Mixed Bag with Macdara Ferris

Deniese chats to extratime.com's Macdara Ferris about his upcoming trip to the World Cup, Shamrock Rovers, politics and lots more.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Mixed Bag is probably sponsored by Refined Barbershop Main Street Ronard. You can find Refined Barbershop on Instagram and a big thank you to all the streets. Hello and welcome to Mixed Bag and Podcast Hosted by Sadie Support. And every episode we have a conversation with sports stories and mixed bag of stories of sports. The Irish team, both men and women, this guy has been to so many places for the love of the game. He is now looking forward to a trip to this year's World Cup. It's Mattara Ferris from extra time. Delight to have you on. First of all, Frank, unfortunately, is a manager and training, so I can't say that before we do start, I want to congratulate Westmead ladies. They're into the Leicester Intermediate final same weekend as the men are playing your uh beloved dubs in the Leicester final. So I have to give uh Westmead ladies a shout out. And McDara, myself and yourself know each other through football, but or as I would call it soccer. I also have a shared passion as well for politics.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Yeah, so politics is kind of the family business a little bit. So my my mother was Neve Bronick, who was uh TD and unai uh for the Labour Party, and she was Minister for Education in the middle of the nineties. So um so yeah, still have an interest in politics. I've never run, but I I quite involved I I I really enjoy kind of campaigning and electioneering and not necessarily putting up posters but canvassing and organizing and that type of stuff, and particularly like the day of the election and the council. I I've been um election agent for a few people and I've I've run a few tallies where you get to know what the results are going to be ahead of virtually anyone else, which is is fascinating to see. So um yeah, away from away from football the politics is of of good interest.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

And they say you should never mix sport and politics, but I would be like that. My dad was a local councillor, my granddad was. I started from an early age getting off school, every school and going canvassing with daddy or wanting to go canvassing with him with um Albert Reynolds, and obviously the day of account. It's kind of probably a big like a big match, isn't it? There and in amongst it all.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Yeah, it is, and and been able to watch the watch someone's vote during the day. So they voted number one for someone and they've got eliminated, and down it goes to two, and then someone's been elected, and then down it goes, and then being an election agent, you get to have a to just look at the potential spoiled votes. They're always interested to see a little bit of debate about that. And then like when people hear on the news the like and hear the results from the sixth count, if you've been tallying, you know that results, you know, a couple of hours before. And then the reason why you tally is because then you can mine that information. So if if people are listening, they're they know they go to the box and they put their ballot paper in, that's then tally. So then you everyone knows what streets there are. So I can't tell who Denise voted for, but I can tell in the parish where Denise, you're voting, I can tell, well, actually, you know, the Green Party got whatever it is, Phoenix Paul got whatever it is. So and then that information is useful then when elections come around the next time. Where did a candidate do well? You'll go back in there and you'll try and make sure that vote comes out to you again. And then maybe where you didn't so do so well, well, actually, why is that? Could you do something different? What are the issues there that maybe you can help people with? So it's not just an early, early warning device to see, well, I've had to tell a few candidates uh that they're not going to get elected. Uh I've sell candidates they are going to be elected, which is good as well. But actually that that tallying information is really useful for political parties during the rest of the time to to see well what are the issues are when you go back in, you kind of know, well, actually, is this a good area or is this not such a good area? So yeah, it's fascinating to see um when the elections come around.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

I love the Irish system. I love our you know, the preferences and instead of the English way and other places where it's past the post, because people don't realise that it is so important not just to give a number one, but to give other preferences because your fifth could actually get you know someone elected or their partner elected.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Absolutely. So I would have been looking at um the Black Rock ward out in central county Dublin for the last local elections, and uh one of the candidates there were there was uh two seats to fill right at the end, and there was three candidates going, and there was one vote, there was one vote. Yes, and and that one vote was somebody had voted down to ten or eleven and then given one of the candidates a number ten and then given the other candidate a number eleven, and that was actually the difference for someone to be uh elected onto the local council out in in Duneday Rat Down. So it it can be as it can be as close as that. Tends not to be in a general election. People uh in the Labour Party remember Dick Spring got elected at one stage, I think, with about six votes, and it has been very high. I live in in Dublin Side Central here, and uh there was a very long council that went on for a number of nearly a week at one stage, and uh one candidate got elected by uh you know two or three votes. So it can happen in adult election as well, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Yeah, it's just mad. I mentioned extra time.a and for the majority of League of Ireland supporters and obviously people who follow um the Irish team and different um grades, it is it is one of the best, and I'm not just saying it, websites there is out there, and Garrett Penrose needs uh so much praise for what he has done. Um I remember he said last year that I think I'm the longest, which makes me feel so old. And but I'm so glad, like I was I was working for local papers and I said to Gareth I'll give him I I'll give him a a handout and it's I'm so glad to be there. But you at the site too, so we'll we'll talk about your your adventures in a few minutes, but just that site itself, extra time.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Yeah, so uh Gareth's the the owner, as you said, and and it's it's volunteer run. We all we all do it for the love of the game and and getting the chance to maybe cover uh sport in a different way and get different opportunities. And and so loads people have come in, done a stint with extra time, built up a bit of their CV. Because if you cover a League of Ireland match, you can go cover the match. But then last Friday, just for an example, so I was covering the uh Shamarkovers Waterford game, and after the match I got the chance to talk to Cork Ahmed, he's had a wonderful career. He's back in the League of Ireland, having spent 15-16 seasons in the UK. He's 38 and he's playing in the Premier Division. Got to speak to John Daly, who's the Waterford manager, who was all talk about what he was going to do over the weekend, getting ready for Monday by Saturday morning. He'd been relieved of and he was gone from he was gone from Waterford. Uh I got the chance to uh hear from M to Stevens, who played 20 caps, I think it was, for Ireland.

