Stephen Bradley admits he would have walked away from Shamrock Rovers “in a heartbeat” in the wake of his son Josh’s leukaemia diagnosis - but was urged by his wife Emma and eight-year-old Josh to continue.
Bradley is in Budapest with the Hoops as they bid to upgrade their guaranteed Europa Conference League spot to a place in the Europa League group stages.
“I’m so lucky to have the wife I have and the family that allow me to be here and to do this,” he said ahead of this evening’s play-off against Ferencvaros.
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“If she had said to me at the time, it’s time to walk away, I would have done it in a heartbeat.
“My wife and Josh were like, this is what they want me to do.
“That makes it easier for me. It means I can go and enjoy the journey, the moment, and give it everything. And let’s see where that brings us.
“But it definitely does check you. It gives you a reality check and it helps you in terms of, if we lose we lose, you learn from it, understand it and move on.
“Four or five years ago you wouldn’t have been able to talk to me for two weeks. Now it puts everything into perspective.
“No one could (talk). I’d be fucking out running on the roads at three or four in the morning.
“I’d say my dog hated me. Here we go again!
“Or else I’d be watching the game over and over again to a point where it wasn’t healthy, because you’re not sleeping.
“You can’t change it. Obviously you can learn from it. You watch it, you understand it and you move on. Win, lose or draw, you move on quickly.
“Then you go home and you see Josh and obviously my other kids, and you realise, this is what’s important. It’s great.”
While his ambition is undimmed, his perspective on football and life has changed since the June diagnosis.
It was put to him that Michael O’Neill and Stephen Kenny - with their CVs embellished by their group stage achievements - weren’t long in making the step up to senior international management.
And he was asked how Rovers’ run this year might affect the football-wide perception of their young manager.
“Everything we do has been the group, and I mean this, it's been about the staff," insisted Bradley.
"As soon as you start thinking like that, you're on a slippery slope.
“It's about us trying to win games in Europe and I believe we can do that.”
He went on to outline Rovers’ ambition not just to qualify for the group stages, but to be competitive at that level.
And he addressed the fickle nature of his business, saying: “Whatever will be, will be, I could be managing Jobstown next year.
“I know I'm lucky in what I do, the job I have, so yeah let's see where my life takes me.
“Two months ago, three months ago, you're going along in a bubble and next thing you find out your son has leukaemia… (clicks finger)... it changes.”
Bradley added: “It was hard for me to process that (the diagnosis), because my mam had died from cancer. So it was hard for me to say those words.
“It stops you in your tracks. Just enjoy the moment you are in. Enjoy the journey and wherever it leads, it leads.
“I’m quite comfortable with that.
“We’re kicking a ball of air around for 90 minutes.”
Football is a selfish game, played and coached by ambitious and driven people.
Does an experience like the one that has hit his family check him in any way?
“Yeah, it does,” says Bradley. “In a good way. It makes you realise what’s really important.
“Going back to the personal stuff, that’s why I look at it like that. With my mam and with this, it was a reality check again. It gives you a real reality check.”
Bradley would have quit his job in an instant if he thought it might do some good in his son’s fight.
But it wasn’t long before he realised the good he was doing by carrying on.
Not only have the Bradley family raised over €80,000 so far for three incredibly worthy charities - Children's Health Foundation Crumlin, Irish Cancer Society and Aoibheann’s Pink Tie - but each win on Rovers’ European adventure has brought a huge smile to Josh’s face.
Last week Bradley was in Skopje as the Hoops guaranteed group stage football, while his family watched on back at home with the families of his coaching staff.
“They all watched the game together,” Bradley (37) explains.
“It was brilliant being able to facetime them on the pitch afterwards and Josh was jumping around with them.
“Two months ago that was the furthest thing from my mind, whereas now I see progress, he is getting on in his treatment, he is doing okay and he is mixing with other kids.
“It’s normality for him and again, that just makes those moments special.
“That is genuinely why I do it and why I love it - because it brings that sort of joy not only to my family with what Josh is going through, but it brings that sort of happiness.
“If it gives him a split second of forgetting about what he is going through, then for me it is worth everything.”
Bradley was quick to share the praise.
“Again, massive credit needs to go to my wife and the staff, and the players,” he said.
“The players had a meeting. I missed Dundalk away (immediately after the diagnosis).
“I was back in on the Monday and again I was only allowed to do that because my wife said, ‘This is what you do and you don’t stop, this is for him’.
“I know the players had a meeting with the staff and were unbelievable in terms of just getting on with business and their incredible support for myself and my family, which I definitely needed at that point in time.
“I’ve said before - win, lose or draw, they are a special group of people, a special group of men.
“When you have a difficult time, like I did, that really comes to the fore. I’ll be forever grateful for that.”
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