Alan McLoughlin

[DeLorean]

I don't think this was posted already. Hopefully he has a similar recovery to Kevin Sheedy (scorers of the two most famous left footed equalisers in Irish history).

Alan McLoughlin reveals battle with cancer (http://thescore.thejournal.ie/former-ireland-star-alan-mcloughlin-reveals-battle-against-cancer-644155-Oct2012/)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFqFFGrCsKg

[the bear]

Always think of this poem when talking about Alan McLoughlin. All the best to him. Really good memories.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFT9oMoFN0s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFT9oMoFN0s)

[pineapple stu]

Love that. Used to know it off by heart.

[Fixer82]

Did he ever score any other goal for Ireland?

[Junior]

Wiki says 2 goals but not sure who the other was against.

[Fixer82]

was it Macedoia or one of those? Post '94

[osarusan]

was it Macedoia or one of those? Post '94

Right - scored the first goal of the game in a 3-2 defeat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3X8XnIRkBE

[Junior]

Ah yes, horrible jersey, Mcateers Karate kick and Jon Goodman.....memories

Nice goal from Alan in fairness.

[DeLorean]

My God, that McAteer tackle is a lot worse (or better?) than I remember. A subtle knee in the :ball::ball: then to the other guy for good measure!

[CraftyToePoke]

That McAteer moment was a lot worse than my memory had stored it too. A lot.

[DeLorean]

http://ibcontent.affino.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/040/BAL9780992673253.jpg

A Different Shade of Green – The Alan McLoughlin Story (http://pogmogoal.com/the-blog-reel/a-different-shade-of-green-the-alan-mcloughlin-story/20278/)

“But it wasn’t just the physical pain. There was something else, too; a niggling feeling, an infrequent visitor which I hardly recognised at first: fear.

In the silence and the darkness, my hands clutching the steering wheel as if it was some sort of anchor to normality, I tried to pull myself together.

The first tactic which came to mind was to try and remember when the last time was that I had experienced fear like this, and how I had dealt with it then.

And with that, my mind wandered all the way back to November 1993.”

Gary Mackay’s goal for Scotland sent Ireland to Euro ’88. A facile win in Malta secured passage to our first ever World Cup in 1990. Play-offs, where the job was virtually done in the first leg, earned us the right to compete on a global stage in 2002 and 2012.

The World Cup in America was different though. Irish footballing lore is peppered with iconic goals that stay at the forefront of every Republic fan’s memory.

Whelan against USSR, McAteer against the Netherlands, Keane versus the Germans, even O’Shea in Gelsenkirchen. And another of those standout strikes came in Belfast in 1993. For the hero of that hour, his toughest fight was yet to come. His newly released autobiography has already been nominated for the Irish Sports Book of the Year.

Twenty-one years ago on November 17, Alan McLoughlin entered the cauldron of Windsor Park and scored the equalising goal against Northern Ireland – a strike which sent Jack Charlton’s team to USA ’94. A measure of McLoughlin the player

Two years ago, he entered a battle, having been diagnosed with cancer of the kidney. He then generously offered himself as a human guinea-pig for a new drug in the hope of helping others beat the disease – although the process is deleterious to his own health. A measure of McLoughlin the man

A Different Shade Of Green, The Alan McLoughlin Story (with Bryce Evans) is his tale. Now available, it has just been nominated for the Irish Sports Book of the Year 2014.

A major unhappiness in his book is at the critics who looked on him and other English-born players of Irish parents as ‘Plastic Paddies’, including Roy Keane/ Eamon Dunphy. McLoughlin was offered the chance to play for England B on the same day he accepted the call-up to Ireland B. Nothing plastic there. A measure of McLoughlin the Irishman

There’s a scene in The Charlton Years documentary charting Big Jack’s time in charge of Ireland. In a press-conference after the game in Belfast, Charlton explained how he introduced McLoughlin to the white-hot fray and the then 26-year-old had put the ball exactly where his manager wanted, and, with a smile, Jack added, “thereby justifying his existence.”

Irish people love their sporting history-makers. People like Michael Carruth, Sonia O’Sullivan, and Katie Taylor will forever be darlings of the nation. At the top of that list are Charlton and his Boys in Green who took the country on an incredible football journey through the 1990s and Alan McLoughlin rightly takes his place among the pantheon of our heroes.

In A Different Shade of Green, McLoughlin recalls:


When Jack Charlton was convinced he had money problems and offered to pay his mortgage
Being a closet ‘Red’ fan around a ‘Blue’-mad Manchester gang, which included future Oasis star, Noel Gallagher
The amusing and (slightly) unhappy ending to the USA shopping spree for Roy Keane’s Rolex watch
How he became the last football apprentice to be taken on at Old Trafford
The night Combat 18 ruined the Republic v England game in Lansdowne Road and followed it up by sending him a threatening letter at Portsmouth for his ‘treachery’ of playing for another country
Why he was terrified by a group of Belfast youths before scoring that all important World Cup qualifying goal
A love affair with Pompey that finally came good after they started out as arch enemies
The ecstasy of scoring a winning goal at Wembley and the agony of having it all thrown away because of financial irregularities at Swindon
How he controversially burst onto the international scene just before Italia ’90. In Malta, Gary Waddock, the player he replaced, was driven away in the same taxi he arrived in


Former Republic of Ireland international Alan McLoughlin was born in Manchester of Irish parents. He joined Manchester United as a youth but never played for the first team. Following his release from Old Trafford, he finally came of age playing with Swindon, his performances gaining him a late call-up to the Irish squad instead of Gary Waddock in controversial circumstances in 1990.

