HOWE'S THAT FOR DESTINY?

Dec seals a return with Iron

- By Jon Couch

SWAPPING Long Beach, California for the depths of English Non-League football might not be everyone's idea of the perfect life choice, but for Declan Howe it turned out to be a lifeline.

"When I dropped out of full-time football at Scunthorpe, I found it tough," he explained following his release from the Iron as a youngster in 2018.

"I found myself in lower Non-League and, no disrespect to anyone playing at that level, it wasn't where I wanted to be and I started to fall out of love with the game.

"I found it hard to adjust and find my feet, so I headed over to America for a couple of years, did some coaching, and had a bit of a reset. It did me the world of good."

Indeed, while in Los Angeles, where his brother lives, Howe was two years into a three-year university degree when Covid forced him to head back home.

With that, he started playing again, at Staveley Miners Welfare. It proved to be the best decision he has ever made.