Hull manager Grant McCann interview: Growing up with Frank Lampard and leaving the Troubles behind

Grant McCann remembers Frank Lampard very well. He was a couple of years older, hardworking, diligent, a real talent. He also remembers the nudges and winks that followed him everywhere, the whispering campaign that said he was only at West Ham because of who he knew, not how good he was.

McCann remembers Lampard being abused and criticised coming through the ranks. He can remember the manager Harry Redknapp, Lampard’s uncle, having to defend his nephew against accusations of nepotism. But most of all he remembers that Lampard was a better footballer than he was ever going to be.

The two will meet again this weekend when Lampard takes his Chelsea team to take on Hull City in the FA Cup, only this time they are both at the start of new careers in management.

“He was unbelievable, I knew he was going to be a better player,” said McCann, who has attracted praise during his first season at Hull.  “I think he had a bigger point to prove because a lot of people said he was only there because of his father (Frank Lampard Snr) and his uncle.

“I think the stick he got, that was the making of him. He had this belief he would do it and he did.

“I remember all the stuff that was said about him, but every afternoon he was out there with his spikes on to practise sprinting. There was some bitching… when I was playing he might have got people calling him an old so and so...

“I was not surprised at all to see the success he had as a player. As soon as he broke into that [West Ham] team I could just see him getting better and better.

“I think he proved a lot of people wrong. I think a lot of West Ham fans thought he only got in the team because of his family. But I knew there wasn't a chance of that. I always thought he'd get to the level he reached.

“I think he’s taken to management very well, too. Got Derby into the play offs last season in the Championship, he’s got Chelsea in the top four in the Premier League when people thought they might struggle, but I’ve got a tougher job here at Hull.”

The last bit is said with a smile, but he means it. Hull were many people’s favourites to go down this season following the departure of former manager Nigel Adkins. But McCann, lured from Doncaster Rovers, has done well. Hull could even make a late run for the play offs.

That has always been part of McCann’s personality. Like Lampard, he had that desire to prove people wrong, to make the most of what he has. He is the sort of character who would be unable to tell you what a lost cause looks like.

McCann did not make it at West Ham, leaving for Cheltenham after a handful of substitute appearances, before spells at Barnsley, Scunthorpe and Peterborough. But their time with the Hammers was the making of them both.

McCann was short-tempered, confrontational and extremely homesick teenager from Belfast. Football was his escape, but as relieved as he was at the time to leave The Troubles behind, he missed his home city terribly.

“I never thought I was good enough to be at West Ham,” McCann with alarming honesty. “I think I was quite fortunate. But they must have seen something in me to take me as a young boy.

“It was really hard coming over from Belfast. I was 16 years of age. I think I cried every day for the first year, I was that homesick. I stayed in digs with Michael Carrick and Anthony Hudson, Alan Hudson’s son. I still remember the address, Salisbury Avenue in Barking, they were harsh on us, strict, but it made us grow up.

“It was 1996, there were no mobile phones, but it definitely shaped me into the person I am.

So too, sadly, did The Troubles. Anyone who grew up in Belfast during that time will say the same. Extreme violence was an almost daily occurrence, road blocks, bombs, the British Army on the streets, riots, marches, murder and revenge killings. It was not an easy place to live, let alone grow up.

“Taking the Hull job, it was a challenge I relished,” said McCann. “It just reminds me of my life. I’ve had challenges all through my life. That’s what I’ve taken into my management career.

“Maybe that is because of my upbringing. I came from Sandy Row in Belfast [a Loyalist area of the city], my family still live there.

“Growing up in that environment wasn’t nice, coming through the Troubles and all that. Then to move away from home was difficult. I’m surprised I stuck it out to be honest. My family were on to me to stay, stay, stay.”

He is glad he did. After a row with the then West Ham manager Glenn Roeder, he calmed down at Cheltenham, flying back up the leagues with Barnsley, Scunthorpe and Peterborough United. He was a battler, a scuffler, but he could more than play a bit too, earning 32 international caps before moving into management.

“I think my parents were relieved I got out,” McCann continued. “Because back then there were only one or two ways you could go, you could either get a job or fall in with the wrong crowd.”

“Yeah, I saw some bad stuff growing up. It was difficult. I remember the Europa Hotel was blown up and we missed that by seconds. We were at a Linfield-Glentoran game and we just missed it. All the windows of my mum’s house came in.

“It was a way of life back then. It’s tough to try and explain that to my kids. It was mad back then, little things like the army walking about the streets. We didn’t bat an eyelid, it was just part of every day life and the way we grew up. Has it made me tougher? I don’t know, but it’s given me a good lesson.

“I’m very proud of Belfast and what it has become. The Troubles have gone, it’s an amazing place. We go back to visit with the kids, but I don’t talk to them about what went on in the past… they see the murals and stuff…my boys think they’ve got paintings of Fortnite on the walls.”

Hull will have their first sell-out crowd since 2014 for the visit of Chelsea and they might be painting a few murals of McCann on the wall if he can guide Hull back into the Premier League.