There’s no chance of playing football for the foreseeable future but there’s plenty on television to keep fanatics occupied.
The Boys In Green, now available on the RTÉ Player, tells the story of the greatest era in the history of Irish football as the achievements of Jack Charlton’s team put the Republic of Ireland on the global map.
From a similar era, one of the world’s greatest ever players graced the global stage. At 9 pm this evening (Tuesday, March 21st) on Channel 4, the documentary Diego Maradona profiles the superstar Argentinean footballer. Constructed from over 500 hours of never-before-seen footage from Maradona’s personal archive, the film focuses on his seven years playing for Napoli in the 1980s, where he was signed for a record-breaking fee and became one of the sport’s most celebrated icons before his career took a darker turn.
At 10.25 pm this evening over on BBC One, Match of the Day: Top 10 Podcasts sees Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Ian Wright debate the greatest captains of the Premier League era. Wonder if a certain Cork man will feature?
Virgin Media Sport is showing highlights of the 2007 European Cup final between AC Milan and Liverpool in Athens (the other final, you might say), as well as the 2012 final between Bayern and Chelsea in Munich. It starts at 8.30 pm this evening.
Finally, tomorrow afternoon (Sunday, March 22nd), part two of the FA Cup Quarter-Final Classics starts at 3.10 pm on BBC 1. This show centres on Everton’s meeting with Ipswich in 1985, when Howard Kendall’s Toffees, the cup holders, faced a side struggling at the wrong end of the table. Did the FA Cup make a mockery of league positions? Derby and Sheffield Wednesday were also involved in an equally intriguing and entertaining tie at the Baseball Ground in 1993, while Manchester United, the eventual league champions from the 2007-08 campaign, take on Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth side at Old Trafford in the final game featured.