SHARED HERITAGE

MARK MORAN UNCOVERS HIS FAMILY CONNECTION TO ALEXIS MAC ALLISTER...

- MARK MORAN

ALEXIS Mac Allister first caught my attention in October 2020 when his deflected strike salvaged a 1-1 draw for Brighton against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. It was his first Premier League goal - scored in the strange, eerie hush of the Covid season, the lack of fans sapping all fervour from the spectacle.

Nonetheless, months of curtailment had starved me of football. Watching Match of the Day, I was drawn to this tenacious, flame-haired Argentinian whose name seemed more befitting of the Scottish Highlands than the avenues of Buenos Aires. Cursory research suggested a lineage traced to Fife, but what initially appeared to be a straightforward ancestral link soon unfurled into a far richer and more personal narrative.

Perhaps Alexis was always destined for stardom. His first taste of football came at Club Social Parque. This youth academy counts Diego Maradona, Carlos Tevez, and Juan Roman Riquelme - Alexis's idol - among its alumni. Mac Allister's professional career began with the Buenos Aires side Argentinos Juniors. He excelled in the club's triumphant quest for promotion to the Primera Division. His seamless adaptation to top-tier football soon attracted interest from England's south coast.

Before making his mark at Brighton, he was loaned to his boyhood heroes, Boca Juniors. Mac Allister got off to a superb start, scoring on his debut against Athletico Paranaense in the Copa Libertadores.

At la Bombonera, Mac Allister learned to thrive under pressure. The intensity of representing such an iconic club influenced the resilience and work ethic that Mac Allister would later bring to Europe. As he simply describes the Superclasico in an interview with the Guardian: "If you lose you are the worst. If you win you are the best."