David Brady joined Off The Ball on Tuesday where he shared an interesting tale about Jack Charlton and Liam McHale racing pigs through Ballina.
Jack Charlton was a regular visitor to Ballina and even owned a house in the town to avail of the fishing, his presence wasn't newsworthy says Brady such were the frequency of his visits.
Just David Brady telling a story about racing pigs with Jack Charlton, Liam McHale and maybe Bertie Ahern through Ballina pic.twitter.com/vM4H0tgQrt
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) July 28, 2020
"He was just Jack," recalled the former Mayo forward, before telling an unorthodox story about the former Ireland manager.
"I raced pigs down the main street of Ballina with him. Myself, Liam McHale, Joe Corcoran, Lord rest him, Jack Charlton, I'm not sure did Bertie Ahern race them as well. It was the Ballina Salmon Festival.
"We had to shoo these pigs down the middle of the main street. This was in 1996 I think it was. Jack would be in the pub and the common denominator in the conversation was about fishing, we all knew about fishing.
"You can imagine Liam McHale, 19 stone weight, full of porter. You were trying to ruffle the plastic bag behind them to make a noise.
"They were squealing, we were squealing and the crowd was squealing. They used to have donkey derbies, then it was whittled down to the pigs. I think it's just a duck race now."
Jack Charlton - Mayo man
Jack Charlton had a real affinity for Ballina in particular and when the club won an All-Ireland club title, the World Cup winner was there to celebrate.
"In 2005 when we won the Club All-Ireland," recalled Brady. "Just as we were coming into Ballina, and who's there, six foot six in a big cap and the big smile on his face waving a flag greeting the Ballina Stephenites as we won the All-Ireland, is Jack Charlton.
"He was part of the community, he felt he was Ballina and we were Ballina and he was out. I'll never forget it. You're going 'there is an icon, a man that brought us out onto the streets on every street in Ireland celebrating' and there he is waving the flag at us."
