THEY say it takes a village to raise a child, but it has taken a family to raise an international footballer in Trevor Carson.

The village he comes from, Killyleagh in Northern Ireland, will rightly hail the Motherwell goalkeeper by giving him his place on a mural alongside David Healy, Hugh Henry Davey and Terry Cochrane as the latest man to represent his country from the area, after he earned his maiden cap in the win over South Korea last Saturday. But the credit for getting him there, belongs firmly with the likes of his mum, and in particular, his Granda, Ken.

It made his long-awaited international bow at the age of 30 all the sweeter for Carson that he could share it with those whose sacrifices had made his dream a reality, although Ken made sure that he wasn’t going to get too big for his boots.

“The first thing he said to me was that my kicking could have been better,” laughed Carson. “It didn’t help that I had jelly legs for 90 minutes. He certainly doesn’t let you get too big for your boots, but that’s great.

“I could write a book about the amount of stuff my Granda has done for me. He would drive up and down the country, and while we’re not a rich family by any stretch, they always seemed to find money for me to get boots and gloves and go and trial here, there and everywhere.

“They have always seemed to put my career ahead of anything, and days like Saturday make it all worthwhile, it was great.

“My Granda has been there ever since I was no age, maybe five or six and starting off playing in the local under 10’s.

“What sums him up is the time he took me down to Dublin and dropped me off, I was going away for a week with Man United.

“He got halfway back - it is a three-hour drive back to our local town - and I had actually forgot my boot-bag in the back of his car with my gloves and my boots in it.

“My Granda being my Granda, he turned around and drove the extra hour and a half to drop them off.

“He always remembers the United scout at the time brought him in and gave him his dinner and his soup, and he was made up because the Republic of Ireland team were staying at the same hotel and he got to meet Roy Keane and players like that.

“I always tell him that he can’t cast that one up to me because he got to meet those boys.

“I think every footballer who has come from that sort of poor background has always got that one person who has put everything in front of their own needs for them, and my Granda was the one.

“My mum was incredible, whatever she can’t give with money, she gives with love, so she’s been fantastic as well. But my Granda has been my idol.

“Right up until I was 10 or 11 he would stand behind the goals and tell me when to leave my line and come out for the ball, he was just great.

“He was a keeper too and played semi-professional. He got two Northern Ireland ‘B’ caps which he keeps telling me about.

“Everybody has got that hero, and my Granda is certainly mine.”

Carson goes into today’s game against Rangers hoping to maintain the good form that led to him grabbing the attention of Michael O’Neill, and he hopes that his performances for Motherwell will ensure that he has a busy summer.

“I just want to keep performing consistently,” he said. “In terms of international caps, I want to go on the trip to South America in the summer and hopefully get another chance to do well.

“I’m obviously realistic, and Michael McGovern has been fantastic for Northern Ireland over the years. One decent performance doesn’t make you automatically in charge of the jersey, so I know there’s a lot of work ahead.

“First and foremost, I need to keep performing at club level, and hopefully I’ll get the chance to take that into the summer.”

After being brought in to Fir Park for the princely sum of £10,000 from Hartlepool last summer, it would be fair to say that Carson’s performances have exceeded expectations. So much so, he finds himself being mentioned in the shake-up for player of the year awards.

“That’s obviously nice to hear for any footballer, it must mean you are doing something well.,” he said.

“It was the same with the Celtic thing in January, of course it’s nice to be recognised.

“You can’t get caught up in it though, and I’ve been in football long enough to know that you are only one or two mistakes away from being a donkey.”