Tony Grealish RIP

[CraftyToePoke]

Greatly saddened by this news today, too young to properly remember his performances in green at the time, but as said above, the bearded player in the now old retro kit was one of my first iconic memories of an Irish player.

He had that bit of presence.

RIP

[gastric]

Here is a clip on Tony in action versus Netherlands, and a legendary Lawrenson goal. The match was played in near darkness IIRC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=JVAl5XgOxiQ

I've no sound at work but I'm 99pc sure the Dutch goalscorer was a guy called Simon Tahamata.

Jeez Stutt, you brought back memories. It was certainly Tahamata who came on as a sub and scored. Little bloke of Surinamese origin. He was talked of as being the next big thing in Dutch football, but it wasn't to be. Showing my age again!
Grealish was always consistent for Ireland and his wonder goal against Cyprus is one I will always remember, IMO, among the best Irish goals ever scored.

God bless you Tony.

[Crosby87]

Some more reaction from former manager:
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/socc...lish-1.1370068

[eitoof]

Desperately sad news.
Tony and Dave Langan were my two favourite Irish players when I was a kid.
RIP.

[OwlsFan]

I heard Gary Stevens, Sligo Rovers Football CLub's (as he kept calling them), assistant manager, talking about Tony G on RTE Radio and he paid great tribute to him. He spoke about how Tony G wore Steve Foster's headband when he captained Brighton in the Cup Final against Manchester United in 1983. This opened old wounds for me as Brighton had beaten Jack Charlton's 1st Division Sheffield Wednesday at Highbury in the semi-final with Michael Robinson scoring the winner. Stevens said in those days you had to be a good player to get 40+ caps for Ireland. Not sure if he was having a dig at the current players.

I used to have a picture of Tony G on my wall in an Irish jersey which appeared in a football magazine called GOAL. Shame he just missed out on the Ole Ole era. Respect!

[paul_oshea]

Jeez Stutt, you brought back memories. It was certainly Tahamata who came on as a sub and scored. Little bloke of Surinamese origin. He was talked of as being the next big thing in Dutch football, but it wasn't to be. Showing my age again!
Grealish was always consistent for Ireland and his wonder goal against Cyprus is one I will always remember, IMO, among the best Irish goals ever scored.

God bless you Tony.

Outdone Stutts.

[Stuttgart88]

It's not a competition, jeepers.

I think we all wish we had a Grealish in the fold these days, a player whose commitment, honesty and hard work is something missing from today's generation. Often these terms are a euphemism for lack of real talent but Grealish was an integral part of our team, in a way he was our Didier Deschamps. 8 goals from 45 caps is an impressive haul for a midfielder in any event. I think there's a bit of the Grealish attitude and spirit in the likes of Kilbane and Andrews. It's a shame we don't have more of them.

[Noelys Guitar]

Very sad news. Definetely a hero of mine. The goal against Belgium at home when it seemed to take an lifetime to get over the line. Very popular player with the fans.

[geysir]

In later years I was talking about that game with a few Dutch fans and I asked them who was that guy who scored for the Dutch, back came "Ruud Gullit".

There was another game that Grealish played against Iceland at Lansdowne Rd 1982, I can't remember what the game was before that in the qual group but it was a downer and Hand asked the players to make a 'statement'. It was unmerciful from the kick off as the tackles went flying in, Grealish in particular was relentless, no quarter was given, the Icelanders were kicked up and down the park, the crowd were roaring for more blood. Grealish scored 2, one was disallowed.

[Stuttgart88]

The Gullitt game was at Dalyer. We were 2 up and I think Gullitt scored twice and we lost 3-2. There were scores of people on the shed roof and the PA announcer was begging people to get off the roof. As a consequence half the crowd missed one of Gullitt's goals.

[Irwin3]

RIP. Read plenty of good things about him on a Luton forum. Here are his two goals for them.

Nods in the second goal vs. Charlton
http://www.itnsource.com/en/shotlist...wn&st=0&pn=3#1

Cracker from 30 yards vs. Chelsea.
http://www.itnsource.com/en/shotlist...lsea&st=0&pn=1

[OwlsFan]

It's not a competition, jeepers.

I think we all wish we had a Grealish in the fold these days, a player whose commitment, honesty and hard work is something missing from today's generation. Often these terms are a euphemism for lack of real talent but Grealish was an integral part of our team, in a way he was our Didier Deschamps. 8 goals from 45 caps is an impressive haul for a midfielder in any event. I think there's a bit of the Grealish attitude and spirit in the likes of Kilbane and Andrews. It's a shame we don't have more of them.

Glen Whelan ?

[Drumcondra 69er]

Glen Whelan ?

I'd never be as critical of Whelan as many are but to my mind Grealish had more impact in midfield when he played. You could argue that the respective managers tactics have something to do with that mind you.

[Stuttgart88]

I singled out Andrews because he has a bit of Grealish's bite. In terms of commitment I'd certainly be happy to include Whelan but I don't think Whelan has the same impact, though as D69er says, Trap probably accounts for a lot of that. Kinsella is another with Grealish's attributes.

[Lionel Ritchie]

Condolences to the Grealish family. A great servant of the green jersey taken too young.

[geysir]

There was a bit of a tribute to Grealish on the RTE CL program, they included a montage of some of his action on the pitch.
Clearly Brady was somewhat shocked and deeply saddened by the news of the passing away of a friend, he hadn't a clue that he was ill, never mind the seriousness. Tony probably kept his illness within the family.

[paul_oshea]

Do you think that "Football friends" just lose touch after a while?

[geysir]

Brady did say that Tony was good friend, probably means more than a football friend. He also said that Tony was in Spain the last time they had contact.
It's normal enough for even good friends to lose regular contact, especially when one moves country.

[Drumcondra 69er]

There was a bit of a tribute to Grealish on the RTE CL program, they included a montage of some of his action on the pitch.
Clearly Brady was somewhat shocked and deeply saddened by the news of the passing away of a friend, he hadn't a clue that he was ill, never mind the seriousness. Tony probably kept his illness within the family.

Anyone got a link, not up on the RTE player.

[tetsujin1979]

John Giles discussed his passing last night on Off The Ball - http://media.newstalk.ie/listen_back...sday_part1.mp3
Starts at 23:40

Interesting comments from Giles about what he thought about calling up players who had qualified for the side, and how Mark Lawrenson was given his call up