Swifts boss Kris Lindsay welcomes Fra Brennan back for his fifth spell at the club in January
Lockdown during the Coronavirus pandemic has turned Dungannon Swifts defender Fra Brennan's life upside down.
Not only has it forced the postponement of his wedding, but he's also had to take up a new job.
Covid-19 cut short his return to Stangmore Park on a playing front and also saw his post as a 'Let Them Play' officer with the Irish FA temporarily evaporate.
Brennan has also taken up the role of family barber but admits he's not planning on making a new career as a crimper!
"The worst thing was having to put the wedding on hold," he reveals on Saturday's BBC Radio Ulster's Sportsound programme.
"I was actually meant to get married in three weeks' time but that is all on hold now.
Tying the knot
"I don't have much say in the matter to be honest. My partner Natalie is looking after most of the arrangements. She has been brilliant. All I get told is what date it's on. If I was organising it would be awful!
"One of the rearranged dates we've actually picked is April Fools' Day. When it became available I said we definitely want that. If Natalie decides not to show up at the altar I can always say it was April Fools anyway!"
Fun-loving Brennan, who returned to the Swifts for a fifth spell in January, found life was getting serious when the job he was only a few months into at the IFA did not qualify for the Government's furlough criteria.
"I took a job delivering parcels just to get me out of the house as I was going stir-crazy. It's been very busy and I can't wait to get back to football to be honest."
The former Cliftonville man, who has also had stops-offs at Glenavon, Portadown, Carrick Rangers and Loughgall in his career, comes from a musical background and admits to playing the guitar badly.
"I started lockdown playing music and trying to learn new songs but my momentum shifted to cutting hair. I put the guitar down and used my son as a guinea pig!
Congratulations for Fra Brennan after he celebrates scoring for the Swifts
"It was awful at times but I might still take it up again when I go back to training at the Swifts. When I see our manager Kris Lindsay's hair on a Zoom call he doesn't look too sharp, a bit like Tom Hanks in the film Castaway!"
Joking aside, Brennan is serious about a career in management or coaching when he finally hangs up his boots. He has worked with numerous managers and rates the late Tommy Breslin at Cliftonville as the best he has played for and former Swifts boss Rodney McAree the top coach because he helped inspire him earlier in his career.
"I do like to be a leader. I would like to think I have a serious button but people would probably argue that a lot of the time it is hard to find that in me. I think I know when to switch it on and off.
"I'm 28 now and the amount of experience I have had I think I could bring it all together."
Brennan is currently working on his Coaching B Licence and has completed a degree in Sports Coaching and Exercise Science. During lockdown he applied to go on a second degree course in Football Leadership at Jordanstown.
As if all that wasn't enough, he can't wait to get back to training at Dungannon now that lockdown restrictions are being further eased.
