Eamon Dunphy
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eamon Martin Dunphy | ||
| Date of birth | 3 August 1945 | ||
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Apps (Gls)2 | |
| 1962–1965 | Manchester United | 0 (0) | |
| 1965–1966 | York City | 22 (3) | |
| 1965–1974 | Millwall | 274 (24) | |
| 1973–1975 | Charlton Athletic | 42 (3) | |
| 1975–1977 | Reading | 77 (3) | |
| 1977–1978 | Shamrock Rovers | ? (2) | |
| Total | 415 (35)[1] | ||
| National team | |||
| 1965–1971 | Republic of Ireland | 23 (0) | |
| 1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. 2 Appearances (Goals) |
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Eamon Martin Dunphy (born Éamonn Mairtin Ua Donnchaidh, on 3 August 1945) is a controversial Irish media personality and former professional football player. He is best known for performing complicated analytical techniques as part of RTÉ's coverage of the UEFA Champions League, for which he has gained widespread popularity among his peers. He is viewed as somewhat of a comedy figure by people in Ireland, with his physique and "dashing mental charisma" often being the target of jokes from outfits such as Apres Match, Gift Grub and Nob Nation. However, he does occasionally involve himself in serious issues, such as a 2009 outburst of tears on The Late Late Show over the economy.[2] He is known for coining the term "plank" (although this term was first heard in Liverpool in the early 1980s, so it's probably not true) and labelling fellow broadcaster Pat Kenny with this.[2]
Between 2004 and 2006, Dunphy presented the breakfast programme on Dublin's local Newstalk 106 radio station (now a national broadcaster). He then moved to RTÉ Radio 1, where he now presents a weekly programme, Conversations with Eamon Dunphy. He also writes a column on football for the newspaper, The Star Daily.
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[edit] Early and private life
Eamon Dunphy grew up at Drumcondra, on the north-side of Dublin, Ireland. [3] Dunphy attended St. Patrick's National School, Drumcondra. In later years, future Taoiseach Bertie Ahern attended the same school.
Today, Dunphy generally lives at his house located at Mount Pleasant Square, close to Ranelagh village, Dublin. He purchased this house in 2002. He also owns a holiday home in Deauville, France. [4]
[edit] Career
[edit] Football
A promising footballer, he left Dublin while still a teenager to join Manchester United F.C. as an apprentice. Dunphy did not break into the first team at United and subsequently played for York City, Millwall, Charlton Athletic and Reading. It was at Millwall that Dunphy made the most impact, he was considered an intelligent and skilful player in Millwall's midfield. Dunphy played 23 times for the Republic of Ireland and remains Millwall's most capped International player. Dunphy was a member of "The Class of '71" Millwall side that lost out on promotion to the old Division One, by just one point.
On his return to Ireland, Dunphy took up a coaching position with St. Benildus College. In 1977, he accompanied John Giles back to Ireland to join Shamrock Rovers FC. Giles wanted to make the club Ireland's first full time professional club and hoped to make Rovers into a force in European football by developing talented young players, who would otherwise go to England, at home. Dunphy was originally intended to be in charge of youth development. However, despite an FAI Cup winners medal in 1978 (his only medal in senior football) and 2 appearances in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Dunphy became disillusioned with the Irish game and dropped out of football altogether to concentrate on a career in journalism.
[edit] Journalism
After retiring from football, Dunphy went into journalism, first writing on football for the Sunday Tribune and then contributing regular columns on both football and current events for the Sunday Independent. Most recently, Dunphy has been employed to write a column on football for the Daily Star's Irish edition.
He has also worked for Ireland on Sunday, now the Irish Mail on Sunday and The Sunday Press, which is now defunct, and for the Irish Examiner. [5]
Since the 1980s Dunphy has also written a number of books. His first and most widely praised book is Only a Game?: Diary of a Professional Footballer, which is an autobiographical account of his days playing for Millwall. Dunphy wrote a diary of his 1973-4 season which began well for him at second division Millwall but subsequently ended in disillusionment. He wrote a diary during the season, recording events from the dressing room. In 1985 rock band U2 and manager Paul McGuinness decided to commission him to write the story of their origins, formation, early years and the time leading up to their phenomenally successful album, The Joshua Tree. His book Unforgettable Fire - The Story of U2 was published in 1988, although the band were not happy with some of its content. Dunphy has also written a biography of Manchester United legend Matt Busby and in 2002 ghostwrote the autobiography of Republic of Ireland and Manchester United footballing legend Roy Keane.
