Northern Ireland vs Switzerland (21/03/2025)

CIARON BROWN HAPPY JUST DOING HIS JOB!

“I quite like it that way. You don’t have too much to think about but are just there to do your job and try to impress without worrying too much about outside noise. I am just glad the debut went well and that I’m still here in the squad. “I had kind of gone under the radar until recently, but there has been a lot more noise about my performances during the last few years. It’s always nice to get recognition for how you are doing. “My career journey has been a bit on the quiet side in terms of coming through non-league and having to fight for every opportunity. I wouldn’t change the way my career has gone but I am just glad to get the recognition now.” That career began at Bedfont Sports and then took him to Wealdstone before a move to Cardiff City in 2018. Brown joined Oxford United in 2022 and is now a consistent performer for the EFL Championship club. His international career has progressed steadily also and, with 23 caps now to his name, Brown is comfortable with the extra responsibility he has assumed in what is a young Northern Ireland squad. He pointed out: “I think everyone feels that responsibility because we have got such a young group. It feels a bit weird being one of the older ones at 27. “They are all young but they are all good players, so it is more just about trying to make them feel welcome enough and confident enough to go and do what they can do.” Given the circumstances in which he got his first chance to play for Northern Ireland, London-born Brown, whose mum is from Belfast, is well aware of how important international friendlies can be. And he believes it is vital that he and his team mates maintain the positive momentum they created with good results and performances in 2024. He explained: “We will be really keen to carry on from where we left off and keep trying to do the right things. These games are friendlies but we want to win them, even though Switzerland and Sweden are both excellent sides who would expect to qualify for every tournament. “We will be going into qualifiers in six months’ time so it is about trying to get your tactics right now so we have a good foundation come September to do the best we can.”

Back in September 2019 the then 21-year-old Cardiff City defender had only just received his first ever call-up to the Northern Ireland Under-21 squad a few days earlier when he was a surprise name on Michael O’Neill’s teamsheet for a 1-0 friendly win over Luxembourg at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park. Ahead of Northern Ireland’s double header of friendlies at home to Switzerland and away to Sweden, Brown, now 27, was happy to look back on his debut – though he admits to not remembering too much about the game itself. “I remember how it came about,” he reflects. “I went on the trip just hoping to get to play for the Under-21s for the first time. We then had a training session with the senior team, when we played an 11 v 11 game, and I just remember after that training session being told to get my stuff and go to the senior team hotel. “I was buzzing to be involved but wasn’t expecting anything more than to be a training player. I then remember Michael naming the team, and when I heard my name my heart just dropped. I remember being so nervous about playing. “I can’t really remember too much about the actual game to be honest. I just remember the before and after, and how good it felt to be involved. The rest is history, as they say.” Indeed Brown’s partner at centre half on the night was Tom Flanagan, who himself was only winning his second cap – not that Brown noticed. “At the time I didn’t know that he was only on his second cap,” he continued. “I was just looking at him as a senior player. He helped me through the game, so it didn’t really cross my mind how inexperienced he was himself.” Also making his senior international bow in that friendly win over Luxembourg was midfielder Ethan Galbraith, who came off the bench in the second half. Then a much-heralded Manchester United starlet, Galbraith’s name was well known to Northern Ireland fans and journalists alike. Not so Brown, who had flown under the radar somewhat – something he says he has got used to throughout his career. He revealed: “I feel like for most of my career it has been a case of being thrown in at the deep end and having sink or swim moments.

IRISHFA.COM

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