The European Championships this summer.

It’s going to be a good month for Scottish supporters to flee for another continent and keep out of the way, but if you are going to be left at home, at least with Niall McGinn’s success, there’ll be one country to follow in France.
Niall looks set to be joined there by another current Aberdeen man too, for Ryan McLaughlin, our Liverpool loanee, is also in the Northern Irish squad and looking forward to a busy summer coming up. Northern Ireland didn’t just qualify of course, they shocked everyone by winning their group, the added bonus being that their success was sealed on home soil. That must have been some night in Belfast?

“It was! There was a really good vibe around the city throughout the day as everyone was hopeful that we could go and do it because we had beaten Greece away from home 2-0. However we still had to go and win the game and they were a decent side. Maybe their results this qualifying campaign don’t show it, but they had done well at the last World Cup and they are a hard side to break down. But we were in great form and we went into the game confident that we could get a result. In the end, we won comfortably enough.

“As for the celebrations, it was eventful to say the least! Belfast was mental, everyone was going mad! They had roads closed and everything.

“We obviously had the game on the Sunday after that, but as we had qualified, the manager was quite good with the players. He allowed us to go out and enjoy ourselves. So all the lads went out but everyone was well behaved. His last words were, “Enjoy yourself but make sure you are on that plane in the morning!” I’m pleased to say everyone made it! We were leaving at about 9am.

“I think it’s fair to say a few of the boys did not have a lot of sleep! But we all made it to Finland and we managed to get a draw over there. That was important to the boys as it meant we finished top of the group.

“Finishing top means that we would have qualified even if the old qualifying system with fewer teams getting to finals was still in place. We became the very first team that has finished top of a group after being seeded in Pot 5, so that was a big thing for us as well.  So even after we had beaten Greece, the manager gave us a new target to achieve for the Finland game.

“It was a fantastic achievement. It is the first ever time we have qualified for the European Championships. I know we have qualified for a couple of World Cups in the 1980s but we are the very first team to qualify for the Euros.

To be involved in a history making squad, especially as I am still young, it has been a fantastic experience for me. Once you experience nights like the one we had recently in Belfast, it gives you the taste for it and as player you then want to experience more and more games like that on the international stage.

“We want to go to the finals this summer and compete. We do not want to be the whipping boys. We want to do well. We are a close knit squad and we want to do well for one another and for the manager.

“I knew Michael O’Neill played in Scotland, although I did not realise until recently that he had played here at Aberdeen. I know he has a high opinion of Scottish football, I suppose that comes from his time playing here. He likes the young players such as myself going on loan to Scotland. There are also quite a few players in our squad who play in Scotland and I think our success shows that the SPFL has got some good players up here and that the standard is good.

“It was a tough start for Michael as manager of Northern Ireland as he only won a couple of games in a couple of years. Despite the defeats, the performances were there, it was just the end result, because we couldn’t score the goals our play maybe deserved.

“But we managed to go away and play the big teams and do well. We drew with Portugal when Niall scored. It was the smaller nations that we played against where we struggled. So the bosses of the NIFA recognised this, they recognised it was a young team and they stood by him, and rightly so. They could see what was coming. This campaign has showed the quality we were bringing through. We have managed to go out and fulfil the potential that was there.

“It was a tough group as well. Hungry and Romania are certainly no walkovers. For a nation like Northern Ireland, which is quite small with a limited pool of players to pick from, it was a great achievement. The manager deserves an awful lot of credit.

“Myself and Paddy McNair would probably be the youngest but there would not be many players in their late twenties or older. It is a young squad, so hopefully there is a lot to look forward to in the years ahead. As I say it is good for young the ones to experience this, as you then want more.

“Being part of the Northern Ireland set up has undoubtedly helped my development. My first trip away with the squad was when they travelled to South America last year. I came on in the game against Uruguay and was up against players like Cavani.

“Then I started the game against Chile, and I was actually just playing off the front man! I played 75 minutes or so and I enjoyed every minute. It was a great trip and I got to know all the lads. Michael has included me for the squads in this campaign as well. Unfortunately I had to drop out of a few of them because of injury, but I was pleased to be there for the last one when we qualified”.
Northern Ireland’s set up has plenty of connections with the Granite City. We’ve already mentioned Ryan, Niall and the manager, but there’s Rory McArdle and Josh Magennis who had to step up to the mark in the game against Greece with Kyle Lafferty suspended. Under intense pressure – especially from an English media fascinated by the fact that years ago, he used to be a goalkeeper – Josh was not found wanting, coming up with a crucial goal and deservedly being the hero of the hour.

“Josh is lively! But he is a very good lad, I get on really well with him. I was delighted he got his goal. He has been in good from this season as well for Kilmarnock, which meant when he was meeting up with the squad, he was coming in with confidence”.

