Mee: I get joy from being the support system

The 23-year-old is part of our goalkeeping group and provides valuable support to his colleagues on a daily basis at Carrington and on matchday.

The Northern Ireland Under-21 international is fully aware of the importance of his role as, despite playing a couple of times in the Under-21s, his chief focus is guaranteeing that all the preparation has been completed to ensure Senne Lammens, or whoever is wearing the gloves, is in the right place to help the Reds obtain Premier League points.

In his first in-depth interview with club media, Mee detailed his journey to this point in his career and provided fascinating detail about how it all works behind the scenes.

Dermot's career path started at Walsall, but he regularly played rugby as a schoolboy and is also well versed in GAA games, due to his Irish family heritage.

"I started going to Walsall when I was about seven," he said. "They asked my dad if I wanted to train with them and he was a coach for a Sunday League team.

"United saw me play and asked me to come up for the half-term. It was from Sutton Coldfield, so a bit of a travel, but they wanted me to do one or two evenings to see what I was like. Jack Robinson was the Academy goalkeeping coach, at the time, and there was a bit of relationship between Walsall and United, particularly from the young ages.

"My dad actually played in goal himself and he would always say about playing in the Villa Cup at Villa Park once and breaking all of his fingers!

"Even when I was three or four, I'd love going in goal in the sports hall. I don't know where I got it from him. My mum is a sportsperson and played a load of camogie, Gaelic football and stuff. All my grandparents are Irish and my sister still plays Gaelic sport and my brother has connections with a club in Birmingham.

"I did play GAA too, in the holidays, when I had a chance, as kicking and catching is what I do, isn't it?

"I also played rugby in Birmingham, when I was younger. It was quite an old school and rugby was the big thing here. Everyone would come in and want to play football but my brother was also a big rugby player, until he had a couple of injuries and had to stop playing. I always liked rugby growing up and United were really good with me, to be fair.

"As long as it did not come in front of the football, there were a few times where they would say 'alright, go and play rugby for the social side of it'. Alan Fettis and Kevin Wolfe were massive on saying 'look it's sport, the physical side of it is good'. Especially rugby with the bravery of putting your head where it might hurt a bit. The skills are transferable but the older I got, the more it tapered off as the football got more serious."   

The next step for Mee was being taken on by United and then learning his trade, as goalkeepers do, via loan moves through the leagues. He spent time with Trafford, Runcorn Linnets, Witton Albion, Fulham and Altrincham.

Each move helped develop his skills, mentality and maturity, and was always going to be part of the plan, after being taken on by United, and assisted by the club when it came to his studies away from the game.

"United are such a massive club and we all understood, my parents and me, how big a commitment it was and I didn't have time for the physical side of the rugby and I didn't want to risk getting a big injury," he explained. "I still played until I was 15 but would then come up here on Tuesdays and train with some of the older lads.

"I actually got told about my scholarship a bit earlier than the other lads so I could focus on my schoolwork. It was always a massive thing for my parents, studying and getting good grades, and they wanted me to do well in school, rather than focus on the football totally and move up here. It took the pressure off me. The club understand and Wolfie and Alan Fettis were big advocates of telling me early to help me focus on my studies.

"You're never sure if the football is going to work out and they were really good to me. I did well in my exams, I always enjoyed school, and I made it my target to get to a certain level, where I could have done sixth form, if I didn't sign. I started my scholarship at 16 and moved into digs, where Bernie and Charlie were really good to me. Charlie was Scottish and Bernie was from a big Irish family. I moved in with Calen Gallagher-Allison and we were good mates. 

"I did quite a few loan moves. When I went to Fulham, it was during Covid. One of the lads at Fulham was American and it was hard for him to get back over to play so I went down to play a few games. It was a lovely place and we ended up winning the Premier League South. United were one point off winning the Premier League North and, as I'd played enough games for both, I nearly got both medals.

"It was a good experience, living in New Maldon for six months but it was quieter down there due to Covid and easier just driving in and out. I had a loan at Trafford that was really good. It's just around the corner, obviously, and it was easy for them coming to watch me and I was getting to understand men's football. I enjoyed a good six months at Altrincham, Colin Little has a really good relationship there, and I'd only been with the Academy and not had too much first-team experience.

