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| Irish Soccer > Saipan Incident > Niall Quinn Testimonial |
Niall Quinn's Testimonial Football Match
In his autobiography Roy Keane said that, "I told Niall I was struggling to play. And the previous Friday I informed Mick Byrne. No problem, Quinny said."[Page 255]. Keane seems to be suggesting that the Irish manager might have known a couple of days earlier than Mick McCarthy says in the account related above. The significance of the timing of when McCarthy knew that Roy Keane was a no-show is probably irrelevant. Keane admits that he did refuse to sign a message for the programme because it would have been drafted by journalist Cathal Dervan. "Cathal Dervan was McCarthy's mate, the guy who urged the Lansdowne Road crowd to boo me because I didn't care about Ireland. I declined Niall's request."[Page 255]. The Media Make an Issue of Roy Keane's AbsenceIn the press conference following Quinn's testimonial at the Stadium of Light Mick McCarthy was questioned about the absence of the Irish soccer captain. "I explain, almost till I am blue in the face, that I have known about Roy's non-show since Sunday and have no problem with him at all...How can it be a snub when I knew about it?"[Mick McCarthy: Ireland's World Cup 2002 - Page 137]. On the plane from Manchester to Dublin for the last Republic of Ireland warm up match against Nigeria before the trip to Saipan, Keane read some Irish newspapers. Headlines suggest that Keane had snubbed the Niall Quinn testimonial match that was in aid of children's charities. This infuriated the Irish captain, "Maybe Keane keeps his contributions to charities - including sick kids - private."[Page 255]. In his Saipan interview with Tom Humphries Keane said, in relation to the press coverage, "My conscience is clear. Yeah, I wasn't happy, but I forgot about that." Except that he didn't and it clearly bothered him enough to include references to it in his autobiography later that year. It is difficult to understand why Keane should feel so aggrieved by the press coverage. He created a rod for his own back and presented it to the press for them to use. The facts of that matter are: 1) Keane finished the season playing for United without any report of injury in his last match. 2) Keane had a history of no-shows for non-competitive matches for the Republic of Ireland. He played in just seven matches of the friendly matches played while Mick McCarthy was the Irish soccer manager. 3) The reason given for his non-appearance was for treatment for an unspecified injury to either his knee or his hip, or both. 4) Keane refused Niall Quinn's request to put his name to a message for the match programme on the grounds that he didn't like the journalist that wrote it. Nor did he didn't contribute a message himself for inclusion. 5) According to his Saipan interview with Paul Kimmage, on the night of the Niall Quinn charity testimonial match at the Stadium of Light, Roy Keane was in Manchester at the cinema with his wife. 6) Keane played in the Republic of Ireland match against Nigeria just two days later without any obvious difficulty or any subsequent report of injury or discomfort. While we must accept Keane's bona fides on the Niall Quinn testimonial issue it is easy to see why people have significant doubts. For the RecordDate: 14 May 2002 NOTE: Unless stated otherwise all
quotations are from: Back to Saipan
Affair Table of Contents - Irish Football
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