SPEAKER_02 6:52

He's not the channel bovers haven't haven't started.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

And then chatting to to Stephen Bradley and just um uh like asking at the game or whatever, but it was interesting. One of the things I was I was asking him how much football analysis is for his team is for his players, and how much about the opposition. He kind of went into a fair bit of detail, and it was more that actually they do they do quite a lot of opposition analysis, but what he finds because rovers are up top of the table and have been for the last few years, that actually teams change their style of play and change their formation. So we kind of yeah, so he has to have a plan A, plan B, and plan C. Um but in terms of that's the opportunity you get to do, and and um like we cover the the women's game, we come with the senior men's team, the senior women's team. I've tend to to cover the the women's team, and it's great the access that you get. And we have plenty of reporters and plenty of photographers kind of say as well who've come in, kind of built up that experience. Some of them are you know journalism students, uh, some come and work during we have a number of students that are are are doing volunteer work with us a minute and they're in kind of final year in college. And then they go off and out in and get get good pre-earning uh jobs. So there's people working in the national newspapers, there's people working at very high level in in the FAI, um, and then there's people who uh you know end up working in columns elsewhere where actually the experiences that they've got where they've gone and interviewed someone and distilled that down into an 800-word uh article, you know, what's uh you know, don't bury the lead, what's the most important thing, get that get that in and get tells people stories. And that's been a nice little nugget on their CV that that's helped them get a um you know foot in the door in somewhere. So it it's it give we've given people the opportunities to kind of come in and do that. People like me that I work in a comms role um and I do this as a volunteer, but it's given me great opportunities, some of the which we're gonna talk about uh this evening about coming covering um, you know, the last month I covered the Ireland uh Czechie game in in Prague. Uh great experience, terrible uh results in the end. But uh and then two weeks before that I was over covering the um the Netherlands-Ireland game in the World Cup qualifiers with the women's team where they they played really well and lost 2-1, and that Irish team is doing really well. They're they're um you know, giving they're giving themselves the best chance that they can to to qualify for the next World Cup. So yeah, you get this um uh you know, not to talk down the League of Ireland, but that's the experience. And then the men's team, like that's a really nice thing to be able to give a couple of people if they're interested in doing the um, you know, they've put the work in during the season and and able to cover the game. So there'll be the Ireland Qatar game in the Aviva later on this month, and we'll have a couple of people there and a couple of people on the sidelines with their cameras to say we've we've people that have come through, built up a CV and are now working with the Likest Sports File or Info, uh, which is great.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

The League of Ireland and Frank himself, when we were talking to various people, like we've had Roddy and I d just say Roddy, you don't even have to say his surname, uh Paul McNally, Owen Harry, all that. And he always likens the League of Ireland and our League of Ireland community to to a GA.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

Yeah, there is like the uh I would say um I I've much more in common with someone who's a supporter of of Cork City, Langford Town, um, than someone that's just as a uh a a fan of of the English Premier League. You know, someone that goes to games, they might go to every home game, whatever it's season tickets, or they might go home and away like so many people do around the the League of Ireland, and you get to know the people um you know from going to games on a regular basis. I've been I've been lucky enough to Shamar Covers have played a lot of games in Europe over the last kind of seven or eight seasons, and the people you do that you get to that you know Tony maybe nod and say hello to on an away match, then you get to chat to and then people that you know to maybe chat to, you really get to know in a European away game because you're out, you know, you're out in the evening, you're out having uh uh you're out having the one or two drinks, you're out having the dinner, or you're soldiering in the you know, in an away section, there might only be a couple of hundred in a in a big uh uh a big away stadium and you really you travel out with people as well. So there is that kind of cloak ethos and also probably to do with the the players as well. They're really they're they're not um you know the the Premier League uh uh is just a different stratosphere from the League of Ireland. You can't really compare and actually I think that works out for well. They're kind of two different they're two different things, and you can join b you can enjoy both of them, and not to denigrate anyone that but but certainly you can enjoy both, but the the players are so far removed, they're earning so much more in the professional game in the UK, whereas it's it's different, it's different in Ireland. Like in the Premier Division, I think virtually like all the teams are full-time. Um most of the players full-time professional footballers, but um you know any anyone following League of Iron Club, the players are very accessible. Yes, um, there's usually a couple of social events during the year, like at a rovers in preseason, they always do a table quiz. You get one of the players or one of the management team. That's your table quiz. So I'll I'll have nothing said about negative said about John McGovern, the Shamar Cover striker, because he was on my table quiz team. So I'll be looking after John. He's got a couple of goals this weekend, so he just he doesn't even need me to defend him. But uh but stuff like that is a great way, and there's a camaraderie that's built up within the fans, within the fan base, and also with the players as well.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

Yeah, you mentioned that, like I was down in Sligo um yesterday. Um, my cousin Ryan was with Pat and even walking out with him. And here is a guy that played with York City and then made his debut with League United, and here I am, I know I'm related to him, but here I am walking out with him, and then the great uh Chris Forrester comes out, who we think is one of the best players, you know, him, Graham Burke, uh Michael Duffy were blessed in the league at the moment. And he comes out and he's walking away with his pizza and having a bit of crack, and that's what you get with these lads. And when I started off uh in secondary school and then in college, um Stephen Kenny was there at the start of my journey, and I have to say since I started off, he has been absolutely brilliant to me, you know, as a student, and then right through at work, and you do build up those friendships like I could text a few of the lads, you know, about different things and they get back to you.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

