'I’m living my boyhood dream,' Celtic starlet Francis Turley

The young Irishman was speaking to the Belfast Telegraph recently about his journey to the Celtic first team this season, when Brendan Rodgers gave him his debut in the hoops against St Mirren, in what was a thrilling moment for Francis and his family.

A self-confessed Celtic supporter

A self-confessed Celtic supporter, the midfielder grew up watching the Bhoys and dreamed one day of pulling on that famous green and white jersey. That dream manifested itself as reality in Paisley last August, as Turley was given his bow in the side, when he climbed off the bench late into the match against the Buddies to fulfil what had always been a desire of his since he started kicking a ball.

(the)Rangers wasn’t going to happen, no chance.

When asked about his rise to the moment which filled him and his dad with pride, he said: “I had a few options, a few in Scotland — Aberdeen and (the)Rangers — and a few in England — Ipswich, Burnley and others. But I wanted the Celtic move to work out. (the)Rangers wasn’t going to happen, no chance. It’s always hard when you move over, that’s the reality of it. But I had stayed in the JD Academy in Jordanstown for two years from 14 to 16 five nights a week and that helped me.

“Moving to a club in England or Scotland is everything you want and you have to give it your best shot. If you work hard, the rewards are there and we want to be footballers. I started playing for Ardoyne Youth Club when I was around six-years-old. I played there for about six years before joining Cliftonville. After two seasons I moved to Glentoran and then after another two years I moved over to Celtic.”

Francis continued: “I trained with the Glens first team but never made a senior debut. Celtic had noticed me playing for Northern Ireland and had been interested for a good while. A scout watched me play for the Glens and I was invited over for trials. I was only 16 when the trials happened and an opportunity to move to Scotland. I was a Cliftonville fan so that was an unreal time for me. Glentoran were one of the best teams in the country so that helped me as well. It worked out well.”

The 19-year-old admitted that his family are over the moon with his progress at the club, but the determined youngster insisted that the hard work is just beginning to try and break into that first team on a regular basis. “My family are very proud of what I have achieved so far” he said. “They come over as much as they can. My dad is always keen to know how I am getting on. They are very happy for me. My game has developed well. When you play at a higher level the intensity and physical demands go up and you need to cope with that.

“The gym work is important, and I need to get bigger and stronger and score goals,” he added. “The challenge is breaking into the first team, it’s not easy with a winning team that is performing but you have to keep working hard and be patient. Having belief in your own ability is important. I’m living my boyhood dream, my family support Celtic and now I’m at the club. As a Celtic fan I knew how big the club is and how passionate the fans are.”