Best Ever Irish Sportsman ...

OMAR wrote:

rich dublin wrote:lds like i say before it is futile callin best the " best IRISH sportsman ever" he wasnt irish!!!! he said that if he wasnt playing football he would be in belfast thoring stones at the catholics!!!! end of discussion on best!!!

Does religion define nationality ?

It appears that it does. Although, I always heard Best refer to himself as Irish, and he was an advocate of an all-ireland soccer team.

OMAR wrote:

rich dublin wrote:lds like i say before it is futile callin best the " best IRISH sportsman ever" he wasnt irish!!!! he said that if he wasnt playing football he would be in belfast thoring stones at the catholics!!!! end of discussion on best!!!

Does religion define nationality ?

In NI, it sort of does.

rich dublin wrote:lds like i say before it is futile callin best the " best IRISH sportsman ever" he wasnt irish!!!! he said that if he wasnt playing football he would be in belfast thoring stones at the catholics!!!! end of discussion on best!!!

was Best not one of the most vocal in calling for a united Ireland soccer team?

Larry Murphy wrote:

OMAR wrote:

rich dublin wrote:lds like i say before it is futile callin best the " best IRISH sportsman ever" he wasnt irish!!!! he said that if he wasnt playing football he would be in belfast thoring stones at the catholics!!!! end of discussion on best!!!

Does religion define nationality ?

In NI, it sort of does.

Really? Most of the Protestants that I know consider themselves Irish. And a lot of the Catholics I know consider themselves Polish or Portugese.

Sebastian wrote:

Boxtyeater wrote:Incredible stuff Seb, I must admit to having never heard of him before, but his wiki page tells the tale.

Some performer in all fairness and his wiki page is worth a read.......Good call, one of the best so far....

I did my Leaving Cert history project about him a few years back. A Remarkable fella!

See the post about Best.

Now I can't be bothered with Google at the moment but were the 1906 Olympics the "in between" ones, held in St Louis to coincide with the world exhibition?

Anyway yer man was not Irish as he would have been competing for the USA or Britain, or even S.Africa like Mcarthur who once won the marathon.

The parameters here are that you must be from the 26 counties and representing Ireland while sober.

Otherwise was it Hayes who won about 12 gold medals in various jumping events would be a close second to.......Bestie.

Thomas Clarke wrote:

Larry Murphy wrote:

OMAR wrote:

rich dublin wrote:lds like i say before it is futile callin best the " best IRISH sportsman ever" he wasnt irish!!!! he said that if he wasnt playing football he would be in belfast thoring stones at the catholics!!!! end of discussion on best!!!

Does religion define nationality ?

In NI, it sort of does.

Really? Most of the Protestants that I know consider themselves Irish. And a lot of the Catholics I know consider themselves Polish or Portugese.

Jaysus Clarke, you know what I mean. It's not a case of Catholic = Irish and Protestant = English but if you look at how NI Catholics choose to play for the Republic then you will realise it's like a rule of thumb.

Gerry Armstrong, Martin O'Neill OBE, Malachy Donaghy, Anton Rogan, Neil lennon, Tommy armstrong, etc etcetc, all Gaelic footballers who also played soccer for Northern Ireland with some distinction.

I remember being at Tralee on 17th August 1975 for the U21 semi, Kerry V Antrim. Kerry had Paidi, Ogie, Sheehy, Jacko, Sean Walsh, Spillane and a few others. Gerry Armstrong played with his arm in a protective casing. With ten minutes to go a Kerry man asked me who he was because he reckoned he was the most talented player on the park.

patrique wrote:Gerry Armstrong, Martin O'Neill OBE, Malachy Donaghy, Anton Rogan, Neil lennon, Tommy armstrong, etc etcetc, all Gaelic footballers who also played soccer for Northern Ireland with some distinction.

I remember being at Tralee on 17th August 1975 for the U21 semi, Kerry V Antrim. Kerry had Paidi, Ogie, Sheehy, Jacko, Sean Walsh, Spillane and a few others. Gerry Armstrong played with his arm in a protective casing. With ten minutes to go a Kerry man asked me who he was because he reckoned he was the most talented player on the park.

Paidi always reckoned that Gerry Armstrong was the best player he ever marked.He just could not handle him on that day.

On a somewhat related matter(greatness)

Here is the legend putting it up to that bullyboy Van Bommel....

The Puke wrote:On a somewhat related matter(greatness)

Here is the legend putting it up to that bullyboy Van Bommel....

"Putting it up to" must have a different meaning in your neck of the woods Pukey.....He looked as if he was about to p*** himself.

Gerry Flanagan epitomised what "putting it up to" meant a good few years ago, when being righteously annoyed by Maughan, flattened him with a box.....

