TWENTY-ONE years ago on November 17 to the day, Alan McLoughlin entered the cauldron of Windsor Park and scored the equalising goal against Northern Ireland – a strike which sent Jack Charlton’s team to USA ’94. A measure of McLoughlin the player Two years ago, he entered a battle, having been diagnosed with cancer of the kidney. He then generously offered himself as a human guinea-pig for a new drug in the hope of helping others beat the disease – although the process is deleterious to his own health. A measure of McLoughlin the man A major unhappiness in his book is at the critics who looked on him and other English-born players of Irish parents as ‘Plastic Paddies’, including Roy Keane/ Eamon Dunphy. He was offered the chance to play for England B on the same day he accepted the call-up to Ireland B. Nothing plastic there. A measure of McLoughlin the Irishman
Enjoyable book, interesting tale with some decent insights which didn't fall into the blandness (or sensationalism) of a lot of footballer's books. Would recommend though not readily available to buy in many bookshops or online, deserves to be more widely published!
I only finished this book as I am a Pompey fan. Ghost writers writing in the first person and using vocabulary you know very well that the subject would not use makes reading an unsatisfactory experience.