THE LIST of Irish footballers who have plied their trade in Belgium is not a long one.

There are a couple of notable examples though.

Former Shamrock Rovers star Liam Buckley spent two years with KSV Waregem in the 1980s while ex-Ireland international Dominic Foley’s nomadic career encompassed stints at Gent and Cercle Brugge, with nearly 200 appearances overall.

More recently, Ireland star Josh Cullen and ex-Crystal Palace youngster Jake O’Brien have lined out for Anderlecht and RWD Molenbeek respectively.

Irish U21 international Matt Healy is the latest to try his luck in the country, signing for Royal Francs Borains in the Belgian second tier last July.

The midfielder had a superb start to life over there, scoring twice in his first three league games, including a 3-1 win over title-contending Zulte Waregem.

However, that early momentum has slowed for both Healy and the team.

At the time of writing, they are second from bottom in First Division B. Healy started the first 14 league games but had to be content with a substitute appearance in the last two fixtures before the recent lengthy winter break, which allowed him time to come back to Ireland for 10 days during the Christmas period.

“I’ve been lucky enough to play in most of the games if not all the games, so I think I’m doing relatively well,” Healy tells The 42.

“We just have to stick together through it all and hopefully, we will get out of this patch and get a couple of wins because the league is very tight — a couple of wins will push us up the table very quickly.”

Moving to an unfamiliar country has been a challenge for Healy on and off the pitch.

He is currently living by himself as he bids to boost his career, with friends and family watching from afar in Ireland.

French is mainly spoken in Boussu, where the club are based, and Healy cites the language barrier as the biggest challenge in adapting to this new life.

“I only know a little bit of French, so I don’t know what they’re saying most of the time. One of the players who speaks English translates for me, sitting next to me in meetings and stuff like that. So that’s a bit different from what I’ve experienced before.

“I have done a bit [of practice] on Duolingo to be fair, but that’s about it. I should probably start learning a bit more. I thought I’d pick it up, as you go, but I kind of realised that’s not really how it works

“I have football phrases. If someone said something on the pitch, I’d kind of know what that means now because I’ve heard it so many times around the pitch. So at least I have that now.”

During the summer, in addition to Royal Francs Borains, Healy says he had offers to join clubs from both England and Ireland after being released by the club he joined as a 16-year-old, Ipswich Town.

A big part of the reason why he chose Belgium was the success there last year of fellow Corkonian Jake O’Brien, with whom he shares an agent.

O’Brien also played in the second tier and caught the eye representing Molenbeek, subsequently earning a move to French club Lyon and breaking into the first team at the Ligue 1 outfit.

“I definitely was looking at Jake’s move last year and I spoke to him as well about the league and what’s it like and stuff like that just to get an idea about it,” says Healy.

“He told me how many options he had after this one season over here and how much it built his career.

“And I suppose, I just really wanted to be like that, to be honest — to big up my profile and CV as much as I can.

“I felt there was a pathway to make a career out of the game because that’s what everyone wants, don’t they?”

Healy acknowledges that emulating O’Brien’s progress is easier said than done, but as with his fellow Irishman, hopes the Challenger Pro League can be a “stepping stone” for bigger days to come.

“Don’t get me wrong, I find it tough over here as well, you have to move away yourself and live by yourself in a foreign country, which is kind of scary.

“But sometimes you’ve got to come out of your comfort zone as well, sometimes to learn different football cultures, it is only going to help you in the end.

“As an Irish kid, you always want to play in England, but you have got to look past that. It’s a big continent out there as well, where you can play a lot of football.”

Healy regards Belgian football as a “step up” from the League of Ireland but acknowledges the importance of his season and a half on loan at Cork City, where the midfielder got his first taste of senior football, while he still speaks regularly to former boss Colin Healy (no relation).

Moreover, with most of his friends and family back in Ireland, the 21-year-old needed an alternative means to entertain himself during his downtime and he has found a welcome outlet with regular solo trips to the nearby golf course.

“You’ve got a whole life as well, it’s not just football. So you’ve got to distract yourself. I’m big into my golf, so that’s one thing that helps distract me.

“It’s not that big over here, to be fair. I have a golf course which is 20 minutes away. But there wouldn’t be many golf courses around here. It’s just not as big as it is in the UK and Ireland.

“I’m the only one [on the team] who plays golf, but I don’t mind that — it’s a couple of hours out of the house.”