"I really enjoyed the environment. it's unforgiving and it got me prepared to come in here to be around the first team. I started getting more opportunities to train with the senior side and be around it, and I just knew how to deal with the older guys more. I think it was certainly less daunting. Also, the facilities are so good here, the sports science, more physios, better coaching and it all makes it easier."

It is well known that goalkeepers are a different breed. Their psyche is very much to stick together and root for each other and that is certainly the case with Mee.

It means he takes great pride in his work at Carrington, for one of the biggest clubs in the world.

"We keepers all understand it's not the nicest of positions," he admitted. "We are all very different to the outfielders. You have to have that speciality and the majority want each other, even at other clubs, to succeed. One of the largest parts of my training week is getting the no.1 ready, so we can win the game and he can perform as well as he can for the whole team.

"I know I've played a part and I'm part of the squad. I've got a good relationship with Bruno [Fernandes] and part of the process of penalties is that I am helping out the whole squad at the end, when the physical toll might be a lot more for the no.1 as he's got to prepare for the game. So I'm taking that extra bit of slack for other people by doing the practice.

"I enjoy being around the place and being in the squad. It's Manchester United, you know. My mum used to have posters of Mark Hughes on her wall and my grandad was a big United fan. I've always loved the place, loved the city and I feel like I contribute day in and day out to the team.

"Over the last 12 months, I've had different goalkeeping coaches and they have all been slightly different. I take little bits from each coach and develop in different ways as a goalkeeper, while developing as a person. There is still the educational side too. I'm doing a degree, at the moment, as the PFA are putting on a course with the University of Portsmouth, for a full three years. It's football and business management and all off-site, so I can do it all online.

"I don't potentially have the stresses to play and perform, as such, so it's an opportunity to still develop myself, as a person as well.

"There have been a lot of people to learn from - Richard Hartis, Jorge Vital, Craig Mawson. I'm learning how to get better as a goalkeeper and turning it into performances on the pitch. There are different ways to try to get better. I've had a few games with the Under-21s and, obviously, playing, that is the dream and sort of what you play football for. But there is a lot of joy I find from being in the Manchester United first-team squad and being a support system for a lot of other people.

"I think I'm showing my value in a different area, rather than playing games, which is just a bonus. I'm looking forward to my career developing and I will have to start playing and really kick on but, while I think the games are really enjoyable, you have to find the joy, day in and day out, to ensure you still get better. 

"I've played all the way through for Northern Ireland and had some really good experiences, travelling to places and it's a different kettle of fish, international football. Hopefully, if I get playing games a few years down the line, I'll break into the senior squad. I wouldn't want to be doing anything else, it's a dream of mine still being at United now and it is special really."

The environment at Carrington is one that Mee feels very comfortable with, and he is happy to get to study other keepers at close proximity and learn from them.

He is also fully aware of the scrutiny those in his position face and realises why the goalkeepers' union, across the game, is a tangible concept.

"Obviously, I've not been to many other places but the training ground here, after the development, is unbelievable," he suggested. "I'm very lucky to be able to go to this facility and be in and around it. You want to hang around and create better relationships with people. The recovery facilities here also help everyone massively.

"I've had loads of good role models," Mee suggested. Tom [Heaton] now, Lee Grant, David De Gea, Dean Henderson, Nathan Bishop. Nathan was only a few years older than me and in a similar place when doing this role. Seeing him now kick on and do well at AFC Wimbledon, I'm pleased for him. 

"We are all massively competitive in the goalkeeping group. All of us want to beat other in the little competitions, every day, and we've got a good group at the minute. We are all quite similar people who are really competitive, it's how you get better as it sets the standards really high. Senne [Lammens] has come in and you see how he works is different to Andre [Onana]. They are both very competitive but two very different characters. Both unbelievable lads but very different.

"We work together and it's really good, really competitive and we push each other as much as we can. We all understand that it's so hard for other people to comprehend goalkeeping, when you're not doing it day in and day out. There are a lot of challenges people don't see. The risk of one mistake costing the team and everybody as a result is the biggest thing.

"Ask any goalkeeper and it's what the union is for, to understand the pressure. It's not very nice when you make a mistake and feel like you've let people down. You may have lost the game and it's affecting the team, staff, manager and all the people who have worked really hard. You feel you've let them down so it's why the group get around each other, to support, grow and get better.

"You push each other every day to minimise that and it's where I get the joy from. When our no.1 performs well, you can take a little bit of pride in how you helped prepare them."