PLAYING for Northern Ireland would be ‘a dream come true’, acknowledges Lee Bonis - who was so thrilled at his squad call-up that he couldn’t sleep that night.
The 23-year-old heads off to Copenhagen on Thursday with the Northern Ireland squad for their Euro 2024 qualifier against Denmark, before returning to Belfast for the home match against Kazakhstan next Monday.
A roofer by trade, the Portadown man is used to going up in the world, but his recent rise has been rapid.
Since signing for Larne from the Ports in January 2022 he has helped the Inver Reds to their first ever Irish League title and is attracting interest from several clubs in England.
That £100k transfer to Larne raised some eyebrows, but Bonis insists he loves proving doubters wrong. Unlike many players who claim not to see, hear, or read criticism, Bonis says:
“I see all of it. I'm on social media, I see everything everyone says. I take it with a pinch of salt, but it helps me a lot. I thrive off it. It makes me play better. When the crowd is on my case I'll be looking to show them what I can do…
“It's been a bit chaotic but it's been enjoyable. I've always wanted to win the Irish League, I've done that and I've got called up to Northern Ireland so I'm over the moon for this year.
He’s flourished as a full-time footballer, declaring: “It's been great, the progress I've made physically and mentally, I think every young boy should push to try to get full-time, whether here or in England. It's helped me massively.”
Still, even being invited to the recent training camps in England came as something of a surprise to the self-confident lad from Seagoe: “I got told a couple of months ago I was going into the first training camp by Tiernan [Lynch, Larne manager]. I was a bit taken aback to be fair but I was over the moon. It was a surprise but I had a good season.”
Clearly he’d worked himself to exhaustion in NI training – but that paid off: “The first two weeks of training camp went well, I went into the second one and then…not knowing if we were in the squad…
“I was on the bus on the way back [from the training camp] and I got an email that told me I was in the squad. I was looking to go to sleep, but after that it was all a bit of a shock.”
If his own reaction was one of wide-eyed delight and astonishment, the reaction from some friends and family was more a case of ‘for his ears only’, as he recalls with a laugh:
“I'm not sure I could say some of it. They were delighted for me to be fair, because they knew I always wanted to play for my country. It's a big, massive step.
“But they're not even asking how I am, they're asking how everybody else is: 'What's Jonny [Evans] like? What's Craig [Cathcart] like?' But they're all happy for me.”
He admits he was a little star-struck himself at first: “It's a bit surreal, to be fair. The first time coming in, seeing them, I was a bit taken aback but like everybody else you're here to play football. They're all sound boys, they all get on with you and help you as much as they can.
“I think you've got to back yourself, coming in and stepping up the levels every time. I started off low, you've got to aim for the highest and work your way up, it's hard work and you get your rewards at the end of it.”
Indeed, he says the game is no different, essentially, at whatever level: “It's just the same, you go on the pitch, play football and try to score. It's all the same.”
With the aforementioned Evans and Cathcart both being centre halves with plenty of English Premier League experience, he notes: “In the past couple of weeks I've learned a lot. Obviously you're coming in with more experienced players. I think that you learn different things.
“The first training camp was tough because the speed of the players compared to the Irish League is a lot different. The first game we played I had to sort of read the game a wee bit more, more see what was going to happen, then I realised 'He does this, he does that' so I'm going to try and fit it into my game and see what I can do differently.”
It’s not only those defenders who can show him the way, though. He recalls playing for Portadown Reserves alongside Shayne Lavery, who proceeded him into the Northern Ireland senior squad as a teenager.
“I played with Shayne when I was younger, I think it was the reserves at Portadown when we were kids. He was a workhorse.
“I think everyone agrees if you work hard you'll get your rewards. I've always been told to run the defence ragged. If you work hard you'll get the ball back and then you'll have a chance.”
That’s all Lee Bonis wants, and needs. A chance.
If he can feature at all in either of these two forthcoming games, “It would be a dream come true, wouldn’t it? Every young boy wants to play for their country if they can. If I can get five minutes, 10 minutes, I'll be happy enough.”
