Booze Boys

"Italia 90 was indeed the greatest excuse ever to go drinking in the history of Ireland... There is hardly a man alive in Ireland who does not have some blissful memory of being terribly, terribly drunk during Italia 90." It would be tempting to add, that was just the squad.

In Episode Twenty Seven of the Blizzard Podcast we look back to Dion Fanning's 'Booze Boys' from Issue Eleven, which looks at Ireland's 'complicated' relationship with alcohol - from the euphemistic 'Paul McGrath's knees' through to Giovanni Trapattoni bopping Andy Reid over the head with a copy of Gazzetto della Sport, via the meltdown in Saipan, Ireland and its footballers have a long relationship with the demon drink.

Dion Fanning is the football correspondent of the Irish Sunday Independent. He was nominated as Irish Sports Columnist of the Year and Irish Sports Journalist of the Year in 2012 and 2013. He lives in London.

For more information on our Q&A event in Dublin on 3rd March, mentioned at the beginning of the episode, featuring a panel of Jonathan Wilson, Philippe Auclair and James Horncastle, head to www.theblizzard.co.uk/events. Podcast listeners can save 10% on ticket prices by using the code 'blizzarddub' at the checkout.

If you have any feedback comments or suggestions email podcast@theblizzard.co.uk or find us on Twitter @blzzrd.

Issue Eleven, like all issues of The Blizzard, is available on a pay-what-you-like basis from www.theblizzard.co.uk. Digital downloads cost as little as 1p each (RRP £3), while print versions are available from £6 + postage (RRP £12). You can also find us on the Kindle and Google Play stores.