Athlone writer nominated for Sports Book of the Year award

An Athlone writer's new book on the declining fortunes of Irish footballers in England has been nominated for the 2017 eir Sport Sports Book of the Year award.

Kevin O'Neill's, 'Where Have All The Irish Gone? The Sad Demise of Ireland's Once Relevant Footballers' sits alongside the autobiographies of Colm Cooper and Eoin Hand, among others, on the 22-book longlist for the prestigious honour.

Glen Killane, managing director of eir TV and Sport, praised the standard of the books nominated this year, saying: "Overall, the range of entries features a host of fascinating topics and subject matter with an outstanding level of writing evident across the board which make it a difficult task for our judging panel to select their shortlist and winner."

Published by Pitch Publishing, Kevin's book is a "hard-hitting, investigative story of how and why it has gone so wrong for Irish footballers at the elite level of the English game since the inception of the Premier League."

It delves into the reasons "why the hopes and dreams of one of Ireland's most gifted generations came crashing down under the weight of the mega-rich Premier League."

In a series of revealing interviews, Kevin explores how players struggle to cope having been rejected from English clubs and sent back to Ireland, often left alone to deal with the hardship of readjusting their life goals.

'Where Have All The Irish Gone?' also includes the views of some leading figures in Irish football, such as Richard Dunne and Martin O'Neill, on the current crop of young Irish players.

The book was published recently and is currently available through Amazon (Order here). The book is also being sold in Waterstones book stores in the UK. It's due to be stocked by Eason here in the coming weeks.

The author is a former Westmeath Independent journalist whose work has also appeared in magazines such as These Football Times and The Football Pink.

He has previously written two books relating to Athlone Town FC: 'Who Needs Cantona We've Got Rod de Khors' and 'In Rod We Trust: How Athlone Won The League'.

Kevin can be contacted at kevoneill2@yahoo.com or on twitter @kevoneillwriter