Desperate Scouswives stardom for ex-Marine player Joe McMahon

Dec 8 2011 by Jamie Bowman, Crosby Herald

HE has been labelled “a lothario who spends two hours in the gym honing his physique and the rest of the time trying to be the centre of attention on a big night out.”

But for the last few seasons, club promoter and star of E4’s Desperate Scousewives, Joe McMahon was far more familiar to fans of Marine Football Club as a gritty, no-nonsense central defender, who played for three seasons at the College Road club.

The controversial new “dramality” programme, which follows a group of young socialites as they party around the clubs of Liverpool, has provoked a storm of criticism over how it portrays Merseyside.

But the show is proving a big hit with fans of similar shows such as The Only Way is Essex and McMahon, who played 60 games for the Mariners, scoring five goals, is fast becoming infamous for his reputation as a ladies man.

Marine chairman Paul Leary said: “The big thing about Joe was that his height and sheer size made him a great central defender at our level.”

“I remember one time the lads all found some pictures of Joe modelling in a catalogue and stuck them up around the dressing room.”

Marine boss Kevin Lynch, who played alongside and managed the Welsh-born centre-half, said he was not surprised that Joe had found stardom away from the muddy pitches of the Northern League.

“He always fancied himself as a bit of a model and looked after himself in the gym,” said Lynch.

“In this day and age a lot of the players playing today are not the typical big, rugged centre halves like Terry Butcher, but at the same time we would never have let Joe get away with too much preening in the dressing room.”