I'm former Bohemians star whose daughter has dreams of playing for Ireland despite being diagnosed with rare illness

The Irish Sun

2 days ago

THERE was a time when, such was his form in the League of Ireland, there was talk that Kevin Hunt could play for Ireland.
Back then, the Englishman — who qualified through residency just over halfway through his decade-long stint with Bohemians — did not do much to fuel the speculation.
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Kevin Long won three Premier Division titles with Bohemians
Credit: Sportsfile
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His daughter Sisi, 4, is a rising football star
Credit: Chatham Town
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She wears the same number, 4, as her dad used to
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She was called into an Ireland U19 training camp
But he did observe that he had perhaps developed more of an affinity with the country than some who had pulled on the green
jersey
who were eligible through the ancestry rule.
That connection was underlined last week when his daughter, Sisi, took part in an
Whether anything comes of it remains to be seen but for the 18-year-old — who, like her dad, wears the No 4 shirt for her club — to be in the mix is a reminder of how far she has come.
In July 2008, at his request, Hunt cancelled his Bohs contract as he and wife Faye decided to return home after 13 years on the
road
between Hong Kong, Singapore and Ireland.
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The plan had been to settle here but with Sisi and her elder sister Holly — both born in
family
support proved too much.
Holly is now studying
London
, with Sisi following in her father's footsteps and brother Miller, 11, also a keen footballer.
Hunt celebrated his 50th birthday last Friday with his family in
Bohemians fans would probably conclude she did not lick it off the stones.
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But Hunt — who has been working as an agent for the past nine years after time spent as part of
Manchester
City and Liverpool's scouting teams — admitted that the thought of her also becoming a footballer never occurred to him when she was younger.
He explained: 'When they were younger, girls
football
wasn't really seen as a thing but it's so popular now.
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'It was only really when they were 10 or 11 that they started playing for their local team and Holly was playing until a year or two ago.'
The growth of the female game was evidenced by the fact that she was part of the first intake of girls on a two-year scholarship in 2023.
That meant full-time training as well as obtaining a BTEC in sport qualification, with Chatham Town narrowly failing to win promotion back to the English third tier.
There are plans for dad and daughter to establish some sort of coaching
school
for girls in the area, with Bohs' 2001 Double-winning captain insisting he is a reserved parent on the sidelines.
He said: 'I am very quiet, I wouldn't want to embarrass her. A few dads shout and scream but I just encourage her once in a while and we can have a quiet word afterwards. That's the way to do it.
'I was not desperate for my kids to play football but you see parents who really want it for their sons and daughters — and particularly for their sons.
'But the percentage of kids who make it is so small and, in the women's game, it's almost harder because there are so few who get to make a living from it.
'I just wanted — and still want — my kids to enjoy their football and see where it takes them.'
'LARGER THAN LIFE'
For Hunt, that was halfway across the world and back again, ending up at Bohs with compatriot Dean Martin after Barnet manager John Still tipped off Roddy Collins about their availability after they had initially come to him on trial.
After their first month, Collins could only keep one of them, with Martin gone after three games.
Hunt lasted considerably longer, featuring in three title-winning teams.
Although the former Gillingham player maintained contact with many of his ex-team-mates, visits back to Dublin were relatively infrequent.
But a family trip for Bohs' opening league game of the season against
Aviva
Stadium in February rekindled the affection for Dublin and stirred memories, prompting him to make contact with the FAI's coaches about his daughter.
He said: 'Roddy was still the same, larger than life.
'When we left, it wasn't that we made a clean break but we kind of had to start from scratch in building a new life back in
England
.
'But we had planned on settling in Dublin after I stopped playing and only left because the girls were so ill. We had been very happy there.'
'She had an accident and spilled hot water over her foot and leg and had second-degree burns so we weren't sure if she was going to be able to make it."
Life had become difficult because both girls were so unwell.
He recalled: 'Looking back now, it was a different life, a nightmare. We were in hospital with them the whole time and never really sleeping because they weren't sleeping.
'They had a lot of intolerances and allergies but they were different times then and we were almost being told there was nothing wrong with them. Wheat, gluten and dairy, their bodies just reacted to them.
'It was hard to get our heads around it — what was normal food for us was like poison for them.
'But as soon as we saw a professor in Great Ormond Street and he diagnosed what was quite a rare condition, we started to manage it and they became a lot better.'
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The Long family
You never stop being a parent, though, and there was another — thankfully temporary —
health
scare ahead of Sisi's international assessment.
He explained: 'She had an accident and spilled hot
water
over her foot and leg and had second-degree burns so we weren't sure if she was going to be able to make it.
'I told her to leave it for a week and she improved and she got a couple of runs in but it was tough because her season had ended in mid-April.
'But it was a great experience for her considering she was born in Ireland and to be able to come back and be a part of it. It was the first time she had been involved in anything like that.
'She had a couple of days' training and a game against Treaty United and it was great for her and the coaches were really good to her. She's a vegan but they made sure she was well looked-after on that score.'
Whatever happens
next
, it had the feeling of a full-circle moment for someone who was born — and might have grown up — here, had the circumstances been different.
Hunt said: 'The girls have always felt a connection here, even though they were only young when they lived here and don't remember it.
'Faye and I always had a great affection for Ireland almost as soon as we came here.
'It was a massive part of our lives and would be something we'd talk about a lot at home.
'The girls have Irish
passports
, which is great for them, particularly after
Brexit
if they ever want to live anywhere else in
Europe
.'
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Bohemians manager Roddy Collins celebrates victory over Aberdeen in the UEFA Cup
Credit: Sportsfile