Monthly Archives: February 2014

From Bhoy To Man

February 26, 2014 · by · in Uncategorized · Leave a comment

A hard exterior covered up a fragile interior in powerful striker John Hartson. The Welshman tells Ewan MacKenna how he went close to death before realising how he really wanted to live his life. The story doing the rounds a few years ago, told by an Irish international, involved John Hartson in the back seat […]

A Life-Long Fight

February 24, 2014 · by · in Uncategorized · 15 Comments

Reared in a UDA stronghold Carl Frampton is, by some distance, Ireland’s best chance of a world title next year. Sportswriter of the Year Ewan MacKenna spent the day with him in Tiger’s Bay, the Belfast enclave he is changing with every punch. TUCKED tight under a woolly hat, Carl Frampton’s mind is all over […]

Hiding from reality

February 23, 2014 · by · in Uncategorized · 2 Comments

Ireland’s ranks are populated by some of the best players on the planet and some of the best ambassadors amongst our sportsmen, but it doesn’t mean we should pamper them in defeat and ignore huge underachievement in green, writes Ewan MacKenna. The story goes as follows. Back in 2006, after England had fallen at home […]