Sheedy won the top division with Everton in 1985 and ‘87 and other big prizes too including the Cup Winners’ Cup in ‘85 when he drilled the ball to the net in characteristic fashion as the Toffees defeated Rapid Vienna 3-1. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

‘I played on the Republic of Ireland’s best ever team and Everton’s best ever team, you can’t put a price on that’

It would entirely understandable if Kevin Sheedy was rightly fed up with the inside architecture of hospitals.

After all the man (who became immortalised in Irish sporting history with THAT goal against England in the 1990 World Cup) has spent quite a while inside wards over the past decade or so.

Take for example his recent ankle replacement op. Had to have it done. That's what the experts said. That's what the ankle itself said with its throbbing pain, so he packed his bag and got ready to once more sample the hospitality of the NHS. He went under the knife before embarking on a familiar road. Rest, rehab, recuperation.

It was his second ankle replacement op. He has also been compelled to have his two knees replaced in recent years. When it is suggested that the wonky knees and ankles are war wounds, badges of honour from his playing days, he willingly agrees.

Whatever you call them the ankle and knee problems are reminders of how he once made his living on the playing fields of the world with teams like Everton and the Republic of Ireland. The pain and the operations are also grim reminders of the glory days, "the football days" as he himself puts it. Days when he used his cultured left foot to shoot down opponents on a regular basis like a gunslinger who takes down a challenger at noon on a dusty street in a Wild West film.

Reflecting on those days Sheedy uses the word "you" in reference to himself, as if the man (the young Kevin Sheedy), who was one of the finest midfielders in English football in the 1980s and early 1990s, was a different person, living in a different age, which, in a way, he was.

"When you were playing you had cortisone injections, you played when you weren't fit, you didn't think of the consequences then. It will be three or four months before my ankle is right. I go for walks but if I do too much it just reminds me I'm not 100 per cent ready yet. When I'm fully recovered I'll be rearing to go again," he said when he talked to the Meath Chronicle from his home in England.

During the course of the conversation the line drops. When we reconnect he apologises. Points out how he has just recently changed phone companies and how one of the unfortunate consequences is frequent dropouts. Dodgy phone lines is not something you might immediately associate with a famous footballer but then Kevin Sheedy is one of those who played before the era when players were paid megabucks. Obscene money.

Not that he has any regrets. "Not at all. I played on the Republic of Ireland's best ever team and Everton's best ever team, you can't put a price on that, you can't put a price on winning medals, being successful. Good luck to the players of today whatever they are earning. We were well paid in our day compared to the average wage."

THE BIG C

Sheedy's long-standing relationship with hospitals began in earnest just over 10 years ago when he was first diagnosed with bowel cancer. It was a shock, of course, even though both his parents battled with the disease. He was his early fifties back then, a "dark" time in his life but he made it through and recovered. Fully.

Now he spends much of his time going around talking to people about the disease, what to watch out for, how to counteract it. How to grapple with the mental and physical challenges. Telling people what's involved has become a personal crusade.

"It's a subject close to my heart. When I first got bowel cancer and was successfully treated I was asked would I go public and help create awareness, particularly among men, football supporters who are very reluctant to go to their GP, so I said I would. If I could help one person it would be more than worth it."

On Saturday, 17th December Sheedy (who is now a contented grandad) will be a guest speaker at a fund-raising dinner for Irish Cancer Society at Fairyhouse Racecourse.

When he is there Sheedy will, no doubt, be also happy to talk to people about his life in football. He might also discuss his love of horseracing. He is a keen follower of the sport of kings, has been all his life. He knows a thing or two about taking a gamble, however modest. In recent years he had a share in a horse - Jabbarockie - that won nine races, although he says he won't be doing that again. "We were lucky we got a good horse."

On the day Sheedy spoke to the Meath Chronicle England played Wales in the World Cup in Qatar. The former midfielder who grew up in the central Wales town of Builth Wells joked about how he would have his red flag out. He played briefly for nearby Hereford, then Liverpool. When, after four years struggling to nail down a staring place in the great Liverpool team of the era, he moved across Stanley Park to Everton. It was the start of a golden era for the Blues - and for Sheedy.

Managed by Howard Kendall Sheedy flourished at Goodison Park. "Howard had 100 per cent confidence in me and when you have a manager like that behind you it gives you great self belief."

Sheedy won the top division with the Toffees in 1985 and '87 and other big prizes too including the Cup Winners' Cup in '85 when he drilled the ball to the net in characteristic fashion as Everton defeated Rapid Vienna 3-1. He was noted for the left-footed exocets from frees and play.

