I noted on another thread that Terry Venables was the longest surviving England football manager and this piqued my curiosity as to how many former Eire managers are still alive.
Eire managers are a hardy bunch and are almost all still hanging on, right back to Mick Meagan, the first man to hold the position (1969-71).
But for some reason I thought, before doing a fact check, that Eoin Hand had died some years ago. I think I may have subconsciously confused Eoin with Liam Tuohy* and Ray Treacy, both of whom sadly passed away recently. However I was pleased to find out that Eoin is still alive and well and this perked me up a little after the sad news of Graham Taylor’s passing.
*Liam Tuohy, who passed away in August 2016, was in fact the first and so far only permanent Eire manager to do so.
I’m the same, I was absolutely convinced Eoin Hand died about 2 years ago and have an image in my mind of the RTE website carrying the story with a black and white photo of him in an Ireland tracksuit, glasses and all. Bizarre. I’m delighted that Mr Hand is still with us and long may he reign.
i) Former Liberal Democrats leader Sir Menzies “Ming” Campbell. I thought he had died and then almost had to be picked up off the floor in astonishment when he appeared on BBC’s general election coverage. In this case I believe I subconsciously confused him with former father of the house Tam Dalyell, also a Scottish Liberal Democrat, who died recently.
ii) Former Dublin City manager Frank Feely. I saw a “Scannal” programme about the Wood Quay excavations in the late 1970s/early 1980s, made in 2011, the other night and he appeared on it. I assumed he had died since then and was sure I had heard of his death in news reports. This appears not to be so, as an INTERNET search brings up no record of his death. In this case, I believe I may have subconsciously confused him with George Redmond.
