Official Book of FAI Cup launched
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“When you get to know the domestic game and see the players that it produces it’s easy to have a grá for it as I have. It’s sad that there aren’t more people who appreciate what the game here is about.”
These words were uttered by journalist Sean Ryan at the launch of his book ‘The Official Book of the FAI Cup’ at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday night. Players and managers who have experienced the high and lows of the FAI Cup were in attendance at the launch including Theo Dunne, Jimmy Fulham, Mick Leech, Pat Byrne, Damien Richardson and Stephen Kenny, to name a few.
Sean Ryan is a well-known and liked journalist. He is used to asking the questions, not answering them, but he found time to chat to extratime.ie about his new book.
Ryan has a great affinity for the game here in Ireland. He knows how tough it is to capture the imagination of people who have yet to experience our domestic game. He is hoping that his book can do just that.
“I’m hoping that this book will promote the domestic game to an extent because I really have a grá for the domestic game because I see the talent that’s there and I see the work that’s put in. I think there is more honesty and integrity in Ireland than there is in many other better funded leagues. They give me great enjoyment week in week out.”
The FAI Cup celebrates its 90th anniversary on Sunday and what better way to celebrate Ireland’s oldest football competition than to release this book. Ryan wrote a book in the mid 80's about the Cup and this updated version focuses a lot more on the managers.
“I wanted to fill a gap,” he said. “I wanted to document the stories of the players and the managers. The managers actually come more to the fore in this later section of this book now. The big decisions being made now before cup finals are being made by the managers rather than the players. I think there was a case in 1942 where Joey Donnelly told the Dundalk selectors to go back and think again when they announced their team. That wouldn’t happen now. Managers make the big calls.”
Because the focus has been on the manager in recent years Ryan was intrigued with some of things that were revealed to him.
“Take Kevin Mahon in 2002 against Shamrock Rovers. The Derry City manager picked a player who hadn’t played in 18 months and didn’t play much afterwards but the player ended up being part of that successful team. I also liked some managers’ honesty. Damien Richardson admitted that he made a mistake in 1998; he picked the wrong team. He pointed out why he made the mistake. That’s another thing that I admire about the mangers and the players; their honesty. That’s what makes the stories more interesting. I think in lots of cases you come with preconceived notions and then when you get talking to the people you find there’s a different story there.”
This book is a must for lovers of the game here; it’s a chance to re-live some of the memories of the cup that will never be forgotten. Ryan admitted it’s a book that fans will always go back to. It has got everything. “You’ve got great stories and you’ve got all the fact. This time we’ve added in referees and managers. We’ve updated everything in it that we could. This is a book that if you are a football fan you’ll go back to again and again. It’ll be on your shelves and you’ll keep referring to it.”
The Official Book of the FAI Cup by Sean Ryan can be found in all good bookstores.