"The best goalkeeper in the world during the 1980s and '90s was Everton's Neville Southall so when we were doing shooting practice we had to hit the bottom or top corners if he wanted to score."

THE BOY IN GREEN

Then there were the great days as one of the Boys in Green under Big Jack. Euro '88, Italy 1990 and the famous goal in the 1-1 draw with England at Palermo. "It has certainly earned me a few pints of Guinness around the world over the years." He was also brave enough to take, and convert, one of the penalties in the Genoa shoot-out against Romania.

He could have played with Wales but answered Ireland's call. His father Michael Sheedy was from Ennis who went to England at 16 and worked on the roads, had his own enterprise too that employed only Irish.

There were others days in green Kevin Sheedy will cherish. His debut for Ireland against Holland in 1983 is a big one. The Dutch had a team packed with a plethora of young emerging players such as Ruud Gullit and Marco Van Basten. Then there was the night in 1985 when Ireland hosted Italy at Dalymount Park.

It was a night when it was clear the crumbling old stadium wasn't fit for purpose anymore. Chaos on the terrace resulted in the crowd spilling onto the side of the pitch. It was a miracle nobody died that night in the crush.

Playing for Ireland was just one element of the glory days but inevitably they ended. Sheedy moved from Everton to Newcastle Utd under Kevin Keegan before drawing the curtain down on his career at Blackpool.

He became a coach. Worked as an assistant under John Aldridge at Tranmere Rovers and helped the club to a League Cup final at Wembley in 2000 where they were defeated by Leicester City; had other coaching roles too, with other clubs.

Everything changed, changed utterly with the news he had bowel cancer. "I was going to the toilet more often than usual and my wife (Jo) felt I was spending too much time on the toilet. She made me promise to go and see the GP," he recalls. Various test followed. "That's when they discovered the tumour. If it wasn't detected early it could have been a lot worse.

"I went into Aintree hospital, they said to me if you are going to get cancer you've got it in a good place. That gives you something to hold onto. The night before the operation you go into a dark place, you think of what the worst case scenario is. It's a real low the night before the operation but if the procedure is successful it's a real high."

In more recent years Sheedy has coached in all sorts of places from Saudi Arabia (with Al-Shabab) to Waterford. Now he's recovering from the latest ankle operation.

The man famous for the goal against England has certainly been through the ringer over the last decade. Now he wants to help as many people as he can, drawing on his own experiences; traumatic experiences but enlightening too.

KEVIN SHEEDY ON ...

HIS QUEST TO COMBAT BOWEL CANCER

"Over the years I've received letters from people who tell me about how their grandfathers were successfully treated, their dads, brothers, uncles. A load of people have thanked me for making them aware of the dangers of bowel cancer and it's something I want to keep doing even if only one person in the room in Fairyhouse goes to their GP and have themselves checked it's more than worth it. It's about raising awareness all the time about bowel cancer."

HOW HAVING CANCER CHANGED HIS

PERSPECTIVE ...

"The night before I went in for my operation I remember Liverpool were playing in a European game and I was in the TV room in the hospital with other people. I got talking to them and it was clear they were in a worse situation than I was. When you get ill or you hear of others and their illnesses it gives you a reality check. You realise that when you are going into have an operation you might not come out you realise what the important things are in life.

ON HIS INTEREST IN HORSE RACING ...

"Always had an interest in racing, I think most footballers of my era had. You had time on your hands but you had to be careful you didn't go down the wrong road. I was always careful, just had sensible bets. I always enjoy a day out at the races, Cheltenham, Chester, Haydock, Aintree there are some great courses close to where I live."

ON THE WORLD CUP

IN QATAR ....

"When I coached in Saudi Arabia there was a young centre-half who was a good player, quick. I coached him for nine months. Then I turn on the TV during the World Cup and I see him playing for Saudi Arabia in their shock defeat of Argentina. His name is Hassan Al-Tambakti. I helped him along the way at an early stage of his career then he turns up playing in the World Cup.

"As a player I loved the big occasions, the bigger the better. You made sure you prepared correctly. You were playing against the best players in the world so you made sure you were fit and able. The bigger the game the more I enjoyed it."

* The Irish Cancer Society Bowel Cancer Charity Race Day fundraiser at Fairyhouse on Saturday 17th December includes a four course meal, Q and A with Kevin, eight races, table service, raffle and auction, live music, table food and more, tickets €175 pp. Tickets can be booked from www.kevinsheedyevents.com.