Keith Andrews played professional football for almost sixteen years.
He was a natural born leader.
The Dubliner signed his first professional football contract in England when he was only nineteen-years old with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Andrews, who played gaelic football with Diarmuid Connolly’s club, St Vincents, prior to his move across the water, became Wolves’ youngest ever captain as a 21-year-old in 2001.
He lead in the green of Ireland too, making 35 appearances for his country, playing every minute of the boys in green’s Euro 2012 campaign up until his sending off in the final moments against Italy.
The 36-year-old moved on from Wolves and had successful stints with many other English clubs, from MK Dons to Brighton and Hove Albion. He was around the block in English football.
He always managed to stay away from the spotlight, or from the controversy that can follow certain footballers, and he put this down to his lack of interest in the media, and in his later years, social media.
“I like to have my private life private,” said Andrews at the launch of the Sky Sports 2017/2018 Premier League coverage launch.
“I just think you need to be so careful. I’ve never been into social media or that kind of thing, but in terms of the general public, you have to talk, you have to get out and about.
Regarding Darren Gibson’s recent rant about his club Sunderland, and his teammates, Andrews condemned his former International teammate’s behaviour. He felt Gibson was naive, and claimed that a man who has been involved in the game for so long should know better.
“You need to be very, very careful with what you say. You can’t speak in the way that he spoke about the club, about teammates, certainly with people you don’t know… You can’t say that type of thing to people you don’t know certainly under the influence of alcohol in that type of environment. Very, very naive on his part and it’s just another negative story that’s Sunderland don’t need at the moment.
“I’m sure I’ve slagged certain teammates throughout my career, but certainly not to the level that he did. It was naive, certainly for someone of that age who’s been involved in the game a long time. It’s an unfortunate episode in his career, and certainly, Sunderland’s saga goes on.”
Gibson has only earned 29 senior caps for Ireland, and the 29-year old’s career is on the verge of becoming a story of unfulfilled potential – potential that was announced when he joined Manchester United in 2004.
“He was in squads with myself and was probably behind me and Glenn Whelan as the next midfielder in,” said Andrews.
“I very much thought I would have started to take a back seat and him and James McCarthy would kick on to another level. It would have been a natural progression.
“I’d have liked to stay in the squads to be part of that and I would have been very content to see it.
“It’s a shame because I don’t think he has played anywhere near the amount of football that he should have for the age he is. He’s a very talented player but he certainly hasn’t showed that as consistently as he should have down through the years.”
Former Ireland midfielder Keith Andrews was in Dublin today to help launch Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage for the 2017/18 season. Starting with the opening fixture between Arsenal and Leicester City on 11 August, Sky Sports will show 159 matches — including seven live Saturday 3pm games over August and September
