Lewis McCann has paid an emotional tribute to his late grandfather, Jack, after finally receiving his maiden Northern Ireland U21 cap.
Jack McCann hailed from Portadown and represented his country at schoolboy level, lining up against Scotland at Easter Road in 1958.
The Dunfermline striker even recalls posing with Jack’s youth cap as a boy.
And Lewis, 20, followed in those footsteps by making his U21 debut against Malta last September before turning out against Finland and Denmark.
However, he only received his keepsake on Tuesday morning due to the Covid outbreak.
“My grandad [Jack] has got a cap as well,” smiled McCann. “There are photos of me as a six year old wearing it. I might have to recreate that photo!
“He was a no nonsense centre half and he used to tell me stories about back in the day.
“I will probably give the cap to my dad for his office. He will be really proud of that.
“Along with my brother, Ali, he’ll have a wee collection!.”
Family pedigree
Although born in Edinburgh, where his father, Ian, works as a lawyer, it is clear McCann’s decision to pursue international football with Northern Ireland is no marriage of convenience.
“It is not just a slither of heritage,” McCann added. “My dad is from Northern Ireland too. It isn’t just another football top I put on.
“I feel proud wearing it and making him feel proud.”
Lewis and Ali are far from the only sporting sons in the family.
Ross McCann, 24, is a gifted rugby star and, having played for Scotland’s sevens squad, was part of the Team GB group which narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The youngest of the four brothers, Scott, still only 14, is a burgeoning centre-half with Edinburgh boys’ club Hutchison Vale.
And Lewis has revealed that both he and Ali could have followed the rugby path which served Ross so well, but for a couple of tough breaks — quite literally.
“I broke my leg playing rugby,” recalled McCann. “A big boy fell on my leg so I decided: this is not for me! It was a double-fracture leg break.
“Ali broke his arm playing rugby at the same time.
“We had the same surgeon one week after the other — he must have wondered what our parents were doing!”
Faith
One would imagine McCann will be in the thoughts of new Northern Ireland U21 manager John Schofield following four successive starts and two goals for Dunfermline.
Another win for Yogi's Pars ✅@lewismccann27 at the double ⚽️⚽️#cinchChamp | @officialdafc pic.twitter.com/CtWWWCUnE9
— SPFL (@spfl) November 22, 2021
And he has been buoyed by the faith shown in him by boss John Hughes, particularly given the pedigree of fellow Pars strikers Craig Wighton, Kevin O’Hara and Nikolay Todorov.
“He [Hughes] has just told me, ‘I know that you can do it — just prove to everyone else that you can’,” added McCann. “He always says that if we make mistakes then he’ll take the blame.”
