To say Kevin Sheedy has lived a life less ordinary would be an understatement.

He was striding across Hereford's training ground with a double-barrelled shotgun long before Ashley Cole was turning air rifles on work experience students at Chelsea and holds the more honourable distinction of recording the Republic of Ireland's first-ever goal at the World Cup finals.

It was also Sheedy on the receiving end of a kicking from Martin Keown following an ill-fated Everton team bonding session.

The former midfielder's left-footed antics remain the subject of Goodison Park folklore. His record of 11 successful penalties of a possible 15 stood for over two decades until it was surpassed by Leighton Baines, whose current record is 17 dispatched from a potential 18.

The ex-Ireland international's story, the subject of his recently released autobiography, encapsulates not only a who's who of Everton, from Howard Kendall through to Duncan Ferguson and Roberto Martinez, but also some of the game's biggest characters, including two current Premier League managers in Sam Allardyce and Alan Irvine.

But Sheedy has also faced battles that his fearless on-field persona struggled to come to terms with. Two years ago, he was diagnosed with bowel cancer, a hereditary condition that had claimed the life of his mother.

Ironically it was former club Liverpool, where his top-flight career was almost curtailed before it had even begun, that provided solace in his darkest hour.

"When I went into Aintree University Hospital and went into my room and that was probably the darkest I've been, where I started to really, deeply think about things. It wasn't a nice experience," he admits.

"Fortunately, the television wasn't working in my room so I went to the communal room and Liverpool were playing Hearts in the Europa League. I got talking to a few of the lads in there.

"When you speak to them, you realise how much worse they are than yourself so it puts it back into reality - not because they were in a worse situation but it got me thinking that it could be a lot worse. I had the operation the next day and everything went successfully."

His time at Anfield appeared doomed from the offset. Manager Bob Paisley mistakenly called Sheedy "Philip" upon his arrival in 1978 and first-team opportunities proved incredibly difficult to come by, leaving him with just a handful of appearances in four years.

He insists he never harboured any ill-feeling towards his former employers - not even when he gave the Kop his famous two-fingered salute after scoring against Liverpool in 1987.

"It wasn't four wasted years. It was four educational years on the not-so-good side of football, so that toughened me up mentally. You can only learn from training with great players every day, he says.

"But come the Saturday, you want to be playing first-team football. In those days, if you weren't in the first-team squad you played for the reserves so it was a real competitive league. The next step was the first-team.

"I think now, the gap between reserve or under-21 football and the first-team is massive, so the better young players need to go out on loan."

The 54-year-old is well-placed to talk about development. He now helps mould the future in the hope that success achieved under Howard Kendall in the 1980s will be repeated by the coming generations.

The current signs are promising: the club's youth setup continues to go from strength to strength.

Sheedy's under-18 side are the defending Premier League champions and last week ran Real Madrid close in the Champions' Cup in London. Jonjoe Kenny and Ryan Ledson, now part of Everton's under-21 squad, were key members of England's European Under-17 Championship-winning side this summer.

But outside of Goodison the picture hasn't been as bright for youngsters. He points to Everton alumnus Jack Rodwell, whose career stalled after going to Man City.

"I think at the likes of Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, if these younger players are at clubs like that, it's really difficult to break into their first-team and sometimes they don't have the careers they should have because they've not broken into the first-team at a young enough age, and they get into the habit of not playing regular first-team football."

In So Good I Did It Twice - a title that refers to his famous double-take free kick against Ipswich - Sheedy warns of the perils youngsters making their way in the game face but believes those honing their trade at Finch Farm have the perfect role model - a local lad and Evertonian no less - in the senior ranks to follow.

"I think if you look at Ross Barkley as an example, he's been tremendous on and off the pitch. You never hear anything (bad) about him.

"He lives his life right and I think that's due to the preparation that's been put into the players right the way through the years; they know how to behave, how to conduct themselves. It's part of the overall education that they get."

So Good I Did It Twice is available now for £14.99 from www.sportmediashop.com.