Blackpool is not a place that Billy Clarke would ever choose to visit, but he just happens to play for the Championship club so he has trouble avoiding the place.
The 22-year-old would never be spotted among the hordes of drunks stumbling along the city's pier on a night out or in the casinos gambling his wages away.
So it may seem a bizarre destination for a soft-spoken lad from Cork to end up in, although Clarke's career up to this point has been anything but straight-forward and he actually feels settled in the north-west since joining the Seasiders last summer.
'Blackpool is quite an odd place. It is a bit tacky and I don't think it has seen a lick of paint in over 30 years,' Clarke told Sportsmail.
'With all of the hen parties and stag nights going on there is never a dull moment. It is the complete opposite to where I was brought up just outside Cork.
'I think anybody who stays in Blackpool longer than a weekend would be pushing it as the place is all a bit much. That's why I live just outside in a quieter part.'
Clarke currently lives in the sleepy district of Lytham with his girlfriend and seven-month-old son, which allows him to avoid the bright lights and nightlife that Blackpool is famous for.
He would rather focus on his football. And that is exactly what he is doing since returning from a knee injury that kept him out of action for three months.
The former Ireland Under 21 international linked up with Ian Holloway's side at the start of the season after he was released by Ipswich Town. Things started well as he scored twice in eight starts before straining his posterior cruciate ligament.
'The injury came at a time when I was starting to make my mark in the team. It has been very frustrating missing so many games,' he said ahead of tomorrow's match against West Brom.
'I did a lot of work on the cross-trainer, the rowing machine and the exercise bike to keep my fitness up, but there's nothing like playing games to get back up to speed.
'Hopefully I can kick on now and break back into the team. Things have gone well for me since I signed for the club, other than the injury, so it's just a case of playing more games.'
Clarke started his career at Ipswich as a bug-eyed 15-year-old, although he was rarely given a chance to impress in the first team as Jim Magilton and then Roy Keane made it clear that he did not fit into their plans.
Shipped out on loan to five different clubs, he knew from an early age that he was never going to make a name for himself at Portman Road. But there was no bitterness when Keane eventually told him that his contract would not be renewed.
'I grew up at Ipswich, but by the time my contract was up a lot had changed and most of my friends had gone, so I was ready to move on,' he explained.
'The loan spells were unsettling as I didn't know who I would be playing for next. I would have liked to play more games for Ipswich, but it wasn't to be and I just tried to use the loan spells as a way of putting myself in the shop window.
'When my contract was up I had a chat with Roy [Keane] and he explained that he had his own ideas for the team. That is fair enough. He gave me his number and told me to contact him if I ever needed some advice.'
While he never did phone Keane, the youngster was grateful that the former Ireland captain treated him with respect even though they both knew that his days in Suffolk were numbered.
According to Clarke it 'happened at the right time' as he was ready to take on a new challenge and Blackpool were eager to provide him the platform to show just what he is capable of producing.
Now that he is back to full fitness, he wants to feature in as many games as he can and help Holloway's team clinch a play-off place. After starting the campaign as 'joint-favourites to be relegated', it would cap a remarkable season if the club were to make the play-offs.
For Clarke, finishing in the top six would justify his decision to turn down the offers from others clubs in order to join Blackpool. He might not like the city, but he would certainly grin and bear it if the club were to achieve promotion to the Premier League.