Last week, we sat down with Brian Kerr as part of our Jameson Caskmates & Tonic Social Serve Series. The former Ireland manager detailed the highs and lows of his time in charge of the boys in green and some other gems along the way.
During the interview, Kerr described the moment he received the call to notify him that he was being considered for the position of the Ireland Manager.
“I was actually in the UAE when I got the call. We had an under-19 team playing the tournament – a four team tournament. We had already won our first two games, we were playing France in the last match.
“I got a call late at night from Kevin Fahy who was the acting CEO of the FAI at the time to say that the job was mine – they had gone through a process.
“I knew I was in with a reasonable shout after the process of the interviews… but I was still surprised, delighted, elated and I remember calling Noel (O’Reilly), he was asleep in the room across from me, it was probably one or two in the morning, and I called his room and I said, look I need to have a chat with you and I went over to him and I told him and we had a fairly emotional hug and we had a bit of a laugh about it. But look, we need to get out with a win tomorrow. We need to win this tournament and go home as winners.
“The official unveiling was in the Shelbourne hotel. I don’t think I’ve been in the Shelbourne hotel too often!
“It wasn’t my call, but it was a lovely occasion. It appeared like anyone who I had ever dealt with in football had turned up. There was a lot of friendly faces.
“My biggest pal through my childhood years was Eamonn Coghlan and he actually flew in from Boston that morning to be there. I didn’t know that – I just saw him in the room and I couldn’t believe it.
“He told me after that he had flown in that morning specially because it was such a big day for him and me. As kids, we ran a lot together, played football and we played a lot of sport. But we chiefly ran and played soccer together for the same team and same club.
“When your mate turns out to be the World Champion at 5000m, it was such a great day for me. He had come so close for him the two previous Olympics when he finished fourth, it was devastating for him and devastating for people that knew him. I remember being so upset about it. He was such a brilliant and such a great bloke and he turns out to be the World Champion.”
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