[edit] Broadcast
Since the mid 1980s, Dunphy has appeared as an analyst in RTÉ's football coverage. Since RTÉ acquired the rights to show English football, Dunphy has been a regular contributor to the The Premiership programme. After Roy Keane's departure from Manchester United in November 2005 he has since been known for constant criticism of the club, and in particular, Cristiano Ronaldo. He was quoted on April 23, 2008 after a game between Manchester United and FC Barcelona ended 0-0, as saying Ronaldo is a "disgrace to the game" for his supposed simulation and complaining on the field, and said he believed people have been "blinded" by the hype created by the BBC and Sky Sports regarding Ronaldo.
He has also had a prominent radio career, and was the original host of the popular current affairs show The Last Word on Today FM.
In 2001, Dunphy became the first male host of the quiz show The Weakest Link, which aired on TV3, for just one series. In 2003, Dunphy was hired again by TV3 to host their new Friday night chat show, entitled The Dunphy Show. Pitted head-to-head with RTÉ's The Late Late Show, Dunphy's show lost the highly publicised "ratings war", and was cancelled before its original run was to conclude.
In September 2004, Dunphy took over the Breakfast Show slot on the Dublin radio station NewsTalk 106 from David McWilliams. The show tried to court controversy and listeners in equal measure. He failed to attract the large listenership predicted, with only a few additional thousand tuning in. Attempts to attract disaffected morning listeners with controversial social commentators like Amanda Brunker failed to connect with listeners. In June 2006 Dunphy announced his intention to leave NewsTalk 106, citing an inability to sustain the demands of an early morning schedule. His decision to leave Newstalk coincided with the announcement that the station had won a national broadcasting licence. Subsequent to his departure from Newstalk 106 rumours circulated, confirmed by Dunphy in the Evening Herald, that he had been suffering a mystery illness for some time which had made keeping to an early morning schedule difficult.
In July 2006 RTÉ announced that Dunphy will present a new weekly programme as part of the new RTÉ Radio 1 autumn schedule. [1] Dunphy is the first presenter of a made-for-mobile TV show on the 3 mobile network in Ireland. Dunphy's rants and Spoofer of the Week are watched by thousands of 3 customers. The shows were awarded "Best Entertainment Show" at Ireland's Digital Media Awards.
Dunphy readily admits he never uses a mobile himself but enjoys filming for a mobile audience from the comfort of his own living room in Ranelagh.
Dunphy is also impersonated, to some acclaim, in Irish comedy show Après Match.
[edit] Controversy
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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2007) (Find sources: Eamon Dunphy – news, books, scholar) |
From the early 1980s, Dunphy made his name as a controversial journalist. Among the targets of his disapproval were television figures such as Pat Kenny and a concept he called "Official Ireland" - by which he meant the liberal Irish media and cultural elite, epitomised by the Irish Times newspaper and the then President of Ireland, Mary Robinson. He argued at the time that people such as former Taoiseach Charles Haughey represented the "real people of Ireland", and were being attacked by the false left wing consensus of "Official Ireland". Some consider this hypocritical as he holds the "Official Ireland" view on physical force republicanism.
Dunphy in his youth held far left wing Trotskyist political views, but in middle age he has espoused some more Conservative views. He is also friendly with socialist activist Eamonn McCann, however. In the early 1990s, Dunphy, in line with the editorial line at the Sunday Independent, was a harsh critic of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Sinn Féin and their supporters. Dunphy described them as "morally diseased"[citation needed] and argued that Irish nationalists in Northern Ireland had not been badly treated by the British state and that the use of violence by republicans was illegitimate.[citation needed]
Around the time of the IRA cease-fire, his views on Sinn Féin changed. He now views them in a generally positive light. While not recanting his neo-liberal economic views, he has spoken against the Fianna Fáil government since the Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy took up a post as a European Union commissioner.