And it's just even the GEI find it, and Frank would tell you now that a lot of the time they're closing off ranks to the media for players for most of the clubs, certainly in the primary division, you know, they'll they'll put uh um certainly ahead of their home games, most of the teams will put up uh kind of a media event the day before, um so say the uh or there could be a Zoom call and then post matches it was describing say last Friday, they'll generally you you managers will always come in and and talk to you, and generally if you're looking for you'll get one player from either club to come in, and and that's great, and that does build up the relationship. Now for a lot of time you can pick up the phone and you can kind of ring clubs. I think a lot of time they want it maybe a bit more formal, but no, I I hear the stories about what it's like in the GA and the lack of access and and that players don't want to um you know say something that's pinned up on on the wall. And you get a little bit of the League of Ireland, uh there was an example the other week, and and one of the players he moved from one club to the other and he he made the reference that it was a bit more professional as a new club, and that was kind of that was kind of put to the old club, but that kind of generates a bit of interest, you know. Um but yeah, it's ahead of a derby game.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Yeah, like uh Frank always says these are intelligent lads, and I know myself, and I've had conversations off the record and on the record, the players and managers down to the years, and maybe that's why I've become friends with a lot of them, is because I know that if someone says something to me and then they realise it and I know themselves the shutness of it, I will not put it in. But there are journalists out there that load to make a headline.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Yeah, no, yeah, I and what that is is it's um you know, the the kind of relationship uh you know, that professional relationship you build up is is uh is hard won but easily lost for something like that. And I I think uh people kind of appreciate from that. Uh like I can think back time I I do the the the staple of the match program is is the player interview. So I've for over the last decade or so I've done and more I've done than at Shammacovers. And there might be a time that uh you you know you do it early in the week and then a player might text you back and just say, actually, would you mind just taking that out? And it's like, yeah, particularly when it's an in-house publication. I I it's it's not worth my while to be uh scooping and pissing off one of the players from that point of view. But I think uh you know, as I say, it's it's within it's within that it's within that relationship. And then what that also means, you know, you can have those off the record conversations and just get a better understanding of what's happening within the league and without ever betraying confidence, you know, you can filter that back to your readers or to your listeners, as I say, without uh without without breaking any confidence, and that can be really helpful as well to inform people as to what's actually um going on at certain stages within the league.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

You mentioned obviously, you know, you like going across the water, I like going over to see Glasgow Celtic a few times a season. Longford Town would be my team. I'm kind of now have got a soft swap for St. Patrick's Athletic. You yourself, you've mentioned them so many times, Shamrock Rovers. But you're probably a bit like myself, you'll still give them constructive criticism, but Shamrock Rovers.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

Yeah, no, and that's that's the that's the thing to do on a on a Friday night. That's the great thing about the League of Ireland. The Friday night football people uh know, well, what are you doing on Friday night? You'll be going to a game, be that in in Dundalk or being out in Talla. But yeah, I'm I'm following Rovers quite a long time. Um there's the group of friends that I go to against it would be slightly younger than me. They would have started following rovers when they played out of the RDS in the mid-90s. But um, I'm a little bit older. My father would have brought me the last couple of seasons, myself and my sister, to Milltown just before the the ground was sold. Um, so I would have gone in like 86, 87. And then when they left Milltown when when the ground was sold by the previous owners, they kind of went north side of Dublin and and really for someone uh kind of a very young teenager at that stage, I wasn't going to be going to Talker Park, I wasn't going to be going to Deniman Park. So I probably only started going back to Rovers when they went to say when they went to the RDS. And then at another stage they left there and they were playing in various grounds um around the place. And and sometimes I wonder why it kept going because it was a very uh unsuccessful period for for rovers, particularly kind of the late the late 90s, early 2000s. Um a couple of times they nearly went out of uh out of business. Um they rented and played in so many grounds. There was one stage they even played the home game in Cork. So having to travel over 250 kilometres to play a home game. So there were some like some really poor times at that stage, but you kind of the history of the club uh it's the team to play the first time a League of Ireland played team had ever played in the European Cup, and they played the famous Busby Babes uh team in the 50s, uh played Bayern Munich in 1966, won six FAI Cups in a row, and and won four uh leagues in a row in the 1980s, and I probably probably thought that would never happen again. And and certainly in the the times like uh 2005, they very nearly went out of business. Um the the fans took over took over the run of the club um along with Ray Wilson and got relegated in 2006, the only time the club had ever played in in the first division. But actually, that's one of my favourite seasons. Rovers had been struggling for two to three years prior to that, kind of flirted with relegation. Uh Tony Cousins was the striker uh you wouldn't have known from his time at Love for Denise. Um he he kept Rovers up single-handedly with the goals he scored that year. Then when Rovers went down to the first division in 2006, they actually were winning matches on a regular basis, which we haven't seen. Um there was no Dublin Derbies. The nearest uh game was Kilgare Kildare Kennedy, who was a train ride into uh Newbridge.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

