An 18-year-old goalkeeper is taking an unconventional route to restart his football career, trading a settled club environment for a converted van and a road trip spanning roughly 2,000 miles across Spain and Portugal.
Milo Beimers, who came through the youth ranks at Glentoran in the Irish Premiership from the age of 13, decided to leave the Belfast club after completing his A-levels to seek opportunities on the continent. Rather than waiting for offers to arrive, he chose to create his own path, setting off from Belfast to Dublin before catching a ferry to France and driving south into Spain with his father, Kevin, behind the wheel.
The van they are travelling in belongs to Beimers' sister, Charlie, who is currently in Canada. Beimers said the vehicle was originally in poor condition and needed three attempts to pass its MOT test before the family converted it into a functional home, complete with a bed, storage space and a small cooking area. So far, it has held up well on the journey.
Speaking to BBC Sport NI from Alicante, Beimers explained his reasoning for the trip. "I just thought it's a perfect opportunity. Nothing's weighing me down," he said. "If there was ever a time I was to do it, it's now."
Through his agent, Beimers has arranged a series of trials with clubs across Spain and Portugal, spanning the top five divisions in both countries at both youth and senior level. He has already trained with third-division Spanish side Hercules, though he was unable to disclose the identities of the other clubs involved. A short flight back to England is also planned so he can train with a London-based club. To help him settle into life on trial, Beimers has been learning Spanish, saying that embracing the culture is just as important to him as the football itself.
His unusual method of travel has proven to be an unexpected advantage. By living out of the van, Beimers removes the need for clubs to cover travel or accommodation costs during trials, making him a more attractive, low-commitment option to assess. Between sessions, father and son have been able to park up near beaches, where Milo trains and the pair take bikes out to explore.
Beimers' background also works in his favour when it comes to registration. Born in Northern Ireland to Canadian parents, he represented Canada at the Under-17 World Cup in 2025, and holds a Dutch passport through his grandfather, which simplifies the process of joining clubs across Europe.
Despite the uncertainty of not knowing where the journey will ultimately lead, Beimers said he has embraced the freedom it offers. "It's nice to not know where you're going, even though there's quite a lot of things that we have sorted out. It's good to be free and just be less scheduled," he said. "I love learning from new coaches, new environments. So I thought, 'yeah, let's mix it up a bit'."
He acknowledged the gamble involved but said he preferred to take control of his own opportunities rather than wait passively. "If it doesn't work out, then I'll always have a home in Northern Ireland," he said. "It's quite easy to just sit back and just hope that something was going to come to me. There probably would have been things, but I think it's better to just go and do it yourself, and hopefully it will work out."
Looking further ahead, Beimers said his ambition is to compete at the highest level of the sport. "I want to play against Barcelona or Real Madrid. Give me one game against one of those big clubs and then I'll just retire after that," he joked, before adding more seriously: "I'm going to keep playing football until I hate it and that could be until I'm 40 or 50. I just want to make a name for myself."
For now, the destination remains unknown, but for Beimers and his father, the journey itself has already become part of the story.
Based on reporting from BBC Sport.