Wes Hoolahan is a superstar
I first found out about Wes Hoolahan when Wes played for Irish club Shelbourne from 2001 until 2005. His best game for Shelbourne was when Shelbourne played Deportivo La Coruna in the second leg of a qualifying game for the Champions League in 2004. The first time that Shelbourne played a big game in a few years and Wes blew me away especially in well Wes was in possession and Wes ran the show with his range of passing. At the time a lot of Irish fans was surprised that people weren’t talking about Wes but some fans realised that if Wes was Spanish or Italian more fans would be singing his praises but just because Wes was Irish nobody was interested.
After a few glory years with Shelbourne Wes moved to Scottish club Livingston for one season in 2005 where Wes played under Paul Lambert. Playing under Lambert was the best thing that ever happened to Wes because Lambert let Wes play in midfield and Wes was allowed to create chances and due to good performances with Livingston it attracted many clubs to sign Wes in the Summer of 2006. Wes went to League 1 English club Blackpool in 2006 were Wes spent two seasons with Blackpool were Wes helped Blackpool get promoted from League 1 to the Championship.
Around this time Wes was starting to develop a career as a creative midfielder and most Irish football fans wanted Wes to play for Ireland. Wes made his debut for Ireland in 2008 against Colombia but Wes wouldn’t make his next appearance until 2013 because of Giovanni Trapattoni wouldn’t believe in playing creative midfielders which was disgraceful. Wes didn’t get upset about this and Wes kept focusing on his club career and Wes signed for Norwich City in 2008.
In his first season Wes was playing in League 1 but Wes got Norwich promoted to the Championship in 2009. Norwich appointed Paul Lambert as their manager in 2009 and this was great news for Wes. Lambert built the team around Wes and Norwich got promoted to the Premier League in 2011. Lambert let Wes do his magic and Lambert let Wes play without fear which was brillant. Wes played with Norwich in the Premier League for four seasons from 2011 until 2015. Wes made his name for Norwich in the Premier League with some outstanding performances such as when Norwich played Manchester United in November 2012 at Carrow Road and Wes was the best player on the pitch.
Wes was born with talent and Wes could see a pass before he even got the ball which was remarkable. Trapattoni left Ireland in 2013 and the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) appointed Martin O’ Neill as Ireland manager. Unfortunately with O’ Neill in charge Wes still struggled to get picked for every game which was bizarre. Every game that Wes played with Ireland Wes was the best player on the pitch and most Irish football fans were gobsmacked that O’ Neill wouldn’t build the team around Wes. Most managers are pragmatic rather play defensive players than creative players.
Most Irish football fans including myself was delighted that Wes was involved in O’ Neill’s squad for the European Championships in 2016. As a football fan myself I was lucky to see Wes play a few times including the time in the Stade de France to watch Ireland vs Sweden in the European Championships. The memory that I took from this game was the goal that Wes scored in this match was unbelievable on his so called bad foot and if Messi scored this goal everybody would be raving about it just a pity that everybody wasn’t talking about Wes Hoolahan’s goal. Also in this tournament Wes put in a delicious cross for Robbie Brady’s goal for Ireland against Italy.
Wes made the hard passes look easy because Wes was so talented. Wes continued to play for Norwich both in the Premier League and Championship until 2018 and this was the longest spell that Wes spent at a club.
After leaving Norwich Wes went to West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United but it didn’t work out around this time many football fans were questioning was this end of Wes’s club career.
Wes found his new home as Wes signed for League 2 English club Cambridge United in 2020. There is no reason that Wes couldn’t still put in performances because Wes has kept himself fit over the years. WEs had a great season with Cambridge with creating chances for the forward players which Wes loves to do and Wes even chipped in with the odd goal. His performances were instrumental in getting Cambridge promoted from League 2 to League 1.
Wes has carved out a great career as a footballer but it could have been so much better if certain managers believed in him like O’ Neill and Trapattoni. Wes is arguably the most talented and gifted footballer to come out of Ireland and I think Wes was a missed opportunity with Ireland.
The football ability that Wes had was unbelievable and Wes could of played for one of the biggest clubs in Europe if manager’s took a chance on Wes. Unfortunately in the era that Wes played they were all saying that you have to be six foot to play and if you are smaller than that you are too small. That was a load of crap to be honest because your size shouldn’t be an issue. It should just be all about your football ability and not the size of your body.
I love watching Wes as a footballer especially the way Wes conducted himself both on and off the pitch to been playing football for so many years was remarkable. I would love to interview Wes in the future to hear all his memories as a footballer.
Stuart Byrne that played with Wes at Shelbourne wrote a song about Wes and called it Superstar and Stuart is right because Wes is a superstar. I love him.