Real Kerry Fan wrote:

patrique wrote:Gerry Armstrong, Martin O'Neill OBE, Malachy Donaghy, Anton Rogan, Neil lennon, Tommy armstrong, etc etcetc, all Gaelic footballers who also played soccer for Northern Ireland with some distinction.

I remember being at Tralee on 17th August 1975 for the U21 semi, Kerry V Antrim. Kerry had Paidi, Ogie, Sheehy, Jacko, Sean Walsh, Spillane and a few others. Gerry Armstrong played with his arm in a protective casing. With ten minutes to go a Kerry man asked me who he was because he reckoned he was the most talented player on the park.

Paidi always reckoned that Gerry Armstrong was the best player he ever marked.He just could not handle him on that day.

I remember Tully got sent off for clubbing Paidi that day, his uncle was Ireland's greatest ever, Charlie Tully. (If you are a Celtic fan)

I remember the date ecause I got married the day before and was heading to Killarney on Honeymoon as you did in those days.

We arrived in Tralee and I said to her "gosh, Antrim are playing, what a surprise........."

My nickname for Armstrong in those days was "The 6 million dollar man" after the TV show, He was indestructible on a GAA field. At soccer the ONLY time he looked useful was in Spain at the World Cup when someone has finally said to him, "here, just go out and play".

TC - IMO O'Driscoll is by far the greatest Irish rugby player of all time and his deeds and standing in world rugby over ten years merits a good shout here.

My point about Killer is that in soccer sometimes you don't have to be good to get over 100 international caps.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:TC - IMO O'Driscoll is by far the greatest Irish rugby player of all time and his deeds and standing in world rugby over ten years merits a good shout here.

My point about Killer is that in soccer sometimes you don't have to be good to get over 100 international caps.

I heard O'Driscoll was good but 'world rugby' ?

Well that would rule out Sean Kelly so cos there are far less participating in 'world' cycling than rugby .......

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Well that would rule out Sean Kelly so cos there are far less participating in 'world' cycling than rugby .......

As the song goes

There are ten Million rugby balls in Bejing.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Well that would rule out Sean Kelly so cos there are far less participating in 'world' cycling than rugby .......

Yes both out of this world.

we always produce great sports people for such a small island and its something to be proud off , and i played against gerry armstrong the man was sound

Jayo Cluxton wrote:TC - IMO O'Driscoll is by far the greatest Irish rugby player of all time and his deeds and standing in world rugby over ten years merits a good shout here.

My point about Killer is that in soccer sometimes you don't have to be good to get over 100 international caps.

Gibson.

Or Kyle.

patrique wrote:Gibson. Or Kyle.

Although our younger readers may think they are two contestants on the X Factor, I can safely say that BOD is better than both those great players. Nobody or nothing compares to his consistent performances or achievements.

Jayo Cluxton wrote: Nobody or nothing compares to his consistent performances or achievements.

Within Ireland, or also on the world stage?

Thomas Clarke wrote:

Jayo Cluxton wrote: Nobody or nothing compares to his consistent performances or achievements.

Within Ireland, or also on the world stage?

Against the two gents mentioned but he has also been rated as the best centre in the world for a lot of the last decade.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/commonwealth_games/delhi_2010/9087047.stm

Jayo Cluxton wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:

Jayo Cluxton wrote: Nobody or nothing compares to his consistent performances or achievements.

Within Ireland, or also on the world stage?

Against the two gents mentioned but he has also been rated as the best centre in the world for a lot of the last decade.

Gibson was rated the best player in the world for some time, in a different era.

In those days Willie John was a giant of a man, the enfdorcer. The "nimble" fleet footed O'Driscoll is actually heavier than Willie John.

So the physical size has changed radically, and allowing for that, Gibson was every bit as good as BOD.

Both great, great players so it is a matter of opinion as to who was better.

Unlike comparing Best to Michael Keegan and kevin Owen.

patrique wrote:Gibson was rated the best player in the world for some time, in a different era.

So the physical size has changed radically, and allowing for that, Gibson was every bit as good as BOD..

Not disagreeing but totally flummoxed ...........

Jayo Cluxton wrote:

patrique wrote:Gibson was rated the best player in the world for some time, in a different era.

So the physical size has changed radically, and allowing for that, Gibson was every bit as good as BOD..

Not disagreeing but totally flummoxed ...........

BOD bursting through tackles and stopping men dead with tackles looks impressive, but he is nearly 16stone. Back in Gibson's day the monster Will John was nearly 15 stone, and Gibson was about 12. But his tackling was every bit as good as BOD, probably didn't look as impressive because of the lack of size.