With the Euros beckoning in a few months time, there’s every incentive for Ryan to force his way into the Aberdeen starting XI, while back at Anfield, they have high hopes for him as Liverpool’s Under 21s coach, Michael Beale, pointed out when he spoke to RedMatchday recently. Injuries have held back the winger, who can also play at fullback, but he is hopeful they are behind him now.

“I went on loan to Barnsley in 2014. I enjoyed playing in the Championship and I felt I had done quite well. I was hoping then to push on that summer but unfortunately my groin was bothering me quite a bit. I was going to go out on loan again but my groin was still causing me problems so I could not go anywhere and it set me back last season. I think I only played a total of something like 11 games last season, which was not great. This season I need to try and get games under my belt to get back to the level I was at before.

“Signing for Liverpool came out of the blue really. I wasn’t aware that they has been watching me for about two years. I was going away with teams like Sunderland for tournaments in Ireland. There were a number of teams watching me and then there was the Victory Shield which I played in. A lot of teams then started coming in for me and offering me contracts. Liverpool got wind of this so they made on offer. As soon as that happened, there was only one club I was going to join.

“Manchester City and Sunderland were interested in me. I had been with Sunderland for a few years and knew a lot of the lads. It was a really good club. Manchester City as well, they really looked after me when I went over there but I wanted to go to Liverpool. I could not believe when my mum and dad told me. It is a massive club with all the history, and a lot of my family support Liverpool. I went over for a visit and signed for them when I was 15. I love city as well, so it is perfect for me.

“I moved over when I was 16. It was quite hard at first and I was quite homesick at the start. The first month was difficult, but Liverpool really helped me and my mum and dad also helped a lot. The house parents where I stayed, I was also really close to them as well. I lived there for two years. They were great with me.

“The club were good too. There were a lot of young boys away from home for the first time, so they would organise nights out to the cinema and organise meals to get a bond together. I also had a few friends who were over in Liverpool at University and my brother was in England as well. At the time, he was living in Preston which was quite close by. So everything was there for me to bed in and I was able to settle.

“I then lived with my brother in Liverpool for a while. We are very close and speak probably every day. He then ditched me for his girlfriend, so I don’t let him forget about that! I am pleased to say we have not fallen out over it! He is still living in Liverpool and playing for Fleetwood. He has also had a great campaign with Northern Ireland, he has been doing really well with them. He had a tough time a few seasons back when he broke his leg – he was playing in the Championship with Preston at the time. It took him a while to get back into it again but now he is on top form”.

Over the years, plenty of players have found the pressure of playing for Aberdeen, one of the biggest clubs in Scotland, to be more than they could handle. Ryan understands that pressure because south of the border, Liverpool are under perpetual scrutiny at every level.

“When I first played for the youth team at 17, we got to the semi-finals of the Youth Champions League, so from as soon as I arrived, I have had to play with the pressure that comes from playing with a club like Liverpool, but I loved it. Even now, all the U21 games are on LiverpoolTV so you are always being watched. Although it is a big club, it is very much a family club as well. Everyone is very down to earth, all the youth players and all the staff. I just enjoyed it and did not feel too much pressure. The only pressure came from myself because you want to do well in any game you play.

“Things have changed since I came here with Jurgen Klopp coming in as manager. I don’t know too much about him but all the reports I have had are that he is top class. It will be good to work under him and to see what he is like in the future. He did very well at Dortmund and they were great to watch. Yes, there will be pressure on him but there would have been pressure on him wherever he went because of the reputation he has in the game”.
Back to Aberdeen and a big season ahead for Ryan and Niall McGinn with the Euros to look forward to, form and fitness permitting. They’ll have plenty of opportunity to talk about the Championships, as Ryan explains.

“I am living with Niall, so he is looking after me well. He does all the cooking and cleaning! I knew Niall before I came up to Aberdeen and I get on very well with him. I think he was happy to see me when I joined!
Having some you know helps you settle into a new club, it makes life a lot easier. He has also shown me about town. I really like the city and my family have been over and they like it as well. I guess I will probably only be here for another couple of months, but I am going to enjoy my time as much as I can and hopefully get some games.

“I think you will see all the Northern Irish boys flying for their clubs over the next couple of months, desperately trying to get on that plane to France! Now we have qualified, there is going to be a lot of competition for places because the quality is the squad is very good. It is not that we have just got a good first XI, we have players who can come off the bench as well. That is one of the reasons we have done so well recently. When players have been out injured or suspended, other players have come in and done a job for the team.

“As a player, the only thing you can do is play well and play games until next June and then hope that Michael picks you. I get on very well with Michael. He is a very nice guy as well as very good manager. He will go out of his way to speak with me. He is always asking how I am getting on and I know he has been keeping a close eye on Aberdeen and has been at some of the games. All I can do is try and impress him when I get the chance”.