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When a career-ending injury saw former Ireland and Millwall striker Richie Sadlier retire from football at age 24, his life spiralled out of control. Without structure or a sense of purpose, and fuelled by a dependency on alcohol, he spent years running from the dark memories and feelings that had haunted him since childhood. Until one day he hit rock bottom and decided to confront his demons. Recovering written with Dion Fanning is about a life shaped by efforts to escape, and how it is possible to rebuild that life, piece by piece, with the right help. Inspiring and ground-breaking, it is an important reflection on the need to move away from perceptions of shame in our discussions about mental health, sex, relationships and addiction.
This book is a multifaceted reflection on sport. It is part memoir, outlining Tadhg Coakley’s time as a player and fan of sport and how it has shaped his life. It is also a book of essays critiquing several aspects of sport, both good and bad, and showing its influence in the wider world. It is also a work of auto-fiction, wherein Coakley uses his novelistic abilities to chart narratives, personal and public. It is, finally, a work of scholarship, brilliantly interweaving the author’s view of a life spent inside and outside the white lines with the cultural discourse of previous writers and thinkers on the many themes explored. The book is an exploration and explanation of what sport mea...
Mental health has become the principal concern as adolescents struggle with a host of issues such as anxiety, academic pressures, gender, substances, social media, complicated family compositions and a vulnerable planet. This book provides psychotherapists with a clear theoretical understanding and practical application for navigating the increasingly complex adolescent experience as young people adjust and respond to the present- day world. Starrs presents a contemporary understanding of adolescence, identifying three principal character styles and offering experience- near descriptions of the modernday adolescent. The author demonstrates how each configuration style in adolescence elicits ...
"Being a footballer was my destiny." After being expelled from school for playing football for his country, fifteen-year-old Liam Brady travelled to London to join Arsenal, and soon became an indispensable part of their glorious 1970s team. Rightly considered one of the Republic of Ireland's best-ever footballers, he went on to enjoy successes with Juventus, Sampdoria and West Ham, as well as managing Celtic and Brighton and Hove, and becoming assistant manager of his national team. Today he is best known for his much-respected TV punditry and searingly intelligent insights into the game he adores. Full of honest insights, amusing anecdotes and recollections of extraordinary times, with Born to be a Footballer Brady delivers a compelling story of a fifty-year career that is unparalleled in Irish sport.
THE PARENTING 'GUIDE' YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! Sleep deprivation, stray Lego underfoot, mashed potato on the walls, missing spoons and the unmatched pride that comes with being a father! From the social media sensation, this is a hilarious and painfully accurate look at what parenting really entails – in all its messy glory.
'Visualise your goals and achieve your potential.' Easy-to-follow and extremely effective, Win will change the way you think about all aspects of your life. From well-known personality and rugby commentator Brent Pope and psychotherapist and mental skills coach Jason Brennan, Win: Proven Strategies for Success in Sports, Life and Mental Health examines the mindset behind the psychology of winning and how the mental skills applied in sports can be adapted for success in everyday life. From dealing with failure, to managing stress and anxiety, to changing your definition of winning - and with interviews from some of the world's most high-profile sports stars including Ronan O'Gara, Bernard Brogan, Conrad Smith, Dean Rock, AP McCoy, Sonia O'Sullivan, Gary O'Donovan and Paul O'Donovan, Dan Carter and many others - Win looks at how you can gain confidence, achieve your goals and build lifelong inner mental strength and resilience - today.
Skulls, height, hands, legs, sex organs, blood, brains, stomachs, ears and corpses – discover Irish history anew through the utterly unique prism of the human body. From the brutal beheading of the red-headed Clonycavan Man some 2,000 years ago to the ancient skulls – believed to be those of giants – stolen from islands off Ireland's west coast, medical historian Dr Ian Miller brings readers on a delightfully gruesome journey through our rich heritage. Learn about the fears of excessive tea drinking that were once such a great cause for concern on this isle – scarcely believable! Meet the doctors who revolutionised Irish medicine in the 19th century – along with the deplorable bodysnatching that accompanied this progress. Fact and folklore intertwine seamlessly throughout, providing the reader with an endlessly fascinating account of matters historical and mythological.
A New Formation is an inventive and highly original analysis of the contributions that Black British footballers have made to Black British culture. Calum Jacobs and his co-contributors - including authors Musa Okwonga and Aniefiok Ekpoudom and sports broadcaster Jeanette Kwakye - eschew the standard frameworks of trauma and oppression that are foisted upon Black narratives. Instead, they draw upon broader social and cultural history to examine Black footballers in contexts larger than themselves. By engaging with the subtle connections between football and Black cultural expression, A New Formation reveals the vibrancy and nuance of contemporary Black life in Britain. Featuring interviews with Andy Cole, Ian Wright and Anita Asante.
The 'Rainbow Government', that was how the media described the Fine Gael, Labour and Democratic Left coalition government that John Bruton led from late 1994 to June 1997, arguably the most left wing government in the history of the state. In Under the Rainbow, Shane Kenny uses his unique perspective as government press secretary to deliver the ultimate insider account of this crucial juncture in Irish politics; a period which contained critical breakthroughs in the Northern Ireland peace process, the most high profile murder in the history of the state (Veronica Guerin), the establishment of the 'payments to politicians' tribunal, which finally exposed the sources of Charles Haughey's wealth, and a divorce referendum which heralded the dawn of a changing Ireland. With anecdotes and quotations from the author's own notes and tapes from the time, Under the Rainbow is a singular chronicle of political and economic achievement, aligned with professional and personal tragedy – a captivating mix of the atmosphere and facts of government life.
When Niall Quinn learned he was going to the 2002 World Cup with Ireland, it seemed the perfect climax to his international career. Yet even before the competition had started, Quinn was caught up in the most emotionally draining events of his career, as Ireland's World Cup campaign was rocked by Roy Keane's sudden departure. All his efforts at mediation failed, leaving him exhausted. As he worked to find a solution, Quinn looked back on his life and career, and saw echoes of his current situation. In this fascinating autobiography, updated for this edition, he recalls the all-night drinking sessions with Tony Adams and Paul Merson, the gambling, the good times and the bad. It is a remarkable story, brilliantly told.