Mark McGuinness was ten years old when he signed for Arsenal. As a teenager he was already playing for the Ipswich first team, while representing the Republic of Ireland at Under-19 and U21 level; yet in certain sporting circles, he's just John’s lad, or Tom’s younger brother.
That particular sporting coterie may be played on turf that would not look out of place at the Emirates, yet its participants ply their trade with neither boots nor shin guards, but rather jacks and a mat.
John and Tom McGuinness – Mark’s Dad, a Derry native, and his older brother – are seasoned pros in the world of lawn bowling and similarly ply their trade on the international stage, but both will, no doubt, be happy to share the spotlight with the young Luton Town prospect who is on the verge of making his Ireland debut.
"My Dad plays lawn bowls and so does my older brother, it’s been in the family for a while, in fact my older brother is over in Hong Kong playing at the minute," said McGuinness, speaking to the media after Ireland training on Monday.
"It’s been a big part of my family, a completely different sport to football as you can imagine, but they play at a high level. It’s something that I’m proud of them both, it’s a nice sport to be a part of actually, a nice community and it’s something completely different."
Following his loan spell at Portman Road, McGuinness completed a move back to the Championship to play for Cardiff and three seasons later moved to Luton following their relegation from the Premier League.
McGuinness has impressed in the heart of the Hatters defence this season, with his performances catching the eye of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson.
The 6ft 4in centre-half was called into the squad for the October double-header, however, he picked up an injury on the eve of the Finland game in Helsinki and while the team continued on to Athens, McGuinness returned to Bedfordshire to ensure a speedy recovery.
And McGuinness was again called into the squad for the November games as Ireland take on Finland once more before departing Dublin for a clash with England at the iconic Wembley Stadium.
"It wasn’t ideal for me," said McGuinness, when asked about last month’s involvement.
"It was nice to meet up with the boys, but we had to make the decision to go back and focus on getting prepared and ready. I’ve been lucky enough to be called in again so hopefully better luck this time.
"He (Hallgrimsson) came to one of the games previous to me being called up and we had a conversation, but I still wasn’t 100% [of getting in] so it was nice to get that call up.
"It’s very strong competition in all positions but I am aware that in the centre-half position there’s lads playing at the top level week in and week out at the Premier League. That’s the level I hope to get to but also I hope I can add something different to the squad and staying here can show that."
As mentioned, McGuinness came through the Arsenal academy where he worked under Liam Brady and Per Mertesacker, with both making a major impression with the emerging defender.
And while McGuinness admits that he possesses a penchant for playing football the Arsenal way, he has benefited from his move to the Championship where he has been regularly reminded that his main role in the team is to stop the opposition from scoring.
"I was lucky to go out on loan pretty early, 19, to Ipswich, a big club playing good football," said McGuinness.
"There’s different roles and different responsibilities playing in the Championship, there’s a lot of pressure, managers want you to do different things, I’d like to think I have an array of different skillsets now, not only just fancy on the ball. It’s nice to do but ultimately, I’m a defender and I’ve got to be able to stop it from going in the net.
"Liam was a big part of my academy days at Arsenal, we got on well and he was obviously a big influence for me, being of Irish heritage as well.
"I was quite fortunate when I was younger to be in an environment where there was a lot of demand on youngsters in terms of discipline and hard work. We didn’t have all the luxuries that some of the academies have now, even Arsenal, when I first joined Arsenal, it wasn’t as luxurious as it is now.
"There was a few years where they had changed it all up but it was very much, head down, work, which is pretty telling of an Irish player.
"[Mertesacker] was a good role model for me. We still keep in contact. He was such a good player, he won so much, playing for Arsenal and Germany at a high level, the fundamentals and the basics that he did is why he had the career he did, his personality as a leader was a big thing, something I tried to take from him."
McGuinness insists that he is still very much learning his trade as a central defender and is happy to speak about perceived weaknesses in his game, while continually attempting to improve as a player.
"I’m not a perfect player, there’s things I’ve to work on, there’s certainly more things than distribution that I would like to work on," he said, when asked about some criticism of a former manager.
"If I was to sit here and say I was perfect, I’d be lying to you. Distribution is something I do feel I’m good at in terms of variation of passes, long distance passes, short passes…
"From my academy days at Arsenal, seeing top level players, being involved in that, you can’t get away with not being tidy on the ball. It’s something that everyone can work on and the higher up you go, the more demand there Is to play and get on the ball. As I said to you, my main role is to defend."
And if McGuinness is looking for inspiration or added motivation to reach the Premier League, he need look no further than to those with whom he plotted his path through his schoolboys years at the north London club, as several of his team-mates have progressed to establish themselves at the highest level of the game.
"We had a good age group. 2001 age group, 2000 age group was a really good group, some really good boys, the majority are still in football, but the higher profile players would be someone like Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith-Rowe, they’d be my age group.
"A little bit older, Eddie Nketiah, Reece Nelson, they are all playing at Premier League clubs and thriving. That’s something I would like to get to as well.
"There’s other boys now playing in Championship, League One, everyone is floating around. I was fortunate to have a good age group."
