‘OLD MAN’ FORRESTER OUT TO FULFIL HIS DREAM
CHRIS FORRESTER is getting old. He’s 22 now with a steady girlfriend and a baby girl. Late nights for him consist of bottle-feeds in the early hours rather than nights out. He’s in the middle of his fourth season at St Patrick’s Athletic, having broken onto the League of Ireland radar with Bohemians in 2011. He’s no longer the ‘Next Big Thing’. ‘I’d love to play in England, it’s always been a dream. It probably hasn’t gone as well as I would have hoped. Well, it definitely hasn’t gone as well as I would have hoped because I’m not there,’ the PFAI Young Player of the Year for 2012 said bluntly about not yet securing a move across the water. Winning the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division title in 2013 and FAI Cup last November are highlights but there was personal disappointment when a transfer to Bristol City broke down ahead of the 2014 season after their manager, Sean O’Driscoll, was sacked. ‘It was a bit upsetting for me when I nearly signed for Bristol City there and it kind of all fell apart. But I got my head around it and kind of focused on playing well here. ‘Obviously if I play well here, it will attract people to come and watch me play. It took a while [to get over] because I felt good there. ‘Greg Cunningham kind of looked after me when I was over there and I was enjoying it. ‘I thought it would have been a good chance to get into the team eventually. It was kind of a good and a bad thing because I knew I could probably play at that level and mix it with those players. It’s kind of helped me this season because I want to get back to where I was. So that was good,’ added Forrester. The Dubliner turns 23 in December and talk of a move has continually followed him. But he is aware it will only remain for so long. ‘Yeah, the old legs won’t carry me as well anymore,’ he laughed. ‘But obviously you hear of people saying “it’s probably too late for him to go”, but there are players who went over who were older than me. So I suppose it’s a case of, keep the dream alive...’
Chris Forrester was speaking as Adidas introduced its new X and ACE football boots. The
new ACE15 and X15 will be available from LifeStyleSports nationwide from July 1 and can be pre-ordered from
lifestylesports.com