Seamus Coleman Edges Closer to Retirement, 17 Years After a £60,000 Deal

• Seamus Coleman, 38, says he is contemplating retirement but is not ready “to completely draw a line in the sand” on his career.
• The Republic of Ireland defender has been without a club after 17 years at Everton, and his last game was a friendly in Canada in June.
• Coleman joined Everton from Sligo Rovers for £60,000 and turned down a coaching contract at Goodison Park to keep playing.

Time at Home in Donegal Is Making the Decision Easier

Seamus Coleman has not announced anything, but he has said out loud that retirement is on his mind. Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate with Jamie Carragher on Tuesday, the 38-year-old said he is contemplating retiring from football. He stopped short of an official announcement and said he is not ready “to completely draw a line in the sand”.

Coleman left Everton at the end of last season after 17 years on Merseyside and has no club. He was linked with Sheffield United in the summer and has been training individually. His last game was the Republic of Ireland’s friendly in Canada in June.

The Hope of Playing On Is Fading

Coleman made a club record 374 Premier League appearances for Everton, and he had planned to keep going. He hoped to add to his 81 international caps and play until Euro 2028, when the Republic of Ireland will be one of the host nations. He turned down the offer of a coaching contract at Everton to try to extend his playing career.

“I had the hope and ambition of maybe, possibly playing on,” he said. “The longer I have been off, and the more I’ve been around the family and back home for Halloween break with the kids and stuff like that, the more content I am with what I am doing at the minute.”

Coleman said going without a club has been “hard for many reasons”. “Mentally, physically, just to keep ticking over. I enjoy training but you’re not with a ball and that.”

Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson left Coleman out of the squad for the recent Nations League quadruple-header. He said Coleman intended to continue playing and that he hoped to include him in future camps. Coleman himself would not say what comes next. “I’ve enjoyed family time, I’m doing this now and I seem to enjoy it, so we will see how it goes. It’s just an open book at the minute.”

Back in his native Donegal, he has been training with his local Gaelic football team, Killybegs, and has even been linked with lining up for them in the Donegal Senior Football Championship.

From a Fishing Town of 1,250 to Goodison Park

Killybegs is a fishing town on the Donegal coast with a population of about 1,250 people, and it is where Coleman learned the game on the streets of his estate. Brian Dorrian, who managed St Catherine’s first team, remembers a player who was “small, tenacious and had a big heart”. His size kept him out of county and school squads. His determination did not.

Luck helped. In early 2006 Sligo Rovers manager Sean Connor was dating a Killybegs native, and a chat over a beer led to a friendly against St Catherine’s. Coleman faced experienced forwards Paul McTiernan and Sean Flannery, and neither got a sniff. Connor had seen enough, and a deal followed. Coleman also had a call-up to Donegal’s minor Gaelic football team, but once he heard about full-time football he “jumped at the chance”, Dorrian said.

Sligo’s story had another turn. Rob McDonald replaced Connor and told Coleman he was surplus to requirements, until Paul Cook took over and saw the drive in him. Then Everton came calling. Coleman and Dorrian were on the 95km drive from Killybegs to Sligo, stopped for a break, and Coleman ordered a ham and cheese jambon. The phone rang. Sligo’s chairman said a bid had been accepted. Dorrian recalled that Coleman “was just sitting there smiling”.

Everton paid £60,000. Coleman moved in January 2009, made his debut nine months later in a 5-0 Europa League defeat by Benfica, and came off the bench a few days later for his Premier League debut against Tottenham. Everton rescued a 2-2 draw, Coleman made his first assist and he was named man of the match. He captained the Republic of Ireland at Euro 2016, broke a leg playing for his country the following year, and came back again. Everton made him captain in 2019.

His old Sligo housemate Gavin Peers sums up the story simply. “It’s a mad story but he deserves his success.”

For now Coleman is a free agent with a decision to make. By his own account, retirement is getting closer.