It’s not very often you will find a player in the Irish League that was given a Man of the Match award in his first game in Belgian football.

That’s unless you are Tony Kane who can lay claim to that accolade as he impressed during a six month stint on loan at Cercle Brugge.

However, it was Lancashire where Kane would make his bow in senior football as he signed a two-year professional contract with Blackburn Rovers in 2004.

Despite not making the breakthrough he craved at Ewood Park, the defender acknowledged that he developed as a person both on and off the pitch.

“I was playing for Lisburn Youth at the Foyle Cup when we won the main competition at the Brandywell after beating the likes of Hearts, Nottingham Forest and a Republic of Ireland development squad,” he said.

“A lot of the players got trials and I decided to sign for Blackburn Rovers as they came in for me first and it was a dream come true.

“I would go to school for the first year and combine that with playing at Academy so I could get my GCSE’s and then I signed a two-year professional deal on my 17th birthday.

“We won the Premier Academy League in 2004-05 against Coventry who had Jonny Tuffey in nets.

“I was then loaned out to Stockport County and I remember playing a game in front of 3,000 but it felt more like 30,000, and whenever I returned to Blackburn, I was in and out of the team but I was loaned to Cercle Brugge for six months.

“I made my debut in the top flight after impressing in a reserve game and was awarded the Man of the Match award in a fixture against Zulte Waregem, before playing against the likes of Anderlecht, Gent, Genk and Standard Liege.

“It was hell of an experience and I probably should have remained there as I was loving it but I signed a two-year extension at Blackburn and players were telling me I was knocking on the door.

“The only problem I had was that Lucas Neill was ahead of me and he was the vice-captain and an Australian international who was hard to dislodge.”

Despite featuring in numerous pre-season friendlies and training with the first-team squad, Kane would have to move on in a search for regular football.

“In February 2009, I joined Carlisle United on loan and it would be made permanent at the end of that season,” he added.

“I felt I hit the ground running after small tidy ups on both knees but then I struggled with niggles and I couldn’t get a good run.

“I was loaned out to Darlington but unfortunately they had financial difficulties despite having a Premier League standard ground.

“When I went back to Carlisle, I found it hard to oust Richard Keogh as he moved from centre-back to right-back and didn’t put a foot wrong.”

Kane would make a return home as he signed a deal with Cliftonville and netted on his debut away to Newry City in January 2011.

“I came home and signed for Cliftonville and I enjoyed my first few weeks there under Eddie Patterson and Tommy Breslin but I was probably a stone overweight and my head wasn’t in it,” he continued.

“It was so hard coming back from England to live with my mum and dad, and whilst money isn’t everything, it makes a huge difference.

“I didn’t come back after Easter and looking back I probably should have took a break from football during those six months.

“There was no hard feelings or anything like that and we didn’t leave on bad terms.”

The next move would need to be an important one for Kane and he joined Ballymena United in the summer of 2011.

That switch to Warden Street would see the 34-year-old win the BetMcLean League Cup, the County Antrim Shield on two occasions, as well as securing European qualification across a ten-year spell.

Despite those successes, there were also some lows as Kane would lose two Irish Cup and League Cup finals.

However, the Belfast native insists he loved every minute of his time as a Sky Blue, which saw him amass over 250 games under three different managers.

“When I arrived that summer I probably didn’t get a grasp of the league for around 18 months if I’m being honest,” he continued.

“When David Jeffrey came in, he threw me into midfield and there was one season were I scored 22 or 23 goals and we finished second in the league.

“We lost the Irish Cup final against Glenavon in 2014 as I believe the occasion got to us that day and then we lost the final in 2020 against Glentoran which had limited numbers due to COVID.

“We also lost two League Cup finals against Dungannon Swifts and Cliftonville, but I look back on our own League Cup win against Carrick Rangers and beating Linfield twice to lift the County Antrim Shield.

“There were also some fond memories of competing in Europe and Ballymena is a great club full of great people and I’m very fortunate to have made great friends.

“Under Roy Walker, Glenn Ferguson and Davy, I never once had a bad changing room and that is testament to the players, staff and everyone behind the scenes.”

Kane’s love affair with United would come to a close last summer as he was released and he is now embracing pastures new at Dundela.

“I was out of contract at the end of last season and I didn’t really know what was going to happen,” he reflected.

“Jim Ervin and I are very close and we were sitting waiting for the news and they told me that they were looking to rebuild and I wasn’t going to beg to stay or anything like that.

“I knew I couldn’t change their decision and I’m coming 35, so I’m not going to be around for that much longer.

“At Dundela, we couldn’t buy a win at the start and I was gutted to see Colin Nixon leave as he is a gentleman and he assembled a great squad.

“Niall Currie has come in and we are now one of the in-form teams in the league and if we can keep that momentum going, then we will do good things next year.

“The Championship is so competitive, every team can beat each other and if you can win six or seven games in a row you will climb massively up the table.”