| A new book entitled ‘ Off Centre Circle’
chronicles the journey of a young soccer obsessive
from kicking a stuffed sock in his hallway as a
toddler right through to togging out for an Over33
summer soccer league this past summer.
Every weekend thousands
of Irish men, women and children up and down the
country take to their local pitches to compete
in junior soccer league competitions. You won't
find any Arab Sheiks offering millions of euro
in investment here or post-match interviews with
satellite television stations. In most instances
you will be lucky to find changing rooms or even
adequate shower facilities. Yet for ninety minutes
every Saturday or Sunday Irish amateur soccer
league players cross that white line and give
it their all as if it was as important as an English
Premier League fixture and their very lives depended
on it.
Where does a love affair with the game of soccer
begin? What possesses an individual to play through
the pain barrier, the years of knocks and injuries
for absolutely no financial gain? Why go through
weekend after weekend of dodgy refereeing decisions,
deplorable weather and being embarrassed by opponents
half your age? Pride, passion and downright obsession,
that’s why.
This new book offers an insight into the life
of a junior soccer player with recollections and
memories through the eyes of the author who has
trained, played, obsessed, written about and cried
over his beloved sport. The author recounts his
life-long fascination with the game from childhood
through teenage years culminating in the story
of his local club's rise to glory in the West
Cork Soccer League.
Born and raised in Cork the author recounts early
memories of watching Match of the Day, playing
Subbuteo, reading Roy of the Rovers comics and
travelling to support his beloved Cork City in
the Shed end of Turner’s Cross chanting
and singing with the home fans.
The book also covers the author’s early
years playing Under-18 soccer, breaking into the
local junior team for the first time and then
fainting. Playing matches on the side of mountains
with cow dung dotted around the pitch, going toe-to-toe
with Vinny Jones on the Late Late Show and helping
his local club rise from the bottom tier of the
West Cork League to eventual Beamish Cup glory.
Anyone who has ever laced a pair of boots on
the side of the road and marched on to a muddy
pitch (after a night on the beer) to represent
their local soccer club will forge an immediate
connection with the stories and characters detailed
in the book. Anyone who has ever wondered what
possesses a junior / amateur soccer player to
continue playing well past their sell-by date
will find out the reasons why.
You have read all the various soccer
titles telling you stuff you already know but
this new book gives you a look at something different.
Title: Off Centre Circle
Publishers: Thomas Crosbie Holdings Ltd. / Evening
Echo
Price: 12.99
Available in Easons and all good book
stores from December 2009
|
NEW BOOK ABOUT WEST CORK SOCCER BEING PUBLISHED
THIS NOVEMBER