{"id":337259,"date":"2025-08-12T02:07:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T02:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/337259\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T02:07:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T02:07:13","slug":"im-the-scottish-star-who-downed-liverpool-at-wembley-but-have-been-poached-by-northern-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/337259\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m the Scottish star who downed Liverpool at Wembley but have been poached by Northern Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Irvine youngster Justin Devenny slammed in the winner for Crystal Palace in the Charity Shield win against Liverpool<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_JS377524308.jpg\" alt=\"Justin Devenny of Crystal Palace holds aloft the FA Community Shield \" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Justin Devenny of Crystal Palace holds aloft the FA Community Shield <\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Scotland may have missed out on Justin Devenny but the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyrecord.co.uk\/all-about\/crystal-palace-fc\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Crystal Palace<\/a> star wasn\u2019t going to make the same mistake from the spot at Wembley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The former <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyrecord.co.uk\/all-about\/kilmarnock-fc\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Kilmarnock<\/a> academy kid slammed in the winning penalty for the Eagles as they shocked <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyrecord.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/went-airdrie-benchwarmer-fa-cup-35390015\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool<\/a> to win the Charity Shield on the back of their incredible FA Cup triumph over Man City back in May.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">And it added another chapter to the sensational story of this youngster from Irvine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Devenny has completed a <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyrecord.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/went-airdrie-benchwarmer-fa-cup-35390015\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">remarkable rise from the depths of Scottish football to the very pinnacle of the English game<\/a> \u2013 and been poached by Northern Ireland in the process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The 21-year-old had a spell at Broomhill in the Lowland League when part of the Rugby Park ranks and then joined Airdrie in League One before being spotted by Palace\u2019s eagle-eyed Scottish scouts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The \u00a3150,000 shock move down south led to him impressing with the Under-23s before breaking into the first team \u2013 where he made 23 appearances last term on his way to picking up a historic<a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyrecord.co.uk\/all-about\/fa-cup\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\"> FA Cup <\/a>winner\u2019s medal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Devenny was at it again on Sunday, sticking up his hand to take the crucial fifth spot kick.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">And he didn\u2019t disappoint as he found the net to spark wild celebrations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Devenny had nerves of steel \u2013 and he revealed his grit was forged in the lower leagues in Scotland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The youngster\u2019s only other spot kick in his pro career came in Airdrie\u2019s 6-5 shootout win against Hamilton in 2023 to escape the third tier and claim a place in the Championship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Devenny said: \u201cI\u2019ve taken one professional penalty, which was in the play-off final for Airdrie three years ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cIt wasn\u2019t quite this, there were a few thousand there. But it\u2019s the same thing at the end of the day, taking a penalty. Did I score that one? Of course!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_JS377515377.jpg\" alt=\"Justin Devenny of Crystal Palace celebrates after scoring winning penalty during the 2025 FA Community Shield\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Justin Devenny of Crystal Palace celebrates after scoring winning penalty during the 2025 FA Community Shield(Image: Nigel French\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Devenny has always believed he could crack the big time \u2013 and had no doubts stepping up in front of 82,000 fans at Wembley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">He said: \u201cI was confident and I believe in myself. I put my name down before. I didn\u2019t have to take a penalty, but I wanted to.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cI wanted to be the fifth one, I wanted to be the one that scored and win it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;He (manager Oliver Glasner) was asking who wanted to take a penalty and I said: \u2018I will take one\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cI was quite happy that it was in front of the Liverpool fans, you are going to get the abuse and the noise \u2013 but it is just about staying in the zone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cThankfully I scored, the emotions were great, I didn\u2019t know how to celebrate, it was almost too much to take in. It\u2019s a great feeling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cI\u2019m playing the sport I love for a living. These are the moments you want to be part of.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cAnyone would say yeah to have the chance to take the winning penalty in the Community Shield final. I was lucky enough to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Devenny rammed home from the spot \u2013 and plunged another dagger in the hearts of the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyrecord.co.uk\/all-about\/scotland-football-team\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Tartan Army.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The midfielder was whipped away by the Northern Irish from right under his horn nation\u2019s noses before he even got to Palace.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Devenny came through the SFA performance school system but the summons came from over the water after an instant impact with Airdrie.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Former St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright \u2013 who was part of the Northern Ireland youth set up \u2013 had been tracking the kid even longer after learning about his Belfast born granny.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Scotland missed the boat and Palace stepped in soon after \u2013 with Devenny making his senior debut in the Nations League days in the same week he became the youngster scorer for the Eagles in the top flight with his strike against Aston Villa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The midfielder\u2019s career has started to soar and admitted he has no regrets at flying over the Irish Sea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Devenny said: \u201cNorthern Ireland showed trust in me. It was an easy enough decision for me although I am Scottish \u2013 you can hear it in my voice \u2013 I have really enjoyed my time with Northern Ireland. They showed that trust.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Irvine youngster Justin Devenny slammed in the winner for Crystal Palace in the Charity Shield win against LiverpoolJustin&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[22356,18716,120536,763,81469,1144,13315,33534,29532,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-337259","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-crystal-palace-fc","9":"tag-hamilton","10":"tag-hamilton-academical-fc","11":"tag-liverpool-fc","12":"tag-lowland-league","13":"tag-northern-ireland","14":"tag-scotland-football-team","15":"tag-scottish-football-association","16":"tag-tartan-army","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115013356442549616","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}