Former Blackpool player Sean Graham is just happy to be back playing football again after signing an 18-month season with Irish Premiership side Ballymena United.
After cutting his teeth with Cookstown Youth, the Ardboe teenager switched to Dungannon Swifts where he was snapped up by Crusaders and attracted the attention of Super Cup NI scouts.
It was at the Milk Cup that he was spotted by Blackpool, for whom he signed in September 2017. Graham was loaned to Larne – where he made 10 league appearances - but wasn't offered a new contract on his return to Blackpool this summer.
Back home, he threw his lot into the local GAA scene. Having played underage across the county border with Ballinderry Shamrocks, his uncles James and Niall Conway were managing the club's senior team last season and called on him to liven up their attack.
The 20 year-old scored 2-6 in their Derry SFC campaign, including a man of the match performance against Ballinascreen and slotted home a penalty in their semi-final defeat at the hands of Slaughtneil.
On the soccer front, Ballymena United came calling initially, but Graham – and his agent Lee Mudd – kept looking for another opportunity across the water.
“I was on trial with Crystal Palace in the summer and that didn't work out. I had nothing after that and England is tough to get into because of Covid,” explains Graham.
“We kept them [Ballymena] in the loop with everything. Eventually we were looking [for] them and they were looking at us, so it worked out.”
Graham has been training with the Sky Blues for the last 'two and a half weeks'. His international clearance came through on Sunday, leaving him eligible for Ballymena's trip to league leaders Larne this weekend.
“You couldn't write it,” joked Graham, who scored two goals in his time at Inver Park, including a screamer against Crusaders in just his second game.
“Now I am eligible to play...I am happy to be playing football again,” he said.
His last 'proper competitive' action was back in March, before lockdown, in a 4-0 cup defeat for Blackpool Reserves against a Huddersfield U23 side.
Looking ahead to trying to put his stamp at the Ballymena Showgrounds, Graham knows 'a few' of the squad and has knowledge of the local from his stint with Larne.
“I am not going in blind-sided and I know what to expect from the league,” he said. “I hadn't that much experience, but at least I have a wee bit as opposed to nothing. I am just looking forward to it.”
Now it's about impressing David Jeffrey who has strengthened his squad. Ballymena have never won the league championship, are unbeaten in their last five games and sit in fourth place after 11 games, nine points behind Larne.
They were league runners-up to Linfield in 2018/19 and lost 2-1, after extra time, to Glentoran in last season's cup final.
“It's always been Bryan [McLoughlin] and my way to do our main business in the summer, but that’s not to say that we're always just content with what we have and if we feel someone could strengthen us now then we will look at that,” manager David Jeffrey told the Ballymena United website.
“Sean is a young player who has been out of the game for a few months but is very much aiming to get back over across the water and he sees the development opportunities here for the likes of Kofi [Balmer] and Trai [Hume], and wanted to join to become part of that.
“Being left sided, we have Ross Redman and Steven McCullough in there too, but with Steven out injured then we wanted to strengthen there.”
