At Chelsea, he scored just eight goals in two seasons and was never in shape. Cascarino then moved to Nancy, where he played from 1997 to 2000, collecting 109 appearances and 44 goals. With a career consisting of few glories and many more unsatisfying experiences on the pitch, with a difficult personal life, ruined by his unfaithfulness to his wives and his devotion to poker, perhaps it’s not surprising that Cascarino tried to tie himself to Ireland. This jump to top-flight football acted as a springboard in his career, leading him to Aston Villa, Celtic, and Chelsea. Despite his constant anxieties, he’d stepped up to the spot – literally. Tony has been a professional footballer since 1982, but does not enjoy playing football anymore. Anthony Guy ("Tony") Cascarino (born 1 September 1962 in St Paul's Cray, Orpington, Kent, England) is a surprisingly popular functional ex-striker, a self-confessed fake Irishman, an accidental drug cheat, gambler and wife beater.
Tony was never able to establish a good relationship his sons, and mentions his ineptness as a father, as well as his inability to be faithful to his first wife, as additional proof of his failure in life. Olympique Marseille, too, had gone through a rollercoaster in the early 90’s, winning the Champions League in 1993, then getting relegated the following season due to match-fixing and financial regularities. The FAI's Chief Executive Bernard O'Byrne stated that he was shocked by the announcement and Cascarino's former international manager Jack Charlton questioned why he came forward with the information. He also later admitted suffering from depression. I’ve always found sex to be an absolute pleasure, but scoring goals has only ever brought me relief.”, “How could a man called Tony Cascarino play football for the Republic of Ireland?” The autobiography asks rhetorically, then has Tony answer: “Good question.
I had just finished. [11], In October 2000, Cascarino was the subject of national newspaper headlines when extracts from his upcoming autobiography were published in the Sunday Mirror. His penalty wasn’t perfect, but he’d shot and it had gone in, helping Ireland win the shootout against Romania that decided the round of sixteen.
It is almost certain that Keane and Cascarino killed a man while on Republic of Ireland duty. In 1996, FIFA changed the rules, making it necessary for international players to hold a passport issued by the state they represented. [12], Four days after the newspaper exclusive, in November 2000, the Football Association of Ireland issued a short statement: "The FAI are satisfied that Tony Cascarino was always eligible to become a citizen of the Republic of Ireland and was, therefore, always eligible to play for Ireland. He insisted medical staff inject the players with an “unknown” substance that created in them a particular state of adrenaline. The 1990 World Cup signaled the high point of Tony’s career with the Boys in Green, but the truth is that he should have never played for Ireland. S. SEARCH. Angst, depression, a constant sense of inadequacy: these feelings were constantly present for Tony, on the pitch and in his personal life. Both on the pitch and in life, Cascarino never had great luck nor the capacity to dominate the events around him. Back of the Net Wiki is a FANDOM Games Community. That something was his career as an international, established through his mother (his father had abandoned him when he was a child). Scoring 99 goals between them, they led the club to their first promotion to the first division, celebrated in the summer of ‘88. [9] Cascarino would go on to feature for Ireland in three major tournaments: Euro 1988, the 1990 World Cup and the 1994 World Cup. But Bernard Tapie, at that time president of the French club, was definitely not the cleanest figure European football has ever known. Cascarino, there for three seasons, declared himself proud of having worn OM’s shirt, as the club had a mythical aura in France.
In the green shirt of a national team characterized by few ambitions and rare peaks of excellence, we can see Tony’s own personal story. . Cascarino was still able to get his Irish passport, possibly due to his recognized fame as a footballer. At the beginning of his autobiography, Tony describes himself as stuck in the fog.
