Courage can show itself in many different forms.
It might be in overcoming chronic homesickness when leaving a close family in Ireland as a 16-year-old to pursue dreams of becoming a professional footballer in England.
Or in casting aside regular periods of self-doubt and a lack of confidence to achieve that ambition and chalk up almost 400 senior appearances.
It could also be in lining up in direct opposition with Xavi, Alonso and Fabregas on international duty, or captaining your country against an all-conquering Netherlands in front of 50,000 in Amsterdam.
Or, it could also be in serving as a firefighter, putting yourself in the eye of the storm to support your local community in times of trouble and danger.
For former Wolves Academy graduate Sammy Clingan, carrying out that very job with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has given him a new lease of life – and renewed sense of purpose – since hanging up his boots.
“It might sound a bit crazy but I never had any confidence in myself playing football,” Clingan reveals.
“And it was only through doing the training for the fire service, which is pretty intensive, that it really gave me that level of self-belief.
“With the football, I had already effectively signed for Wolves at 14 and knew I would be heading over at the age of 16, so I took my eye off the ball a little bit when it came to school.
“I was never the best at exams when I was in education, I didn’t really know how to study, and yet it is something I have had to do loads of for my fire exams.
“There was so much to learn, but I actually enjoyed it, and it gave me the feeling that I was able to achieve something if I put my mind to it.
“But I never had that in football, I remember players who would big themselves up and say they were among the best and that’s something I was never able to do.”
It was at the end of his footballing journey that Clingan found himself with a decision to make about where his future lay.
He had rounded off his full-time footballing career in Scotland with Kilmarnock, but a knee injury which required an operation thus ruling him out of going to the 2016 European Championships with Northern Ireland also led to a surgeon’s advice that he should no longer train every day.
Continuing to play on a part-time basis with Linfield and then Glenavon back home in Ireland, Clingan would fly over from Glasgow on a Thursday for one training session and then a weekend’s match.
Eventually, as his family grew, he decided the commute was no longer viable and called time on his career once and for all, able to then spend more time at home with wife Corinne and young children Louis, now four, and Lucas, now two.
“After a career travelling around in football it was lovely to be able to spend time at home with the family but it soon came to the stage that I had to decide what I was going to do next,” he explains.
“Football had been my life, but while I had done my coaching badges, it wasn’t something I had any great urge to go into.
“My wife suggested I should maybe try out for the Fire Services, and, when we started looking at it, we realised it was very hard to get into but worth putting in the application.
“The whole process from submitting the application and being accepted was two years, and it was tough, but also enjoyable.
“I’ve been employed for over a year now, and I’m loving it, although you are on probation for three years and need to pass an exam every year to become more and more competent.
“You are learning all the time.”
That initial training process was gruelling, as it has to be, a 12-week course including intensive tuition on how to use the pump and fire appliances, dealing with different fires, how to cut cars open after Road Traffic Collisions, operating with breathing apparatus, looking after casualties, and much more.
Clingan’s watch is in the town of Kirkintilloch, just outside Glasgow, and there are few traffic issues getting to and from work given his journey in and out is approximately three miles.
It was all very different travelling-wise around two-and-a-half decades ago when the young Belfast-born midfielder had to spread his wings in pursuit of his footballing future.
If Clingan’s career was one in which his achievements arrived despite sometimes lacking confidence, there were many other scouts – and later teams – who had plenty of confidence in him.
He had already started attending trials from the age of 12, including with Arsenal and Celtic – the club he supports – as talent-spotters from far and wide flocked to games played by Lisburn Youth.
Already impressing at international level, one of his schoolboy appearances for the Under-15s included being up against Spanish World Cup winning legend Andres Iniesta in a game played at Derry City.
Hugely successful Wolves Academy recruitment chief Tony Lacey spotted Clingan and secured his signing which then saw him head across the Irish Sea and into the Academy, full-time, at 16.
As with so many aspiring talents who travel at a young age in search of success, Clingan’s desire and determination was countered by regular bouts of homesickness that are very much understandable in that situation.
“When I first came over, I was so homesick, and I just had to get my head down, which was easier said than done,” he recalls.
“And then, about a couple of weeks after being there, I caught chickenpox and was stuck in my digs.
“I used to cry every single day, and be on the phone back home – we didn’t even have Facetime back then.
“Even though I wanted to go home my Mum wasn’t for letting me go – she knew how much I wanted to be a footballer and how much I would regret that decision in the years to come.
“There were also a lot of Irish boys in the Academy at Wolves at the time and that helped, I was able to talk to them about stuff and that made it easier.
“And do you know what? It was very tough at the time but I’m so pleased I was able to stick it out.”
There was plenty of backing within the Academy network for Clingan, including from then Academy director Chris Evans, a key source of support for him and his family, as well as coaches such as Keith Downing, John Perkins and Terry Connor.
And while ultimately, his time at Molineux would never result in a first team appearance, there were plenty of learnings from his six years at Wolves that gave Clingan strong and positive foundations from which his career was then built.
He was given a three-year professional contract after his Academy upbringing, captained the reserves on a regular basis despite his tender years and was also on the bench twice for the first team, including in the Premier League away at Manchester United.
“I have to say I had a good time at Wolves even though I never managed to play in the first team,” Clingan explains.
“I loved it and it made me grow up as a person, it made me become a man quicker.
“I warmed up a couple of times in the Premier League at Old Trafford although I’m not sure I was ever going to get on!
“Just being in and around the first team with so many experienced players, even just training with them every day, I learned so much.
