22 yes 22!! year old Shane Supple has decided to walk away from football having "fallen out of love with the game". The Republic of Ireland Under-21 star came through the club's academy and made 38 first team appearances. Jesus when ya think of people who had to quit at that age cos of injury and this guy seems to be pissing his talent away! Having said that I don't know the Lads circumstances so not really in a position to judge him. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/i/ipswich_town/8211586.stm
I don't think so. Supple, who had brief loan spells at Falkirk and Oldham, was quick to praise Ipswich manager Roy Keane for the way the former Manchester United midfielder responded to the news. "
A lad that played underage with me was absolute first class. Hard to say that he could definitely have made it, but he went for trials with Leeds, Villa and a few others....but he never wanted to do anything apart from play GAA and be a mechanic. He does both now, and is happy as Larry.
Know his Dad and was only tellling me a few months back about a new contract, funny to hear this now.
Supple happy on road less travelled The Dubliner is returning to his roots after giving up the security of a career in soccer Ewan MacKenna New goals: Shane Supple was once tipped to be Shay Given's successor for Ireland, but now he has his sights set on breaking into the Dublin GAA team They were the most challenging and rewarding couple of days Shane Supple had stumbled upon during his young career. When Roy Keane took Ipswich Town for some pre-season training with paratroopers in July, the goalkeeper reveled in each exercise and every challenge. At night, the squad had to sleep under dark and dreary clouds; in the day they had to scurry through the mud of the obstacle courses and race to move heavy arms and other military equipment; in the evening they had to kill their own dinner or go hungry. Yet despite the enjoyment of the two-day stint, and his age of just 22, Supple knew his career was already over. For a couple of years the Dubliner had doubts about the life he had once dreamt about while playing back home. They began as soon as he departed an underage set-up that had carried Ipswich to the 2005 FA Youth Cup, beating a Southampton team that included Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott. By 17 he had made his senior debut but a quick look around the dressing room at Portman Road told him it was only a matter of time before he walked away. "All along you are with a bunch of young lads whose ambition is solely to get to the first team but when you get there, ambitions change. You want to win things and achieve things but others are different. Some people are happy to just be there. It wasn't what I expected. You can't begrudge someone for their motives but ideally you want people there because they love the game and want to win things. But a lot just do it for money and the lifestyle. I didn't want to be stuck in England for the rest of my life not happy, surrounded by that." It was that same attitude he saw back in July during his time in the Colchester garrison. With the squad split into teams, his group had planned to work hard and win each task over the military proving ground. In the end they did, but the competition wasn't sniping away right behind them. "Maybe I enjoyed it more than some of the other players. A few lads weren't too happy with the situation, with the phone being taken off them and stuff like this. A few lads were broken come the end of it, but I liked the toughness. Maybe it showed the difference between me and some of the others even more." The next step was into Roy Keane's office. He had hoped the Cork man's appointment would help him shed his negativity towards the game but soon found it wasn't the manager or the club. It was soccer in general. He was nervous telling Keane and the shocked look on the manager's face didn't ease his tension but when Supple left and closed the door behind him he felt a sense of relief that it was finally all over. "It can be an empty existence and I was glad to end it. I don't think Roy knew how close to quitting I was and I think that's what shocked him. I just got on with things, didn't say anything, trained away as if nothing was wrong and hoped it would get better. He told me to take time and think more about it but I said, 'There's no point gaffer. This is what I want to do. It's not something new that's come into my head, it's been building for a long time. There's no one that can talk me out of this now'. "It was tough enough to go into someone's office and tell them you are retiring at 22. But when I had it done I was just happy I made the right decision. I guess it's the business side of things that has ruined football and probably taken the heart out of it. It's a funny game and it'd be great if you could just play and that'd be it, but there's a lot more that goes with that. You need people around to push you on and sometimes you can't trust people and it's difficult to know who can be trusted." Supple wasn't the first to run from a life in professional soccer. A year before the 1970 World Cup, for which he had an outside shot at a place in the England squad, Wolves' Peter Knowles quit to become a Jehovah's Witness. Dubbed the Scottish Franz Beckenbauer, George Connolly turned up to Celtic at 26 and muttered, "Ah, f**k it. I'm away". And more recently Tottenham and Norway goalkeeper Espen Baardsen quit the game in 2003 aged just 25. But none had left so young or with so little. "The money is great," says Supple. "I signed a new contract when Roy came in thinking it might change my view and even in the Championship, you don't have to worry about a thing financially. I've never worked out how much money I stand to lose though. That didn't interest me. I could have set myself up very healthily for the rest of my life but I wasn't happy and was lucky I was still young and had the chance to do something else. I know it will be hard but I have got time and am prepared to do the work, I have no other choice." These days he's back living with his parents, spending his days at home studying for a Leaving Certificate he plans to sit in June. In the evenings he's turning out for St Brigid's GAA club, on Thursday he plays for his old school St Declan's as they celebrate 50 years by playing Dublin in both hurling and football and in the medium term he plans to become a county player. "But no matter what I do now, people will always ask why I did it and if I regret it. It's hard to explain but I just know I've made the right decision and I'll never miss it." Now that he's chosen a different and more difficult path, he hopes that it takes him on a more rewarding journey. St Declan's Jubilee Celebrations: St Declan's All Stars v Dublin, Thursday, Russell Park, 7.00 http://www.tribune.ie/sport/gaelic-football/article/2010/jan/17/supple-happy-on-road-less-travelled/
jesus fair play you have to respect him he know`s what he want`s or should i say he know`s what he doesnt want good man RESPECT