Full Time - Paul Kimmage

Although we damage our knees and bruise our toes and tear the odd muscle from time to time, nothing hurts as much in football as the truth!

Meet Tony Cascarino. Maybe you know him as Ireland’s international football hero. Maybe you cheered his goal against England or remember him as the most affable member of The Team That Jack Built. Maybe he once permed your hair in London or carried the bricks that built your house. Maybe you thought you’d never see the back of him at Aston Villa, Celtic and Chelsea. Maybe you share the French appraisal: ‘Cascarino est fantastique. Maybe you’ve read all you want about the man. Maybe you don’t want to know.

Paul Kimmage didn’t. In November of 1999, on the eve of a European Championship playoff between the Republic of Ireland and Turkey, the award-winning sportswriter sat down with the footballer for a coffee in a Turkish hotel. When Cascarino mentioned a book, Kimmage wasn’t interested. He had known the 38-year-old London-born-Irishman for ten years and written extensively on his life.

‘But what do you really know?’ Cascarino asked.

In this compelling, unique and sensationally honest book, Paul Kimmage introduces us to a man we’ve never met. A man scarred by childhood, haunted by indiscretion and troubled by a secret from his past. A man struggling to find answers as he speeds toward the most terrifying juncture in sport. The End.

Paul Kimmage is the chief sportswriter of the Sunday Independent. He was Irish Sports Journalist of the Year in 1989 and his first book, Rough Ride, won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 1990.