Roy Keane at 50: Cork colossus never settled for second best 

THE second Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy crossed the finish line in Tokyo recently, they secured their place in the history books.

Edging ahead of Team Germany and comfortably beating the rest of the Teams in the race, the duo became the first Irish rowers to claim a gold medal at the Olympic Games.

The nation immediately took great pride in what they had achieved — revelling in the enormity of the accomplishment — but soon the rest of the country grimaced at the thought of how this news would be greeted in Cork.

The lads aren’t from Ireland — they’re from Cork. It wasn’t Team Ireland’s gold medal, it was Team Cork’s. That was the fear amongst the rest of Ireland, and it was well-founded.

Cork is a very proud county, and when one of its sons or daughters achieves something monumental — in sport or indeed in any other walk of life — we claim it and cherish it like nowhere else.

So while Fintan McCarthy rightfully takes his place now on the Cork roll of honour even at this early stage in his career, his rowing partner Paul O’Donovan, who now adds the gold medal to his silver medal from the Rio Olympics in 2016 and numerous World and European titles, surely pulls closer towards the top of the list.

Had he been born and raised in most other counties, he would probably be their greatest sports athlete. Cork has quite the collection of stars, Sonia O’Sullivan and Christy Ring, to name just two others, but there is little question as to who is the number one.

Tomorrow is August 10, 2021 — Roy Keane’s 50th birthday. 

The Manchester United and Republic of Ireland legend will celebrate another landmark which provides us with the great opportunity to reflect on his achievements that ensure he remains an inspiration to this day.

The occasion is almost as well-timed as one of his tackles, as it comes during a fruitful period for the League of Ireland sides in European football.

It’s important to remember that Keane’s professional career began at Cobh Ramblers — and recent positive results on the continent from Bohemians, Shamrock Rover, and Dundalk provide even more reasons why the league is worth watching and supporting, even if the Cork clubs aren’t exactly reaching such lofty heights at the moment.

The springboard for Keane’s career was built at St Colman’s Park, and after numerous failed trials, his impressive performances with Cobh finally earned him a move across the Irish Sea to Nottingham Forest for a reported transfer fee of less than £50,000.

Keane developed even further under the tutelage of legendary manager Brian Clough before he was on the move again in 1993 when he became the most expensive player in British football when he joined Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United for £3.75m.

And the rest is history. Keane recently became the fourth inductee in the Premier League’s Hall of Fame having won seven titles, registered 366 appearances, scored 39 goals and notched 33 assists in the prestigious competition.

He has individual awards that would fill this entire page, but it’s the team’s trophies that mean more to him, with a Champions League and four FA Cups also in the collection, along with his Scottish Premier League and League Cup winners medals from his time at Celtic where he ended his playing career.

His international career saw him win 67 caps and score on nine occasions for the Republic of Ireland with the incident in Saipan ahead of the 2002 World Cup costing him a few more potentially on both fronts.

DRIVEN

It’s a subject people are tired of reading, and writing about, but it sums up his desire to win, his desire for the best, and also perhaps how that can sometimes get the better of him.

It could also go a long way to explaining why — despite his promising start at Sunderland — his managerial career hasn’t been as successful as many would have thought.

It could also go a long way to explaining why he has become such a popular pundit, even though his analysis often lacks the same level of detail as his colleagues.

His wit, his dry sense of humour, his perfect timing — again like one of his tackles — when producing a one-liner, and his carefree honesty means it’s a must-watch when he’s in the studio.

But on this, the eve of his 50th birthday, it’s better to honour him for what he did best; play football.

He did it better than most in the world’s toughest league, and it’s why he’s rightfully regarded as one of the greatest sports athletes Cork has ever produced, although most would say THE greatest.

It’s why, similar to Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy, we should probably boast more about the fact that he’s from Cork.