Owen Garvan From Todays Indo.
FROM Jackie Carey, Liam Whelan to Ronnie Whelan, the Home Farm roll of honour bristles with Irish soccer legends.
In more recent years, Gary Kelly, Mark Kinsella, Kenny Cunningham and Mark Kennedy all graced the blue and white hooped jerseys, while current Irish internationals Richard Dunne and Graham Kavanagh also served their apprenticeship at the Whitehall academy.
Every so often, a gem of a team comes along down by the Farm, but there has been few to compare to the one assembled by Gerry Garvan, father of rising Ipswich ace Owen.
Opponents
In 2002, Garvan took his team to Glasgow where they beat their opponents with ease. Darren O'Dea, Diarmuid O'Carroll, Gary Walsh and Gareth Christie were already being tracked by Celtic youth development officer Tommy Burns and all four were offered contracts.
The break-up of the Farm team didn't end there. Goalkeeper Shane Supple, defender Michael Synnott and Garvan all joined Ipswich, while Burnley snapped up Chris McCann.
Two-and-a-half years on, O'Dea has a first team squad number at Celtic and has made the bench on a couple of occasions this season, and, along with O'Carroll, will feature for the U21's in this week's Madeira tournament.
McCann has also made a number of appearances in the Championship for Burnley, scoring a couple of goals in the process. It's at Ipswich, however, where the former Farm hands are making the biggest impact.
A shortage of cash means that the Tractor Boys have only a small squad so, when a few players were injured, manager Joe Royle gave youth its fling and both Supple and Garvan seized their chance.
Garvan, especially, is making a name for himself - so much so that he is being tipped for a full international call-up soon even though he
is only 18. A midfielder with a superb range of passing skills, he was named man of the match in Ipswich's recent victory over East Anglian rivals Norwich and produced another impressive display in last Saturday's 2-1 win over Burnley.
It has been quite a journey. Last season, Garvan was playing with the Ipswich academy team that won the English FA Youth Cup although, much to his disappointment, he was struck down by a viral infection and spent the day of the game in hospital.
Despite being an integral part of the Ipswich first team squad, Garvan still leads the life of trainee. He shares a house with Supple and two other academy members about five minutes from the training ground. He can't drive and he waited until he turned 18 on January 29 to get bill-pay phone.
Apart from practising his passing, Garvan is currently working hard in the gym to improve his upper body strength and on improving his disciplinary record - he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against Norwich.
"When I came over I was quite thin," admits Garvan. "The main thing the coaches and fitness coaches wanted me to do was get in and do plenty of work in the gym.
Pedigree
"I have built up a small bit, but I know there is still a lot to do and that is what I'm working on pretty much every day."
There's no doubt that the teenager has the pedigree to become a top class player. His father, Gerry, was a seasoned campaigner in the League of Ireland and the football genes are stronger on his mother's side.
Mary's maiden name is Martin and her father, Con, and brother, Mick, represented Ireland on 82 occasions between them over four decades. Mick now lives in Newcastle and is keeping a close eye on his nephew's progress.
