Burnley loanee Peacock-Farrell to Aarhus and Northern Ireland
This season, Bailey Peacock-Farrell’s desire for regular club football has taken him to Denmark, but the Northern Ireland goalkeeper has never had to worry about not playing for his country.
Peacock-Farrell, who was installed as Michael O’Neill’s first choice at the start of the Nations League campaign in 2018, has had the position nailed down ever since, collecting his 41st cap in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Kazakhstan in Astana.
The 26-year-old Burnley goalkeeper has appeared in more games for Northern Ireland than any of his five professional clubs, with the exception of Sheffield Wednesday, for whom he appeared 47 times during a loan stay in 2021-22.
Peacock-Farrell has recently joined Danish side AGF Aarhus on a season-long loan, but despite disappointing spells at both Leeds and Burnley, Northern Ireland has remained a constant in his career.
“When I come away, I try to play to the best of my ability, like everyone else, and overall I’ve done quite well so far,” he remarked.
“The club level hasn’t been great, and there have been inconsistencies in terms of game time.” To have both the current manager (Michael O’Neill) and the previous manager (Ian Baraclough) back me up is obviously a huge vote of confidence.
“I’m just trying to improve at the club level right now, and that’s my goal for this year.”
Peacock-Farrell has consistently shown himself as a shot-stopper for Northern Ireland when opportunities at club level have been limited.
“It’s ten games a year (with Northern Ireland), so when you only get 10-15 games at club level in cups and so on, you add these ten and you’ve still had an acceptable amount of games as a season,” he explained. “And it’s another opportunity to perform for your country.”
Following his season at Hillsborough, he acted as Aro Muric’s backup following season, making 16 appearances as Burnley achieved promotion back to the Premier League.
But, after signing England Under-21 player James Trafford from Manchester City this summer, Peacock-Farrell realized he needed to explore elsewhere.
He had possibilities in the Championship, but the personal and professional challenge of going to Denmark’s second city was more appealing.
A little Scandinavian cool is nothing to worry about for a footballer raised in the north-east of England, and Peacock-Farrell has adapted fast.
“It’s really nice, a beautiful country with a fantastic city.” “It feels very natural, and there have been no problems with settling,” he said.
European football is very different from the Premier League, Championship, and League One, so it was another learning experience that hopefully will be beneficial towards the end of the season.”
A milestone 50th cap is now virtually within reach for a guy who is still relatively young in goalkeeping years, and he aspires to a whole century.
“I got my 40th the other night, and I’m really proud to say that,” he continued. “I’m now aiming for the next milestone, which is 50.”
“We’ve got big players on big caps here, Jonny (Evans) and Davo (Steven Davis) when he returns.” There’s a long way to go, but it’s my objective.”