Yeah, Newbridge, Newbridge.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Yeah, and Rovers brought huge away crowd. The home teams, this was a chance for them to you know take Shamarkovers down a peg. Uh for a lot of the clubs they were kind of regular and only in the first division, and um kind of really enjoyed that. And that was the start of actually Rovers going back up because the fan ownership there they got promoted in back into Premier Division in 2007, played the first game finally in Talla, 2009, won a couple of league titles 2010, 2011, got to the Europa League, um, and then uh the success kind of drifted away, but it was still it was finishing fifth in the Premier Division or fourth and not getting to Europe. And then the last um that they've won uh you know five league titles in the last six seasons and qualified for the league phase or group stage for three of the last four seasons. So it's been brilliant success. But this is technical. You I am enjoying it much more because of those kind of dark times and and those the the thoughts of maybe winning a trophy kind of got the club through you know a very dark period in say 2003, 2004 where where there seemed to be no end in trying to get in to finish the stadium in Tala. And it was like rovers were renting with all the Dublin clubs, and what it was is you were paying out your rent to your rivals, it were making them gave them a bit of extra money, and that meant the difference sometimes that they were able to sign players that your team was after as well. So yeah, it was those difficult times make the really good times that rovers have at the minute even more special.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Obviously, those years with Shamrock Rovers, the early 2000s, and that was funny that that coincided with Longford Town. We got promoted in 2000s, relegation playoff 2002, won our first cup, 2003, the FBI Cup, the League Cup and FBI Cup double in 2004. Like I never expected those things to happen. We were always fighting for re-election, then Stephen Kelly took over and Alan Matthews and things happened. But isn't it mad, you know, how you're thinking with Shermark Rovers and such a successful club and you went through those barren spells.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Yeah, and then like long for one a couple of FI Cups and and Rovers didn't win one between 1987 and 2019. So yes, that's that's the way things happened.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

We talked about extra time and uh I like your match reports and your reaction, but I love the postcards from the the various areas. You're going to Mexico in a few weeks' time. We're definitely going to see postcards, are we?

SPEAKER_01 21:18

Yeah, so I'm I'm traveling over for probably six or seven. Uh you can only uh as a journalist, you can kind of only book or only kind of uh book your place in the crack box for the group stage game. So I think it's six uh lined up at at this stage. You can't do any any knocking phrases. So yeah, so Mexico is has three host cities, so Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterey, which compares with two in Canada. So that's Toronto and Vancouver. I think the US has ten. How many more matches are in the States uh compared to Canada and the Mexico? But there's some there's some good teams that are playing in Mexico or not kind of maybe a little bit more. chance to go to the at Tekka Stadium to see Mexico play. I'll be at the the Mexico Czechia game to the one that if Ireland had the one that got away. Yeah the one that got away uh if we beaten Czechy on penalties and then beaten Denmark uh that's the one we've been at. Uh Colombia are playing a couple of their group games in Mexico. Uh Spain as well. So they're the um Turkey. Certainly the last 32 game that I'm looking at would be might be Scotland because actually it's the runner up of the group with Brazil, Scotland, Haiti and Morocco um against the winner of the Dutch group. So yeah that's one that I'm looking at but that you can't kind of book them in. But yeah the idea is like do the match report but the the postcards would just be just a flavor for what it's like to kind of attend these games so be it something about the the history of place something about the you know maybe the stadium or the venue certainly the Azteca stadium has you know has had kind of World Cup finals and uh has hosted two World Cups the third time that the venue will host uh World Cup matches a little bit then maybe about some of the travelling supporters and because that's really you kind of get a flavor for kind of what the World Cup is like rather than just say you know we can all look on television and watch the football but it's it's the elements around us that make that make the tournament for me anyway. So that's I I tend to say uh write a few of them during the definitely writing a few of them during the tournaments.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

You've been to a few World Cups and obviously it's a supporter and a journalist and European championships.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Is there a group obviously but is there another nation that could say oh wow those fans are I know that will be quite similar to us but is there like a nation that could say oh wow they're fantastic fans yeah like it it's got them great it's probably the State American fans yeah they're just Are they as fans the same yeah yeah no they are they are so it it's the colour and all sense of the the colours and smells almost you know and sounds it it's it's the um it's the musicality of the um the chanting which usually is quite crude but uh when it's in punishment we're well used to it yeah it it it's not that but it's but it's kind of traveling in in those numbers and then so you know you you you think uh I think back to games where I've I've seen I've been looking to see Argentina play or see Brazil play and so the fans are really colourful vocal brilliant atmosphere but but generally the the team reflects that as well um you know particularly Argentina have been so successful um you know getting to finals and and winning the tournament as well so you know I I can remember back to I was at the World Cup in 2010 and when Maradona was the manager of Argentina and going to see Argentina play Korea in the soccer city so the stadium where the final was was the biggest one and it's just the atmosphere was this massive massive stadium which was completely filled with um Argentinians traveling Argentinians flags absolutely everywhere hung from every possible vantage point and nook and cranny within the stadium and uh it was the first time I'd seen it was quite you know the stadium's quite big you hang a flag over the front if it's any if it's windy the flag will blow back but they they brought in little you know like the the small cartons of milk and the or even a small bottle of water and it's filled it with water and they tied it so kind of way down the flag it was the first time I'd ever seen that so that they had the flag of their their local club or whatever. So so probably the probably the South American fans but the um yeah the Scotland should be interesting there having not been at a at a World Cup for so long.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

When you do think of the World Cup the Americans like to ra Razmot has like been to uh basketball games there they like that. Whereas when you're going to Mexico without the South Americans I think they'll put on a better show in some ways than the Americans no fault the Americans yeah and I mean I must like people will have seen lots of horror stories about the the flight to the tickets.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