“Working with the likes of Paul Ince and Denis Irwin, we even had Gazza (Paul Gascoigne) come and train with us for a bit.
“I played with him in a reserve game which was great, he was such a funny guy but also really helpful to the young players even though he’s a Rangers hero and I’m a Celtic fan!
“Wolves gave me so much, and I’m just so thankful I managed to see it out and I never went home in those early days.
“As a result of that I was able to go on and have such an incredible time in my career, visiting different places across the world and enjoying some fantastic experiences.”
His first move from was a loan with Chesterfield, then in League One, which proved an enjoyable and valuable grounding and introduction to regular football where he impressed sufficiently to secure a switch to Wolves’ next Premier League opponents, Nottingham Forest.
Although Gary Megson, who took Clingan to the City Ground, lost his job very shortly afterwards, Colin Calderwood’s later arrival saw the midfielder’s two full seasons end firstly in play-off defeat and then promotion as runners-up from League One.
“Like Wolves, Forest are a massive club and it was great to go and play in the first team of a club of that size,” Clingan reflects.
“I was injured for the time of the play-offs, losing to Yeovil after being 2-0 up from the first leg, but it was good to bounce back the next season and get promotion.”
Forest certainly wasn’t the final high-profile port of call for Clingan who then went on to feature heavily for Norwich, for one season, and Coventry, for three.
With the Canaries, he was part of the team which both beat the Championship-winning Wolves side 5-2 at Carrow Road, and drew 3-3 in the return at Molineux.
“That was quite surreal, coming back,” he admits.
“Sitting in the away dressing room at a place where I had spent so much time.
“I remember catching up with old faces like wee Graham and Cliffy (former tunnel attendants Graham Hughes and Cliff Moss), which was really good, and it just felt very strange to have a different shirt on!”
Clingan enjoyed life in Norfolk, and enjoyed his football, but with the Canaries relegated to League One, and a desire to stay in the Championship, then made the switch to the Sky Blues.
Again, he settled well, and was named club captain for his final season, albeit after the Canaries he had departed had achieved back-to-back promotions up to the Premier League, already secured before a final day draw against Coventry, in which Clingan was the centre of attention!
“Fair play to Norwich for how they bounced back, and I got a decent amount of stick on that last day when we went to play them at Carrow Road,” Clingan recalls with a chuckle.
“But that’s football and I didn’t have a problem with it.
“I am a great believer that everything happens for a reason, that life is mapped out with whatever road that you take.
“I loved being at Coventry as well, living in a lovely area in Leamington Spa, and playing for another good club as well as being captain.”
If there is one regret for Clingan, it is in listening to advice which saw him reject the offer of a new contract after three years with the Sky Blues, ultimately leaving him without a club before agreeing a month-to-moth deal with Doncaster.
But, as he points out, maybe everything happens for a reason. And not just in football.
At the conclusion of his spell with Doncaster, ironically after a game with Coventry, Clingan moved north of the border, to join Kilmarnock.
It was at Kilmarnock where he finally got to play at his beloved Celtic Park, scoring from a free kick in a 5-2 defeat, but perhaps even more importantly, where he met Corinne which has since led to the family life which he so cherishes.
Now 40, a few years on from the culmination of his career, he speaks calmly and modestly about his achievements, but that short-of-confidence teenager who first took his chances with Wolves at the age of 16 should feel extremely proud of his achievements.
Representing several of the bigger clubs in the English game, achieving 39 caps for Northern Ireland, a figure which would have been higher but for injuries, lining up against not just Iniesta but the likes of Xavi, Frank Lampard and so many other celebrated central midfielders of the era.
His eldest son Louis has now discovered YouTube videos of Dad in action, another source of great pride.
There should be equally as much pride now with his new vocation, carrying out such a respected role within the community and one which still carries links to the ‘team spirit’ mentality of Clingan’s previous existence.
“There are six of us on our watch so we’re a really close knit team,” he explains.
“With two day shifts, two night shifts and then four days off, you spend a lot of time with the same people so it’s a team environment.
“And you need that because there is often danger involved, but at the same time we have been trained for anything that comes our way so when we are heading to an incident, we know we can deal with it.
“It’s obviously very different to football, and when people ask me about pressure, this is a very different sort of pressure.
“Yes, I was used to it playing football and walking out in front of thousands of fans, but I don’t think that even compared to when I was doing my ‘red phase’ assessment, the exams at the end of my first year as a firefighter.
“The good thing though, is that it feels like I am giving back, and it gives you a lot of job satisfaction when you know you are going out and helping people.
“We also go out and do talks at visits at schools and nurseries and out in the community about fire safety and staying away from frozen water and so on.
“Wherever you go, kids are always waving at you and wanting to take a look at the fire engine and it’s just a really nice job to be doing in that respect.”
Clingan hasn’t waved goodbye to football completely.
He is currently in the process of starting up as an agent in addition to the day job, using the extensive range of experiences and emotions faced during his career to pass on advice and guidance to others treading the same path.
“I feel like I can say that I’ve enjoyed all the clubs I have played for and every place I have ever been,” he says of those experiences.
“And now? Well, I’m close to Celtic Park so can go to a fair few Celtic games, and there are a lot of decent golf courses around here so I can’t complain.
“Life is good at the moment, and my two boys certainly help keep me fit and healthy as well.”
And so, as our call comes to an end, there remains only one final question, one which is surely asked by all of Clingan’s footballing friends in keeping with the famed dressing room culture.
“So then, does everyone call you Fireman Sam?”
The nature of the laugh which follows suggests he just might have heard that one before.
