Football: BOY FROM THE BLACK STUFF; Talented Dubliner Lee is a class apart.

Byline: Garry DOYLE Chief Soccer Writer

BRIAN Kerr's observation that Foxrock does not produce many footballers and Tallaght not many sailors rings true.

A swift glance at the Irish sailing and football squads reveals a consistent geographic and social background with the odd exception here and there.

Alan Lee is football's exception. Schooled in Blackrock College in the same class as Ireland's rugby superstar, Brian O'Driscoll, Lee, 26, is the only ex-private schoolboy in the Irish squad.

Not that this matters. Popular with his team-mates and admired by Kerr, Lee also has the distinction of being Blackrock College's first football international.He said: "It is a source of pride to me. Rugby is their thing there and I played a bit when I was younger but even the Junior Cup team trained five or six times each week after school.

"With football taking priority, I could not commit to both. But I still love the sport and follow the Irish team closely, especially with Brian O'Driscoll being captain.

"Seeing him doing so well is fantastic. He's a nice guy, down to earth and easy-going. We used to play football in the schoolyard and he was handy.

"Far too good at times."

From Blackrock's schoolyard, Lee has progressed to bigger arenas, firstly at Aston Villa, then Burnley, Rotherham, and since August 2003, Cardiff City.

And it was his goal for Cardiff in the FA Cup third round clash at Ninian Park 10 days ago that has earned the Welsh side a replay against Blackburn Rovers this evening.

The odds are stacked against them - yet Lee doesn't care. With an ongoing fight against relegation and the pursuit of World Cup qualification to worry about, the striker has bigger fish to fry.

He said: "We're not going to be too scared of them. We should have won the first game and had them pegged back for long spells.

"So as far as we are concerned this is a no-lose situation. Compared to the league, where we are struggling and under constant pressure, this will be a joy to play in. We hope to win."

Looking further ahead he hopes for more from 2005 - namely to add to his eight international caps, to get that illusive first international goal and most of all, to help Ireland qualify for Germany.

Lee said: "When I first got into the squad, I was anxious for two reasons.

"Firstly I was nervous about my ability, about whether I belonged in the company of the other players.

And secondly there was the fact that I didn't know too many of the other players.

"You see international football is a strange arena. For 50 days a year you practically live with a group of 20 or so guys.

"So when you come in from the cold, you enter a tight-knit group. Now everyone helps you get along but you still don't really feel a part of it straightaway," he added.

"Now I do. Now it would hurt me to miss a squad, not just because of the football side, but also because of the craic that I know I'd miss.

"The team spirit we have is special - the maker of many results. People cannot underestimate its importance."

And team spirit has dragged Ireland through the roughest part of this qualification journey and to the top of Group Four, ahead of Switzerland and France, who have still to come to Dublin.

For Lee qualification is his biggest goal - but aside from the selfless rhetoric about the team coming first - there is also something much more personal for him to dwell upon.Lee said: "I know that if I am 100 per cent fit and playing to the best of my ability that I should be in the squad.

"I'd love that. Each one of my caps so far has been treasured, the most precious one being in Holland last June when we won with a side that had been written off.

"That was a really great experience. But you want more. You want to top this Group."

CAPTION(S):

PRIDE OF BLACKROCK: Alan Lee was a pupil at the Dublin college with Ireland star Brian O'Driscoll (inset); CHOICES: Brian Kerr