I I actually I must check what the story is within Mexico because I I presume the tickets can't be at the the kind of size of the gun but maybe I'm maybe I'm naive in in in saying that but like I think some of the some of the games inevitably will have small crowds because the the the tournament has expanded again uh much as we would like to have been there there are there there is the it's the the quality maybe is a bit diluted because it's a 4018 tournament.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

And it's all so spread out as well like obviously in three different countries.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

Well that's it so like I I the I mentioned there's the three venues so like over the weekend I was looking at kind of the travel logistics between the the two of them and it's like um eight hour bus rides between or so or an hour, hour and a half flight and that's there are the three venues within Mexico which are reasonably kind of central but yeah if you're going from McDerra God bless the League of Ireland. Yeah well as someone based in Dublin the worst trip I probably have is is is up to Derry, the three and a half hours uh up to Derry. So yeah I I'd be thankful of that.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

Yeah it is it is something though whatever it is about a supporter and I love being a supporter for a lot of games and I'd be like you go to Lovertown games and sometimes it's lovely just going as a supporter but to get a chance to go over there and cover it and go into press conferences and I don't fear as I used to go over to the six days at launch and I got to know so many people and I was the only person I used to make Eddie Jones laugh. So that was something to be in their presence and that I think that kind of gives you a bit of a boost as well as a journalist, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01 27:42

Yeah so the the the typical scenario for the for the World Cup will be the pre-match press conference the day before out in the stadium. So you'll have the opposition manager and you'll have at least one player sometimes they'll bring two players the you get the chance to um you know listen to them uh n and nothing be I suppose seeing the uh kind of the interaction I can think of Spelletti as Italian manager at the last European Championships and uh it was like a caricature of an Italian but it's just that that passion from there and then you get the slightly weird uh translation through the headphones um and then you get the opportunity to ask you know ask questions which is uh you know either at the pre-match fest conference at the the postmatch fest conference they'll generate at the World Cup they'll bring the the player the match in so that's generally you know what are the star players typically you know to be in the you know be in the same room and hear from the likes of Ronaldo or Messi I can remember from some of the World Cup games that I've been in the past uh like a real privilege.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

Obviously you know with the World Cup and you're going there but first of all as a journalist and then secondly as um a supporter or a fan or a spectator what event would you like to cover that you haven't covered as a journalist?

SPEAKER_01 28:53

It's probably a World Cup final. I've been lucky enough to go to to plenty of games but not the not the World Cup final. So that's the one that that's the one that stands out really. You know I was at the opening game uh in Qatar which was a um kind of a bizarre game it was uh it had the opening ceremony that had Morgan Freeman um there was Mohammed bin Salman um sitting beside Jenny Infantino um you know in this stadium built literally in the desert it was the one furthest north from Johan most of the stadiums were all in around Johan. This is about forty kilometers up and the architectural style was um like uh a a a tent within the desert that you'd you'd set up at an oasis and that's what the architecture the architecture was like and I think um some people if you sometimes you go to um an Ireland game in the diva the Guardian will have their their horses out but um what I remember is the police were on camels at that game. So while I've been at the uh an opening game of the World Cup haven't been at a World Cup final so that would probably be the the pinnacle for me.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

Then as a spectator what event would you like to go to?

SPEAKER_01 29:58

I'm trying to think what I've been to plenty of um probably a uh a hundred meter final at the Olympics track and fields that's probably um I was at um uh I was at the Olympics in Paris and and London and and a few different uh events and I've been at the World Championships in athletics a couple of times um going to the European Championships around in Birmingham in the summer the tickets still available and there's a track and field is is really good because there's always something on the event is generally kind of like uh starts about five o'clock finishes about eleven so you really do get your you really do get your money's worth but but probably a men 100 meter final would be a cool one to see as kind of a blue ribbon event.

SPEAKER_00 30:37

I was very lucky now in 2012 I had a friend competing in the Paralympics so I went over and I was in the Olympic stadium when Michael McKillop won his gold and to see the the tricolor going up and Iran Ave and whatever about going to an event well when there's somebody there from Ireland and when they're doing well and at this moment in time like athletics is uh we talk about you know the swimming and that but the the track and field athletics is absolutely brilliant. You look at the the relay team and we also now are kind of holding our hopes up and down and long for for uh Kia McPhillips.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

Yeah and and Kate O'Connor Kate O'Connor's another one as well um has been so successful in in the last year. No it it's brilliant to see because for so long I I would have done track and field as a kid. So I've always followed the sport.

SPEAKER_00 31:25

Also you would have done the Morton Stadium before Rovers played there.

