Eamon Fyfe may be happy serving Portadown away from the spotlight but it is proving more and more difficult for the forward to remain in the role of unsung hero.

Across three years on the Shamrock Park books Fyfe has proven his value off versatility and the attributes which attract appreciation in-house from a manager and team-mates but don’t often translate to wider recognition.

However, a string of supporters’ club end-of-season awards in May confirmed Fyfe also has growing recognition from the fanbase for his efforts in helping Portadown secure promotion as Championship champions, win a Mid-Ulster Senior Cup prize and across the past two Premiership campaigns cement top-flight status.

Now, off a pre-season period of transition given a change in manager from Niall Currie to David Jeffrey plus number of summer signings, Fyfe heads into today’s opening league game away to Carrick Rangers hoping to maintain that momentum of reliability in any required role.

placeholder image — Eamon Fyfe (second left) with Portadown team-mates during pre-season. (Photo by Keelan Leeper/Portadown FC)

"If someone watched my highlights reel they wouldn’t probably be most impressed,” said Fyfe, who respected Irish League statistician Marshall Gillespie records as having delivered 41 goals and 19 assists over 128 Ports appearances. "But it's a game of 90 minutes...you have to dog it out for the full 90 minutes, which I think is probably one of my stronger points.

"I'm more of a hard-worker and just more committed to the team rather than myself. I probably pride myself in that a little bit...I can fit into any role on that front line.

"At the end of the day, what are you here for if you're not trying your best? If you're asked to put in a shift for the manager and for the club, you're going to have to do that otherwise you're in the wrong game.

"You need to be giving tennis a go or something if you're not willing to put it all on the line for your own club and team-mates, having each other’s back.

"I wouldn't call myself an out-and-out anything...I'm not an out-and-out winger, I’m not an out-and-out striker, I’m not an out-and-out ‘10’.

"I'm just there on the pitch, hopefully...that's probably a strength of mine, that I can just adapt. Honestly, I just love playing football.”

Fyfe has embraced life at Portadown and, despite the status of four-time Irish League champions, the 28-year-old enjoys the “homely” atmosphere.

“It's a great club, a very homely club, everyone's tight-knit,” he said, with the Ports attempting a return as a consistent presence in the silverware hunt. “You see the same faces week in, week out, the team's on a journey with the fans and it's nice getting a chat with them.

"You look at the expectations as extra motivation...as a team, all we can do is go out there and give it our all and try and see how far we can go.

"We can only take it one step at a time each matchday and ensure that we are giving our best possible version.

"We're doing all the right things, I would say, to get us to a good spot.

"To be fair, it's been a good transition obviously with a new manager coming in. We understand what the manager wants from us...it's up to us now to go out and deliver.”