IRISH Football Association president and Millisle man Conrad Kirkwood has hailed the support of the footballing community during his recent fight against cancer.
Kirkwood, 56, was diagnosed with tonsil cancer at the end of 2022 and is due to find out if his treatment has been successful in the spring.
Although a figure in the upper echelons of the game in Northern Ireland, Conrad is a familiar face locally too, and can often be found equipped with his camera on the touchlines at Abbey Villa’s Adams Park.
Opening up to the Chronicle on his health journey over the last 18 months, he said: “I think the biggest takeaways for me have been, firstly, if you see something wrong, go and do something about it as soon as possible. And second, do what you’re told, when you’re told to do it.
“I came back from the World Cup in Qatar and a lump in my neck had developed,” he explained.
“In this role, you’re travelling a lot, in hotels a lot and you start self-diagnosing. I put it down to air conditioning at first, but the lump was really something that made me think ‘that’s a bit odd’. That’s when I went and got it checked out.
“Rhod Gilbert, the Welsh comedian, has gone through the same thing as me. When I watched his Channel 4 programme (Rhod Gilbert: A Pain in the Neck For SU2C), it was scary, but it helped prepare me.
“I did 30 radiotherapy and five chemo sessions. I struggled to eat, lost a wee bit of weight and I’ve been quite sick and nauseous since treatment, but in reality I’ve done a lot better than others.”
Conrad’s own ill health was compounded by the losses of two close relatives within a matter of weeks.
“In amongst all this, my uncle died in December and my mother died just after Christmas – both from cancer.
“My mother’s diagnosis came to light when I knew I was ill and my uncle’s we had known about just before I was diagnosed. So that’s been a lot to deal with, but I’m okay at the far end of it.
“What I would say is the football family has been absolutely lovely. We often talk about the football family and you sometimes think, ‘oh, that’s just something people say.’ But right across Northern Ireland people have been in contact, which is quite humbling.
“I think when you get junior members of staff at the IFA actually dropping you a message to see if you’re okay, you start to think maybe people can be bothered with you – which is unusual for presidents,” he laughed.
“I consider myself to be a fairly active president, I try to get out and about as much as possible and I knew that if all of a sudden I wasn’t doing that and didn’t disclose what was wrong with me, people would begin to think I didn’t care.
“So I put a message out early on to say what it was and while there were people that responded who I might have expected to, there were others who I had maybe just met a couple of times that contacted me.
“Several people got in touch to say they knew someone who had been through something similar and they would pass on their details if I wanted. The number of people who have reached out with offers to drive me to treatment or checked with my wife to see if she needed a break has been genuinely touching.
“TJ Young, who launched the SPORTS (Suicide Prevention Offering Recovery Through Sport) initiative and is from this area, was very quick off the mark and was even ringing me up to offer reflexology and that type of thing.
“He was clearly trying to think of things that might help me, as well as checking to see if I was okay, and I thought that was nice. The IFA chaplain, Richard Donnan, who is also the chaplain at Abbey Villa was another one. I’m not a person with any particular faith, but he was a great support for me.
“There’s easily 40 or 50 people that I am going to have to make time for and go out for a coffee with, because they’ve been so kind to me throughout everything.”
Conrad, who was elected as president of the IFA in June 2021, continued: “Every cancer is different.
“I followed what I was told to the letter and as a result of that, I firmly believe I had a better outcome. I’m sitting with maybe 20 different lotions and potions and can guarantee I’ve used all of them.
“I’m not renowned for doing what I’m told either, but on this occasion I did exactly that and I think it’s why I am so far on in terms of my recovery.”
Despite being still some way from full health, Conrad has not taken a total back seat from presidential matters and remains very much ‘at work’, just last week hosting the Ards Boys’ Brigade at Windsor Park for a stadium tour.
“I missed the Steel and Sons and Border Cup finals over Christmas and was absolutely gutted, but people have been understanding when I’ve not been able to make it to things.
“At no point throughout this all have I said to the IFA, don’t send me anything. I’m still working through the correspondence and haven’t missed a single board meeting. It’s important to me to be able to do that.
“The IFA guys could find somebody else to be in those meetings, but I want to do it. I don’t want to let anyone down.
“In a typical week before my cancer, I would easily have been out four nights out of five during the week, gone to a match on a Saturday and sometimes something on a Sunday as well. It wouldn’t be unusual to have 10 meetings in a week on top of my day job,” he said.
“I’m very positive about what lies ahead for me. What I enjoy doing and what makes me happy is being involved in local and international football. I get a real buzz out of trying to help people, and that’s a better tonic some days than any pill can give you.
“My advice to others would be to not necessarily read everything on the internet, and to try and find somebody with the same cancer as you have and see if you can talk to them, because no two cancers are the same.
“Don’t be afraid of looking for a bit of therapy either, I’m not ashamed to admit that I did. But overwhelmingly, and it’s a cliche, but stay positive. It’s also important to recognise and bear in mind, particularly after somebody’s treatment is over, that even though somebody might look well, they’re not always feeling brilliant underneath it all.”