Regardless of their money and their fame, they might consider themselves losers. Welsh band Los Campesinos! Cascarino didn’t let his position in the media spotlight prevent him from beating up his (now former) wife. [14][15], Since retiring from football, Cascarino has become a semi-professional poker player, having appeared in the television series Celebrity Poker Club and commentating on the PartyPoker Poker Den. Between 1985 and 1999, Cascarino played 88 games and scored 19 goals with the Irish national team. Kent native Cascarino qualified to represent the Republic Of Ireland by being pretty tall and not quite good enough to play for England. As Irish politician, writer and historian Conor Cruise O’Brien noted, “The notion of Irishness is not primarily a question of birth or blood or language, it is the condition of being involved in the Irish situation, and usually of being marked by it.” In fact, Irishness also corresponds to the idea of always being considered a little poorer and less destined to success, as many Irish have to leave their beloved island to search for fulfilment elsewhere. In April 2009, Cascarino questioned Ipswich Town’s decision to appoint borderline psychopath Roy Keane as manager. His team also won Season 4 of Celebrity Bainisteoir, a competition requiring contestants to manage Gaelic football teams. The autobiography of the Republic of Ireland forward was, according to a. blurb on the back page, “Far more interesting than Beckham’s autobiography” (which had come out the same year, 2001). Michael, born in Westport, County Mayo, in the west of Ireland, had moved to London when he was a teenager. However, he ended up leaving the club after only two matches. Ask the punters at Stamford Bridge and they’ll say: ‘Well, he wasn’t going to play for Italy, now, was he?’ A touch cruel, perhaps, but undeniably true. "[16], Cascarino joined talkSPORT as a pundit in 2002 and from 2004 he presented the afternoon Drive Time show with Patrick Kinghorn. Ask the punters at Stamford Bridge and they’ll say: ‘Well, he wasn’t going to play for Italy, now, was he?’ A touch cruel, perhaps, but undeniably true. Unfaithful to his British wife, Sarah, he left her and their two children (his second son was named Teddy after Teddy Sheringham, who became a lifelong friend of the Irish player after their exploits at Millwall) to form a new family with Virginie, who later gave birth to Maeva. @lastanzab, Some years ago, I visited the Dover Cliffs on England’s southeast coast, at the exact point where the country ends. , and was reminded how we always tend to think of footballers as super-humans. They can fail.
[6][7][8], He made his international debut against Switzerland in September 1985, during Ireland's ill-fated qualification campaign for the 1986 World Cup. As such, she collects typewriters and football shirts. Cascarino 'worried' about Stones at World Cup . https://backofthenet.fandom.com/wiki/Tony_Cascarino?oldid=6496. The physiotherapist at the time insisted the substance was legal and would provide an "adrenaline boost". [17] Cascarino left the station in 2005 although still sometimes returns as a guest pundit. Why did I choose the Republic of Ireland? Tony Cascarino Edit. After his success at Millwall, he could never impose himself in England, and found it easier to move to France, where the pressure was less intense. News; Video; Transfers; Match; Opinion; About; Home » Opinion (Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images) Tony Cascarino latest pundit to feel the heat from angry Toon fans . Tony Cascarino has thanked talkSPORT listeners and the wider world of football for their ‘amazing support’ as he spoke to the station for the first time since undergoing major brain surgery. Maybe it was the color of the cover (green has always been one of my favorites), or maybe it was that Tony’s story takes place between England and France, in the same place where I randomly found this seemingly-lost manuscript, but I immediately started reading. Its green cover read Full Time: The Secret Life of Tony Cascarino.
He went on to score 78 goals in 219 matches before moving to Millwall in 1987. They pair had to be pulled apart by production staff. He has worked for both Sky Sports in England and TV3 and Today FM in Ireland. [3] He went on to play for Millwall - the club he supported as a boy. She collaborates with a number of blogs and writes about books, football, and humans. Both on the pitch and in life, Cascarino never had great luck nor the capacity to dominate the events around him. Well, to be honest, I suppose because they chose me.
The book, ghostwritten by Irish journalist and Tony’s personal friend, Paul Kimmage, is different from many football books: it shows that being a professional player is not always synonymous with living like a star. [12] Anthony Guy ("Tony") Cascarino (born 1 September 1962 in St Paul's Cray, Orpington, Kent, England) is a surprisingly popular functional ex-striker, a self-confessed fake Irishman, an accidental drug cheat, gambler and wife beater. Off The Pitch. He turned his attentions to poker, appearing on, as a commentator. This marked the end of an international career which had spanned 14 years at the highest level. As I was walking away from those cliffs, heading back to my bus to London, I noticed a café with, in one corner, a little shelf holding second-hand books. In his surprisingly candid (and interesting) autobiography ‘Full Time: The Secret Life Of Tony Cascarino’, Cascarino revealed that he had been given injections of performance enhancing drugs during his time in France under the guidance of president Bernard Tapie, who was an enormous crook. As I was walking away from those cliffs, heading back to my bus to London, I noticed a café with, in one corner, a little shelf holding second-hand books. His story is about his career, of course, but in particular highlights his feelings of anxiety, inappropriateness and dissatisfaction, feelings he carried his whole life.