SPEAKER_01 31:30

Not competing at very high level but yeah like community games and various things like that. But so but I definitely remember kind of Sonia Sullivan Katrina McKearland who I I live close to Phoenix Park and I'd I'd regularly go for at the weekend for a run in the park and you'd see Katrina McKearlon so there's someone who you know four silver medals uh winner of the London Martin as well but but like herself and Sonia obviously Sonia's success at uh at track level in the world championships and the Olympics and then you know there's there's been a real kind of kind of follow period if you like this because one or two like the Derville Rourke or David Gillick and we did win medals but at the minute when you have like the likes of hopefully Rashida has got over the injury from from last year and uh you mentioned K Phillips like the um the relays did really well at the weekend and sh Charlene Mosley with still running to qualify them for the for the world championships. And like I would have gone I would have gone to as a spectator out to Morton Stadium for the national championships or go to the indoors and like there's Sarah Lavin walking by you. There's no kind of warm-up track out of San Trey so they're literally running by you kind of warming up uh ahead of time and them all stopping for selfies and and uh signing autographs and things like that. So yeah there's a there's a brilliant team that's out there and and I kind of use that word it is a team I think the the investment we've had good investment in sport out in the the Sports Campus Ireland house um in Abbottstown and so a lot of them are kind of out there training together. There was a a couple of K McKay the Ireland captain had met with Kate O'Connor who was also training out there at the same time when they were kind of shot through and um said the likes of the gym the the medical facilities and all that all that sort of thing and so it's a much more of a of a team certainly for the athletics than it probably was before where it was just probably a little bit more um individualistic I think probably the relay is helping that as well and the success of the team everyone wants to see the team do well so um you know so the athletes will come into the stadium and support their teammates uh you know when they can so obviously soccer w would be the first would track and fields then be second after that I know you like rugby as well yeah no I like rugby so that there I was at the Leinster game on uh Saturday uh yeah regularly like the Leinster game I'm I'm probably just too much on I'm not gonna go to the city. I was gonna ask you that yeah the Leinster WhatsApp group I'm in is is all plans are a foot of the minute.

SPEAKER_00 34:03

I'll be on holidays looking for a bar because the Scottish Cup final is on that day as well.

SPEAKER_01 34:07

Yeah probably uh cycling so there's a lot of time for road cycling would would I've gone to the World Road Race Championship a g a number of times because it's a really good kind of weekend. The women's race is on the Saturday men's race will be on the Sunday and they so would have gone to like Lyven in Belgium or Zurich and and it's uh it's uh they do laps so they do like the women would probably do kind of five laps so you really can watch the race unfold um and the men typically kind of seven or eight laps and we've got uh what's great at the minute we've Irish writers competing at the very high level so people probably remember Ben Healy wearing the the yellow jersey and the Tour de France and Lara Gillespie is like is doing really well on in the women's side she's a really good sprinter and and uh is is winning and is competing at a very high level I think uh it she's very close to winning kind of a world tour uh race I think she's she'll definitely won the um the wealth as fanny zone for women at the moment she's not competing in that so I think that's really she's probably looking at the the the euro and what's great is they're they've just started construction and I mentioned Abbottdown and going to what's the athletic the indoor out indoor athletics out there and they're building my patrol there they just started a velodrome it'll be home to Badmington so the bathmington will take place in the middle of the velodrome uh if you like and then um so that's under construction and that'll be great for for cycling at the minute there we don't we don't have an indoor track when the team train they train like for New York uh and things like that. So that'll be brilliant for um for cycling at the elite level but it's also people will be able to go and actually give track cycling go themselves out there as well. So um it's just broken ground so it's not it's probably a couple of years away from from finishing. But yeah the uh I can remember back to the days of Sean Kelly and Steve Motion have kind of retained that interest in cycling you know through the kind of dark days of the drugs and and when we didn't have any Irish riders competing and now with there's a whole load of of Irish riders competing both in the men's and uh in the women's it's great. I think there's probably five or six uh women now in the Pro Peloton um and that's a really growing sport I think we can we can probably compete very well uh in there as well um well because it's an emerging sport so that's great to speak.

SPEAKER_00 36:36

When you think of us Ireland as a nation we're on the edge of Europe on our own and Ireland like we really do sports well you know and so and in a lot of things we we punch above our weight. I know we do talking very well and singing very well and you know our actors and that but we punch above our weight in a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

Yeah like we thought that there would be now like people say it's not played that that wide a sport but I'm actually um if you think of where the Irish team has been over the last kind of decade has been the number one uh like the only good thing is we haven't got by that quarter final in in in the World Cup.

SPEAKER_00 37:11

But you know we've won um sorry is that the Neo curse or I think maybe it could be the Grannard courts because we haven't won a championship in 44 years. So is that a kind of a curse with us with the quarterfinals of a World Cup?

SPEAKER_01 37:22

It it seems to but we were we were a drop goal away from winning that that quarterfinal so like the I was into some work in the media seeing Leo Connell Cullen kind of turn on the media and give out about how they cover Leinster after they won on Saturday but you know Leinster came very very close to losing that semi final one passed away from the opposition.

SPEAKER_00 37:44

If that had have happened no disrespect you would have said I was nearly expecting that.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

Oh yeah like the last few minutes of the game you know they had this 18 point lead but but if you flex uh if you flick back 12 months you know they they lost us on at the very end of uh of a semifinal but you know at at international level and a provincial level okay dominated by servers yeah we need to we need to get a snooker player we haven't I was watching a fair bit of snooker over the last couple of weeks so we just can get some like Ken Darley back you know.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

I it was now I would be a big John Higgins fan and I grew up watching Snooker with my granddad and my mum and dad but I I just found this year was probably the best in a long number of years the quality of it.

SPEAKER_01 38:23

Yeah the well the final was I turned on flicked over from after watching Jacobin and Everton take uh Man City down a peg the other night uh and then turned over to watch the the last two frames of the the super final last night yeah it was it was really dramatic.

SPEAKER_00 38:39

Obviously if it had been John Higgins I would have been supporting John no disrupted but we come in from we were kind of keeping an eye on it on the way back from Splaigo and then we came in and uh Mam had it on and it was just oh my gosh. But that's what you that's what you want don't you in the sport.