McLoughlin later played for a number of clubs including Southampton and Wigan but spent the longest part of his career with Portsmouth where he is now first team coach. He lives in Swindon with his wife Deby and two daughters Abby and Megan.

[Paddy Garcia]

‘With black humour, we started speculating about who would be assassinated first’
http://thescore.thejournal.ie/alan-mcloughlin-extract-ireland-northern-ireland-black-humour-1760676-Nov2014/?utm_source=twitter_self

[gastric]

Paddy, I could listen to Jack Charlton stories all day. They are always brilliant and fascinating. Love it!

[DannyInvincible]

Audio of an interview with Póg Mo Goal's Dave O'Grady: https://soundcloud.com/ybigfootballshow/alan-mcloughlin-a-different-shade-of-green

[DeLorean]

Not great Roy (Eamon?) (http://thescore.thejournal.ie/alan-mcloughlin-roy-keane-rang-apology-book-comments-1772771-Nov2014/)

[BonnieShels]

Himself and Big Niall are on OTB now.

[tetsujin1979]

1375006494790459392

[jbyrne]

that is dreadful news. really sorry to hear that.

[seanfhear]

Jeez thats bloody tough !

[paul_oshea]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2021/0325/1206024-mcloughlin-details-cancer-diagnosis/

Doesn't sound great for Alan, hopefully he doesn't lose any mobility.

[pineapple stu]

Passed away today (https://galwaybayfm.ie/sports/soccer-former-republic-of-ireland-international-alan-mcloughlin-passes-away/). Wow.

[seanfhear]

Passed away today (https://galwaybayfm.ie/sports/soccer-former-republic-of-ireland-international-alan-mcloughlin-passes-away/). Wow.
RIP. Sadly with such a serious illness I was afraid that I would be seeing such a post here.

Best Wishes to his Family and Friends.

[Fixer82]

Rest in Peace Alan McLoughlin.
What a goal by him and what a substation by Big Jack in Windsor Park that night!

[Eminence Grise]

Too soon, much too soon. I feared the worst reading the updates a few weeks ago, but you always hold out for hope.

RIP

[tetsujin1979]

1389605438308720654
hadn't seen a lot of this footage before

[passinginterest]

Such sad news. I spent so many hours trying to perfect the "Alan McLoughlin" in my back garden; chest, one hop, strike. Made me improve my left foot! No age at all to be gone, but leaves an iconic moment in our hearts.

[seanfhear]

1389605438308720654
hasn't seen a lot of this footage before
It did work the second time I tried.

[Fixer82]

Such sad news. I spent so many hours trying to perfect the "Alan McLoughlin" in my back garden; chest, one hop, strike. Made me improve my left foot! No age at all to be gone, but leaves an iconic moment in our hearts.

I did the very same. Bounce it off the wall and catch it on the chest.
In a moment where most people would have lashed their foot at that, he controlled it perfectly and just guided it into the net. I don't even think he was left footed was he?

[SkStu]

So sad. One of the few footballers who got a whole nation to jump out of their chair in joy! The memories of that goal during that cold Wednesday night in November will live on eternally. Rest in Peace Alan.

[Trequartista20]

I can't quite believe it.

Thank you for your service Alan. You played an incalculable role in our success and will always be in our hearts. We shall be eternally grateful.

[Drumcondra 69er]

Awful sad news to get yesterday. Threw a few words down in tribute, some great memories.

https://afalsefirstxi.blogspot.com/2021/05/theres-only-one-alan-mcloughlin.html

[SkStu]

Listened to this podcast on the way to work this morning. Only 20 mins or so. Touching to hear his voice and describing the impact of his cancer and his pride in pulling on the irish shirt and scoring that goal.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ddhw47uLG4WWGvYuEGYru?si=7Lkz5uOoQs2SNTqNzslVoQ

[paul_oshea]

Very sad to hear this. A lot of life left to live at 54, I suppose its only as we all get older that age doesn't seem so old.

Saw and heard of many fans meeting him out and saying he was a very unassuming, nice fella.

I can still remember fairly clearly that night, down in my neighbours, my father and next door neighbour both GAA men really, the neighbour very much so, saying ah well sure they'll have to give us something, and my young neighbour my brothers age, at the time rolling his eyes up : ) Then down in their living room and even he got up off his seat, which rarely happened at any sporting event.

Condolences to all his family and friends

[Trequartista20]

'The only time I ever saw him cry was when he recalled the end of his Ireland career'

https://www.the42.ie/alan-mcloughlin-tribute-2-5430854-May2021/

[tetsujin1979]

A personal tribute from David Squires
https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2021/may/11/david-squires-on-alan-mcloughlin-my-first-football-hero

[Eminence Grise]

Fair brings a lump to the throat even with the wan smiles. Squires gets it spot on in that last panel.