Central Coast Mariners midfielder Aiden O'Neill had a brief taste of the big time – then a large dosage of cold, hard reality. Two years ago, he made a series of English Premier League appearances against Liverpool, Southhampton and Chelsea.
It was the realisation of a childhood dream and it looked as if his career for Burnley was about to explode into life. And it still might. But for that to happen, O'Neill has to earn his stripes first.
Learning the ropes: Central Coast Mariners midfielder Aiden O'Neill, on loan from Burnley this season.Credit:AAP
The 20-year-old has spent the last two seasons toiling away in the decidedly unglamorous surrounds of League One. Call it his football apprenticeship. Shortly after making his Premier League breakthrough, he was thrown in the deep end of a relegation scrap with a loan switch to Oldham Athletic. Through sheer grit and willpower, they stayed up.
Another temporary stint at Fleetwood Town followed. It was more of the same – physically and mentally gruelling football against battle-hardened men in front of ruthless, intimidating supporters at small, unwelcoming grounds.
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But O'Neill has always done things the hard way. He played his junior football in Brisbane but was never part of the Australian game's recognised pathway programs, owing much of his development to time spent in a private academy. At 16, he joined Burnley's youth ranks, and it's been sink or swim ever since.
The fans, they don't hold back over there at all. It's not like the crowds here – they are very, very loud.
Aiden O'Neill
"You've got to grow up quickly," O'Neill told Fairfax Media. "That's the way it goes in football."
"The gaffer at Burnely, Sean Dyche told me, you're going to have to battle. It's not going to be easy, you're going to get smashed. The football may not be pretty but you're going to learn to be a man and play under pressure – play for people's livelihoods, mortgages.
"The fans, they don't hold back over there at all. It's not like the crowds here – they are very, very loud. I've copped it pretty bad a couple of times but you've just got to learn to ignore it. Smile and wave, my dad always says."
All of it has prepared O'Neill perfectly for his latest season-long loan challenge: helping to revive Central Coast's A-League fortunes. Still winless after five rounds under new coach Mike Mulvey, the early signs aren't great for the Mariners. They face Sydney FC at home on Saturday and the odds are stacked heavily against them.
Defender Kalifa Cisse is suspended, winger Tommy Oar is injured and Ross McCormack, their other star recruit, limped off from training on Friday and appears to be in serious doubt.
The Mariners are coming off a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat to Perth Glory last weekend in which O'Neill opened his A-League account with a peach of a goal from outside the box. It was just the third goal of his professional career.
"We've got the belief and if the fans get behind us and believe we can do it… anyone in this league can beat anyone, I've already figured that out pretty quickly," O'Neill said.
"There's just little things in the game we need to control and make sure we don't make our own mistakes and you never know what's going to happen. We're definitely not going in there afraid or anything because they're Sydney. We're just going to stick to our gameplan and hopefully get three points."
Vince is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.
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