SPEAKER_01 38:54

Yeah and like someone like we was only 22 yeah like it's it's uh like he almost he looked stoned at the end when he won. He didn't quite know how to react. But um but yeah it was brilliant to see.

SPEAKER_00 39:05

And Chommer who was such a great yeah yeah he really was yeah. That that's what makes him great. So we talk about sport and well cry books and cry programmes and that and my mother always said to me you could either commit the perfect crime or you could solve it. Is there anything outside sport that you like doing?

SPEAKER_01 39:23

I'm trying to think uh well I'm a I'm a runner one of these people that took up running in um during COVID so yeah I didn't get I watched people run during COVID. Yeah yeah I didn't get a ticket for the the half marathon one of my colleagues in work he went to go down the stairs today and then he rem he remembered he'd run the half marathon yesterday on his legs were not going to get him down the stairs so uh uh yeah he has to so uh so that's probably um I get out say I live close enough to Phoenix Park which is a brilliant resource to have if you're into if you're into running and I get out and I listen to various podcasts and uh try and keep myself fit and get a breath of fresh air and to switch off from various things. But yeah I'm usually listening to probably a political podcast uh or a sports podcast or news podcast um as I'm as I'm running around Phoenix Park.

SPEAKER_00 40:12

I do the crime stuff though I suppose some of the decisions and referees and matches yeah are criminals so I suppose I I do that but yeah no I like kind of having that bit away you know reading a book or watching that. So are you I suppose you are looking forward to the World Cup.

SPEAKER_01 40:27

Yeah yeah it's very different from Ireland not being there and we haven't been there in so long and like I I've covered the last two as a journalist and then I've gone to several more before where I've got got tickets. Last time I was in Qatar and I mentioned um you know the stadiums are all close to Doha. I haven't been able to there was about maybe four or five days where I went two games in in a day and that was really fascinating to see. I'd never been to the Gulf before and I I'd read a lot about it. You know it didn't going out there didn't really change my view of what a strange place strange place there was and they built all these stadiums that they said they were going to do various things. One of them was the shipping container stadium which the shell of the stadium was a steel steel frame and then they they slotted in these shipping containers were like the toilets were the the concession stands the shops that the prayer rooms were all that and it was like if they're going to dismantle this and ship it elsewhere and of course they haven't done that. They haven't they haven't done things like that. The the work of part of that was in Russia so I went to games in St. Petersburg and Kieliningrad which is kind of this enclave near to Poland sorry surrounded by Poland basically the Russians hold onto it because it allows them a nice free port. And yeah so for their for their navy. So again very strange uh St. Petersburg you know obviously no one is traveling there is a tourist at the minute completely you know no one's traveling to to Russia at the minute but people absolutely wonderful city and amazing but again a bit of a strange ruckup and then this one is equally strange because you know what's going on politically in a yeah and and and like that to be honest that's the reason why I'm going to the games in in Mexico rather than uh you know there'll be a number of Irish journalists that'll be out there. I think most of them will will be realistic based probably in in America it's where the games are probably at a higher level and as the tournament goes on there's less and less games in Canada and and Mexico. But the games are just the games are pretty poor uh in Canada um no disrespect to the Canadian football team but it probably is disrespect to of course they're hosted there so that's they're the bulk of uh of their game as well um it's gonna be super hot it's gonna be very difficult for the for the for the player like if you look back at the Club World Cup last year one of the matches around Madrid were playing in their club stayed in the dressing room in the first half because it was air conditioned. Yeah so it is going to be a a strange tournament but I'm really looking forward to being able to travel to three different bits of of Mexico like really looking forward to going to Mexico City and and seeing the various sights from Frida Kahlo paintings to Leon Trotsky's house to the main square which is one of the uh massive Mexican flags that they that they take down the the military come out at sunset and they they they take it down and then from the footballing history to go to the likes of the Azteca stadium and you know just to see it it'll it'll be great and hopefully there'll be plenty of travelling supporters because that was what wasn't great about the last foot the the South Americans came in good numbers. It was it was their summer so it was their summer holidays. I think that was a like a lot of Europeans were didn't want to go for various reasons but you really you want the traveling supporters to come and and what's great is there's an influx of support for the the two teams. There's a fan zone in in each of the cities where people will go the night before to watch the games like football becomes a common language and you get chatting to people in people are wearing their colours and you get chatting to people what matches has it been, what cities has it been, everyone is in a good humor, you have that common uh be it a common language or even Just a common topic of conversation. You know, people are always in good humor in holidays, but in terms of everyone is interested in football and everyone's opinion on football and their interest in in knowing about you. I I think back to one day getting a a taxi in in um Doha, uh going to one of the games and the taxi driver who was like from India and he was like asking me where it was from, and I was like, I'm from Ireland. And he was like, But you didn't qualify for the World Cup. And he knew like he knew that, you know, he knew our teams were there, and you know, there'll be some political dramas, there'll probably be some.

SPEAKER_00 44:31

I'm hoping that people can get there and the fuel crisis.

SPEAKER_01 44:35

Yeah, like the the that well, I I think it's in everyone's interest that the World Cup runs well. And if it doesn't go well, like people people will report on it, and uh, you know, that's the case. But then and then there'll be matches in the middle of the night here where people will be like, Oh, we're like two o'clock game, but it's it's the World Cup and it only comes around every four years. Uh it's it's I think it's slightly sooner this time around because the last World Cup was so late in November and December. But yeah, it's it it's such a pity that Ireland aren't in it, but the World Cup is the World Cup and I'd say everyone, whether you're out there or you're watching at home, everyone is an opinion, people will be doing their sweep in work, they'll have their teams and they want to see and it's an opportunity to see you know, uh uh teams that you don't normally see, particularly the South American side, and then the the good interest here, okay. Ireland didn't qualify, but with Crumbling's home, Pico Lopez represented in K Ferway.

