Search results for ""Author Michael Moynihan""

Pat Spillane is one of the best-known sportspeople in Ireland. Selected for the GAA’s Team of the Millennium and winner of eight All-Ireland senior football medals, he is one of the greatest Gaelic footballers ever. Yet that isn't half of the Spillane story. He has also been one of the most controversial GAA pundits of all time, driving the agenda on The Sunday Game and in The Sunday World for thirty years. His analysis and criticism have been headline news everywhere Gaelic football is discussed, and the terms he coined, such as ‘puke football’, have entered the Irish lexicon. Here, Pat reveals the sadness of his childhood when his father died; his dazzling football career and encounters with other immortals, from Mick O’Dwyer onwards; the reality of life as pundit under pressure from managers; and the huge stress of dealing with the machinery of government in the aftermath of his spell with CEDRA, the state advisory group on rural affairs. Like the man himself, In the Blood is uniquely frank, witty, honest and revealing – and a must-read for GAA fans everywhere.

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John Fallon remains one of Celtic's great characters and is a lifelong supporter of the club. Now, for the first time, this Celtic legend tells the fascinating inside story of his career in football and his years with the club. Fallon joined Celtic in the late 1950s when the club was struggling, saw a fair amount of the desperate days of 1963 and 1964 but was there at the start of the glory years when Celtic won the Scottish Cup in 1965. He shared in good and bad times with the club, was the substitute goalkeeper at the European Cup Final in Lisbon in 1967, and was suddenly called into action in South America when Ronnie Simpson was felled by a missile - and performed brilliantly. He hit a low point in 1968 after one bad game against Rangers at the New Year, but fought back gloriously to play his part in the incredible month of April 1969 when Celtic won all three Scottish domestic trophies in one calendar month. It is a career he is rightly proud of and now John Fallon reveals the inside story and some brand new insights into his relationship with Jock Stein and other members of the Lisbon Lions, which were not always straightforward.There are accounts of his dealings with opponents, the clashes with Rangers and with European opposition in what was a fantastic era for the game in Scotland.He also shares his opinions on the art of goalkeeping, the state of Celtic at the moment and the future of the game in Scotland.

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