Northern Ireland new boy Trai Hume didn’t take long to ponder his options when asked to sum up in one word his remarkable football journey over the past 12 months.
“Surprising,” he replied.
Impressive too. This time last year Hume was playing on loan for hometown club Ballymena United in a 2-2 draw with Warrenpoint Town at Milltown.
Fast forward and the former Linfield right back is being asked to reflect on a January move to Sunderland and his first call-up to Ian Baraclough’s senior squad.
There is a lot to process.
“Things have happened very fast for me,” said Hume. “I was obviously on loan at Ballymena last season and I then came back to Linfield until January.
“It has come quickly but I’ve taken it in my stride. I’m quite a chilled person and I just take things as they come. I wouldn’t be at Sunderland if I didn’t deserve to be.”
Hume’s football odyssey has taken him on a road less travelled after cross channel clubs overlooked him while swooping for an array of his former Northern Ireland U17 teammates.
The likes of Sam McClelland (Chelsea), Dale Taylor (Nottingham Forest), Ben Wylie (Celtic) and Sean Stewart (Norwich City) were all snapped up between 2018 and 2020.
Not Hume. The teenager ended up going on loan to Ballymena in 2020 and impressed there before bolstering his reputation further after returning to Linfield in the summer.
A number of standout displays for the Blues and a recent move to League One Sunderland, where he made his debut last month, for a reported £200,000 followed soon after.
“At 16, a lot of my teammates went across the water and I was the one thinking ‘why haven’t I gone?’” said Hume:
“I was wondering ‘what’s the reason behind that?’
“Sometimes that can knock you but it made me more determined to go and work harder than everyone else and prove that I should be across the water.
“I kept going and I always had confidence that this opportunity would come.
“My pathway has been different to others, but playing in the Irish League was definitely beneficial to me and it helped me improve as a player.
“Some people don’t give the Irish League the credit it deserves, but it is a good league and it has played an important role in my career.”
Strange to think that Hume was still a month shy of his third birthday when veteran captain and fellow Ballymena native Steven Davis made his Northern Ireland debut in 2005.
“Steven is a legend and a big role model,” said Hume. “I have grown up watching him in Northern Ireland games and watching him go to the Euros in France was quality.
“My family went over to watch the Euros and I’ve also been to watch a lot of Northern Ireland games, against the likes of Germany and Holland.
“Playing and training with players like Steven, Jonny Evans and Stuart Dallas makes you starstruck a wee bit and being with the Northern Ireland squad is what every boy dreams of.
“It has maybe come a bit quicker than I thought, but I’m here now and I want to learn from the experience and enjoy it.”
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