SPEAKER_00 45:33

And then Oh, you'll be wearing a rover's jersey, will you?

SPEAKER_01 45:36

Uh no. Well, we'll have to get a K Ferda jersey, and then uh the top goalkeeper um Joe Yanang. Yeah, he's the third choice with Ghana, I think if I have a right. So um, so he he he could well be Crobland, maybe not playing, but but Lopez is a starter, he'll be playing. Um I'm disappointed K Ferdi aren't playing in the game in Mexico, but uh um as long as Lopez is assist, he'll he'll be he'll be playing. So it'll be and representative of Shamar Covers and and hopefully representative in the World Cup. And and actually it'll be lucrative enough. Rovers and pets will have to do without their players, but um chiefs actually pay uh the clubs for the use of players and it's a sizable amount. We're talking about like a six-figure sum uh over the length of the tournament. So um so yeah, a bit of money coming into possibly coming into Richmond Park in Dublin 8 and out to Tallis Stadium in Dublin 24.

SPEAKER_00 46:27

During COVID, when we had no games, my aunt rang me and she said to me, What would we do without sport? And then obviously TG Carr and other places starts showing you know games. But in all fairness, I know for someone who's not interested in sport, they'd say, Well, there's lots. But um sometimes I do wonder what would we do without sport?

SPEAKER_01 46:45

Yeah, like the weekend it was like you had the the snooker, you had Inter won the Serie A, you had I watched I mean who's an Inter fan, yeah. Yeah, l I I thought it was a like a little nugget. Uh I watched the his Celtic game and uh in Easter Road, uh in his home ground, and there was pockets and pockets of empty seats before. They didn't want to come to the game to cheer their team on because if they beat Celtic that was gonna help their Edinburgh rivals to to win the league, some Celtic fans had home tickets.

SPEAKER_00 47:20

Yeah, but like and obviously the the Gaelic as well. Um my brother is a Monaghan, so I've two little Monaghan nephews, so I was there shouting Monaghan on. Obviously, Westmead as well. Like that's what Gaelic football has done to me now. I think I'm a Westmead supporter. I thought it was Frank, but I just think it's lots lots of friends. But yeah, it is like you know, my godson got met his communion on uh Saturday, so shout out to Oren. So keeping an eye on the snooker and keeping an eye on um the rugby. But yeah, like what would we do about it? And even this weekend, like there there's more again. There's this finals on, we've obviously the League of Ireland to keep us going as well. When are you heading off to Mex Mexico?

SPEAKER_01 47:57

So uh uh basically the first week, so so not uh kind of the middle of June. I think the first game is the ninth of June. That opening game is is Mexico City. Um so they get the opening game and then the final will be in the New Jersey Stadium, and so obviously uh America getting the getting the final. But it's great that Mexico get the opening game and get the the Rasmataz around the opening ceremony as well. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:25

See, there's it, the Rasmataz of it all. And then you'll head back to Talla Stadium or Richmond Park or Daily Mountain, you'll go, uh do you know what? It's not that bad, is it?

SPEAKER_01 48:35

Well, it's like it's it's just uh it's your own team and it's your own and and the great thing about you can go to football and we live and die by the result, but actually it's the people that you spend the time with on the terraces of the game that you go week in, we in week out and cheer it on cheer it on your team. It is your team, as uh the Rovers manager Stephen Bradley would say, uh he's just himself and the players are just a custodian of of Shamrock Rovers, and it's the same with players will come and go, but it is it is your team, and that's the same at uh county level, um where there's obviously a closer affinity for the the players with the county and and they're more likely to be um you know supporters after the fact, but it's it's your team that you see through the different generations.

SPEAKER_00 49:18

I remember going through it, and as I said, you know, about the Owen Harry's and Macron that, and I remember going through it and I said to Mam, you know, my friend Gary and Cork, Phil and I was going through people, I was like, I wouldn't have known them only for the League of Ireland.

SPEAKER_02 49:30

Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 49:31

Right. Well, before I go, I want to give this a mention. Uh good friend of the show, Owen Harry, was telling me that he's involved in a League of Ireland election versus Bally Mun United on Sunday, May the 17th, uh for mental health awareness and it's a cause, and you know, we know so many people are struggling with it, and it's good to talk. And I always say that anyone like my message, my you know, if they ever want to talk about their kickoff is uh 12 p.m. It's also um a great night to entertainment there too, lots of artists playing. So that's out in Ballymond United, and it's a Ballymond United side versus uh League of Ireland selection. So I think uh Mr. Harry is playing, and a few of the um the more mature players uh will be out there so that well we'll we'll call them the League of Ireland Great. So it's uh it's a very good cause. Let's get you go off, enjoy yourself. Uh hopefully um rovers will have a bit of a splip when you're over in Mexico and uh do really well. I can't believe I'm saying that have a great time. I really look forward to your matter force but more polls cards.

SPEAKER_01 50:34

Well, thanks a lot, Sonny. Really enjoyed the chat. Thanks, Mel.

SPEAKER_00 50:36

You take care of yourself.