Northern Ireland v Hungary (29/03/2022)

Stephen found that his love of cycling enabled him to have lots of adventures of his own while travelling to support the Northern Ireland team during their biggest adventure since 1986. Reading Stephen’s book enables fans of Northern Ireland to relive that magical summer when the music of ‘Sweet Caroline’ accompanied our every waking moment and our dreams, too. There were so many highlights for our intrepid cyclist . Arriving at the end of the first stage of his journey he found 50 cheering fans in green and white forming a guard of honour at the entrance to a campsite in Nice. Four days later, alone and lost somewhere near the centre of Lyon, he listened carefully. Was that a familiar song? He headed in the direction the noise was coming from and stumbled on a raucous late night party. The centre of the city was awash with green and white jerseys and the chorus of “We’re not Brazil , we’re Northern Ireland” assured him that he was now among friends. Stephen describes his reaction to the matches. He was philosophical after the defeat to Poland. It was just great to be back in the big time. But in Lyon he was ecstatic. When Gareth McAuley headed us into the lead, Stephen sprinted up and down the stadium steps hugging people. When Niall McGinn scored our second right at the end, “pouncing like a sniffer dog at a music festival”, it was party time. In Paris he was overjoyed with magic Michael McGovern’s performance as “28 German shots peppered our goal and only one squeaked through”. Stephen was jubilant at the next game, watching Norn Iron play the Welsh off the park, but then “after an hour of the action the dragon awoke from his lair”. Gareth Bale’s brilliance ended the dream. All Northern Ireland fans will love this book. It makes us long for more good times to come along soon and encourages us to get behind the latest generation of players as they dream of similar success. And Stephen’s epic sponsored bicycle ride did not only lead to a book on the subject . He also managed to raise £3,500 for Street Soccer NI’s work with less privileged people here.

It was from none other than Kyle Lafferty. Such encouragement from a favourite player was just what the doctor ordered. By the time that boost to his spirits arrived from the towering striker, Stephen was encountering the grim reality of what he had undertaken. The weather had been atrocious, the traffic horrendous and energ y levels were at times dangerously low. The Alps were looming in the distance demanding to be climbed. An inspiring message from one of his heroes was just what was needed. In May 2016 Stephen Collins had just completed his final examinations at Medical School . What better way to unwind than to cycle the length of France to cheer on his heroes in the Euros? Well , as he makes clear in his book ‘Good Times Never Seemed So Good’ (published by Amazon in 2018) , there are many better ways. There is much in this book about the pain of such an odyssey. Stephen endured driving rain, roaring headwinds, saddle sores and the climb over the Alps, which he describes as “the hardest thing I’ve ever done”. In the second half of the trip he ended up facing massive floods after the River Rhone had burst its banks in a downpour. He refused to retrace his steps and defiantly hoisted his bike above his head and waded through the knee-deep muddy water to find solid ground. There are joys too in Stephen’s account . It is fun to cycle off the beaten track and meet the ordinary French people in ordinary villages, all of them welcoming and friendly. It is fun to hear him trying out his schoolboy French to explain to the locals what his odyssey is all about : “Je vais regarder tous les matchs de l’Irelande du Nord. Allez l’armee verte et blanche.”

IRISHFA.COM

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