In the world of football, Dunphy attacked the League of Ireland, which he characterised as amateurish, Irish footballer Liam Brady, who he called a "bitter little man", successive Republic of Ireland national football team managers and even international stars such as Michel Platini. In 1987, Dunphy was almost alone in supporting the sale of the Shamrock Rovers' ground Glenmalure Park to property developers. Many people attributed this stance to Dunphy's friendship with the Kilcoyne family[citation needed], who profited financially from the sale. Most controversially of all, Dunphy was a harsh critic of Jack Charlton, Ireland's most successful national team manager. Dunphy accused Charlton of being a bully, of playing ugly football and of not making the best use of the players at his disposal. A deep personal enmity developed between the two men.
In 1990, Dunphy caused huge controversy in Ireland by attacking the performance of the national team at that year's World Cup. After a 0-0 draw with Egypt, he called the team "a disgrace" and angrily threw his pen across the studio. This performance temporarily made Dunphy into a figure of public hatred in Ireland. Dunphy was sent to Italy to cover the remaining games, but Jack Charlton, the Irish team manager, refused to speak to him or to answer his questions. Dunphy remained critical of Charlton for the remainder of his tenure as manager, but the public ostracism of Dunphy subsided within a few years.
Also in 2002, Dunphy aggressively defended Roy Keane, after he was dismissed by Mick McCarthy from the Irish team at the Fifa World Cup in Korea and Japan.
He is also one of Cristiano Ronaldo's harshest critics. He said on RTE after the Manchester United-S.L. Benfica UEFA Champions League game the way Ronaldo "clicks his heels", is the "most wicked thing in the game." Before the second leg of United versus Roma in 2006-2007 he branded Ronaldo "a simple cheat" and a "Poof ball". He also called Michael Carrick a "nothing player". They both then proceeded to score two goals each in the match. Following the match Dunphy reluctantly praised the United performance. More recently, in an article he wrote for the Irish Daily Star, January 2008, Dunphy admitted that he "couldn't have been more wrong about Cristiano Ronaldo". He further claimed that Ronaldo "looks like the real deal", and concluded by saying: " Ronaldo is something special. I was wrong".
Recently in a column in the Daily Star Dunphy wrote that Roy Keane was a bullshitter accusing him of selling his soul and criticize him for his sympathy towards Steve Staunton and the proposal to play Premier League games in different countries. He also also said that when he worked on Keane's biography six years ago Keane said the two things he hated most in life were politicians and bullshitters. Dunphy then wrote that he had turned into both.
[edit] In popular culture
Dermot Morgan of Father Ted fame arguably did the finest Eamon Dunphy impression on the satirical radio show Scrap Saturday.[citation needed] Different sketches had him engaged in apparent inane and ridiculous arguments. They ranged from his criticism of Mother Teresa for not being a real nun to his attack on the weeks weather in which he said that recent snowfall was not real snow. Morgan incorporated the mannerisms of Dunphy so completely that it went beyond mere imitation. An unsuspecting listener could easily be fooled into thinking it really was him.
Dunphy's hyperbole is widely parodied in the media. RTÉ's Après Match team, who would broadcast skits after games, delivered a mock example of Dunphy-speak:
- "No football team will win this tournament. This tournament will be won by the faceless empires of corporate greed. The Jules Rimet trophy has become hijacked by the world of big business bastards, sold to the TV networks of Satan. There will be a final on July 12. It will have no soul. It will be Snickers versus Nike."
[edit] References
- ^ "Eamon Dunphy". Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Database. http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/eamonndunphy.htm. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
- ^ a b "Were Dunphy's TV tears refreshing honesty or just a case of bottled emotion?". Evening Herald. 2008-08-09. http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/were-dunphys-tv-tears-refreshing-honesty-or-just-a-case-of-bottled-emotion-1633430.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-15.
- ^ Irish Independent, Saturday, February 16, 2008.
- ^ Irish Independent, Monday, December 30, 2002.
- ^ Collins, Liam. "Who is the real Eamon Dunphy?" Sunday Independent, 18 August 2002.
[edit] External links
- Google Video of Eamon's Outburst
- Video of Dunphy's outburst against Liverpool after knocking Barcelona out, March 2007
- Eamon Dunphy Millwall Hall of Fame
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