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Local football family split down the middle over historic All-Ireland European football showdown
Aaron McEneff reckons his family will be split down the middle as Shamrock Rovers face Larne in a first ever all-island clash at a European group stage level. That’s because the match will see the Hoops ace come up against his younger brother Jordan for the first time outside of a five-a-side kickabout.
The Derry siblings – both midfielders – are set for key roles in this league phase clash, with three crucial points and up to €400,000 at stake. And Aaron, 29, outlined how the wider family will deal with the divided loyalties when they attend the Windsor Park game.
He said: “It’s a good occasion for our family, they’ll all be at the game. My whole extended family will be at the game as well and I think half of them will be sitting at the Rovers end and half will be sitting at the Larne end so I’m sure it will be good.”
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The pair have never met at a competitive level, with 23-year-old Jordan spending time at Arsenal while Aaron was at Derry and Shamrock Rovers.
And when Jordan moved to the League of Ireland with Shelbourne and then Derry City, Aaron was in Scotland with Hearts and Australia with Perth Glory.
“When I was coming back to Rovers this year I thought it was going to happen sooner when Jordan was at Derry,” said the older brother.
“Through injuries and stuff for the both of us, it hasn’t panned out that way but for it to happen this way in Europe is a bit more special.
“We have just played together in a five-a-side cage. We’ve never played against each other in a senior, professional game. This will be the first and to be in a European competition is special.
“Jordan is an excellent footballer, he has been from a very young age. He was always the one in the family with the more natural ability.
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“Injuries probably hampered his career a wee bit at times but he’s very talented, very athletic, he can get up and down the pitch and he can score goals as well. If he plays we know he’ll be a threat.
“I do try to help him, we’re quite a close family – the three brothers would be very close and speak to each other most days.
“I try and help him as much as possible but at the end of the day he’s on his own journey and has to find out things for himself.”
While the bookies have Rovers as favourites for this evening’s clash, McEneff expects a tough challenge against the two-in-a-row Irish Premiership winners.
“We’ve obviously watched Larne, they’re a good team, they play good football and we know what threats they can cause us so we’ve been preparing for that so we’ll be ready,” he said.
Younger brother Jordan, meanwhile, is also looking forward to today’s sibling rivalry.
He said: “We were on FaceTime when the draw happened and we weren’t exactly too sure how it worked.
“We didn’t know if we were able to actually draw each other but when it came out, we just laughed and said, ‘What’s the chances?’”
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