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Everton star Lee: 'There is more to life than fast cars'

Everton star Lee Carsley tells Greg OKeeffe how he realised there was more to life than sport when his son, Connor, was born with Downs syndrome

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ITS NOT every Premier League football star who offers to make interviewers a cup of tea before he has even had a chance to change after training.

And there are not many willing to speak so honestly and at length about the most deeply personal of issues.

But Lee Carsley, with his laid-back manner and ready smile, is patently not every Premier League football star.

The 34-year-old has spent the morning at Evertons splendid new Finch Farm training ground in Halewood where, judging by the amount of people who stop to greet him, he is one of the most popular players.

After training the Birmingham-born midfielder welcomed a group from Down Syndrome Liverpool, a support network which help families of children born with the condition.

There seemed very little to set the footballer and the regular dad, group chair John Hogan, apart as they chatted about educational provisions, physiotherapy and raising awareness.

Lee was able to offer practical advice he plays a massive part in raising funds for the Solihull Downs syndrome support group and is not averse to arranging coffee mornings and standing outside supermarkets with a collection bucket.

I would not make myself out to be a Jimmy Saville type who has dedicated his life to charity, he says from a comfy chair in the players area.

But when youre ... (he pauses searching for the right word) ... affected by something like Downs syndrome you want to do more. Luckily enough I can auction a pair of football boots and get money pretty quickly.

If I didnt have a son with Downs, would I be raising money for it? Probably not. A lot of the lads here do fundraising for cancer because Im sure it has hit some of their families.

Before we had Connor we lived in a bubble. We didnt have money problems and I was not worrying about whether we could afford to eat or book nice holidays. So yes, it was a life changing experience.

You realise there is a whole world out there which doesnt revolve around big houses or fast cars.

A rare frown crosses his face as Lee recalls how he and wife Louisa struggled to get Connor, now nine, assessed in Birmingham and the subsequent decision it forced him to make.

We found it hard to get him statemented, which basically means what level of learning he is going to be at and it can take about a year to come through.

After all that to take him out of school and bring him to Liverpool would've meant he had to start again and he was already behind. I spoke to Kevin Kilbane (former Everton teammate who also has a young daughter, Elsie, with Downs syndrome) and he said the set-up is totally different in the north west. It meant I had to adapt to living apart from my family.

The Republic of Ireland international recalls how he took the news of Connors condition. At first they didnt realise and it wasnt for a few weeks they discovered it.

It was a blow. Having a child is the best feeling in the world and then when you realise all is not well ... there is not a worse feeling in the world.

At first I didnt want to take it onboard. I was under pressure with work (at previous club Derby County) and they thought it was better I get my head back to playing so it was a case of trying to keep things ticking over.

Connor did everything normally at first. He crawled normally and sat up normally. With a Downs child you have to show them everything and they need physio all the time but my wife has got the patience of an angel and she taught him a lot.

She was very much along the lines of you go out and do your football and leave the house to me. We are a team but its been difficult and takes up a lot of time.

Ive got two other children (Lois, seven, and Callum, 11). My little girl wants me to take her to ballet and Callum wants me to watch him play football, then Connor is hanging around my neck wanting to wrestle because he loves WWE.

It makes material things seem unimportant. If youre disabled, cars and houses dont matter. Connor is not severely affected. There are kids in our Solihull group with heart conditions and in wheelchairs.

Weve got all sorts of parents too. People who live on council estates and struggle for money. Before I got involved with the group we struggled to get speech therapy and physio because on the NHS you only get the absolute minimum. I could pay but not everyone can so with the group we arrange our own.

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Connors brother and sister motivate him a lot and hes active but he isnt that bothered about football. He just says Daddy... football... goal so he must think I score.

See www.downsyndromeliverpool.org.uk/ or the read the ECHOs Downs syndrome Liverpool blog here

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