFlynn says he'll be eternally grateful to Sydney for the chance. In return, he promised he would only leave when they no longer wanted him. When he was offered a contract extension on a Monday, he signed on the Tuesday.
"You need passion to succeed and my passion is football and Sydney FC," he says. "I've got so much to be thankful for. Football's given me so much. And this club is my family."
Which is why that day against Newcastle hurt so much. Yet, McFlynn is not angry about what happened. "I'm a football fan and I believe that if you're a football fan you have a right to have your voice heard," he says. "I used it as motivation. I asked myself whether I was doing everything I could to help the club. I've always worked in that order – club first, then the team and then the individual. For me to take it personally would have been wrong. Instead, I thought about the responsibility I had to those around me."
Drawing on those he had learnt from – including Roy Keane, Tony Popovic, Terry Butcher, his friend Peter Crouch, Pierre Littbarski and others – McFlynn kept focused.
"I stayed positive around the club and tried to put things right," he says. "If you can look in the mirror and know you're doing everything possible for the betterment of the club, the team and yourself, I think success is not far away. If you walk away from challenges, you'll never overcome anything.
"It's the way I approach life. I've never been the best player in any team, from under-12s until now. But I've always given everything I've got. I play with all my heart. I'm proud that what started out as a dream became reality. And when I retire I'll know that I'll have squeezed every last bit out of myself."
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