My wife got grief for me playing at Euros – Stephen O’Donnell

Motherwell right-back Stephen O’Donnell has revealed that not everyone was happy that he had been picked for Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for the last Euros.

“I remember I’d just had my second child before the tournament,” the 32-year-old told the Sacked In The Morning podcast.

“You turn up at the team hotel in Middlesbrough and I am like a kid looking at the pool and things and thinking this isn’t too shabby – it’s a long way from Lanarkshire. You’re absolutely pinching yourself the whole time.

“Well, I was buzzing and I was getting a good night’s sleep and the food was incredible. The wife wasn’t best pleased and I actually remember like one of her pals is giving her grief for me going – yeah, it’s not fair. How’s that fair?

“Quite a lot of people don’t really understand or respect football. How many times do you hear when you play football – it’s not really a job is it?”

Scotland, of course, had qualified for a major tournament for the first time in 23 years – only for Covid to limit the number of fans who could enjoy the experience.

“I think Scotland itself needed a filip of some kind and I think the football brought that,” O’Donnell said.

“Football a lot of the time gets bad press for causing problems, but the core of it brings people together and, especially in the highs, it’s incredible.”