Who is/was Ireland's most famous sports star?

FixdePitchmark

I'm biased .

But is mma truly a global sport ?

Golf is
Nike is
And Rory the figure head of golf / Nike for a good 5/6 years.

Can't imagine McGregor is big in some eastern countries but can imagine Rory on a billboards anywhere in the world.

Could be wrong.

Franz Von Peppercorn

SoundsRight wrote: »

MacGregor would be the most famous sportsman, if you classify cage fighting as a sport.

Otherwise, it would be Georgie Best. Shout outs to BOD, Hurricane Higgins, Barry McGuigan and Eamon Delaney.

George best wasn’t known around the world. Roy Keane would have been better known in his day.

FixdePitchmark

I'd be slow to say Roy . No doubt top 3/4 most talented. But soccer is strange . The global stars in soccer are another level of famous.

Messi , Ronaldo , maradona, zidane

You can be exceptionally good at soccer . But soccer can be a bit parochial in UK and Ireland.

Didn't help Roy that he ****ed off in world cup.

Marcus Rashford

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Just for the record it doesn’t say ROI it says Ireland’s most famous sports star

And to be clear for any slow learners - Ireland is an island that comprises 2 jurisdictions. NI and ROI

No, the ordinary meaning of “Ireland” is the Republic of Ireland.

Otherwise, you should say “the island of Ireland”.

Beechwoodspark

Marcus Rashford wrote: »

No, the ordinary meaning of “Ireland” is the Republic of Ireland.

Otherwise, you should say “the island of Ireland”.

Not at all. Ireland means the island of Ireland.

Not getting into this as it’s off topic.

gormdubhgorm

Marcus Rashford wrote: »

No, the ordinary meaning of “Ireland” is the Republic of Ireland.

Otherwise, you should say “the island of Ireland”.

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Not at all. Ireland means the island of Ireland.

Not getting into this as it’s off topic.

Actually in the consitution De Valera deliberately did not mention the Republic of Ireland it was 'Eire' or 'Ireland' - article 4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Ireland#Name_of_the_state


Then in the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 it got a bit foggy.
Ireland's official constitutional name is still 'Ireland' in English, or 'Eire' in Irish.
But it's 'description' was said to be the 'Republic of Ireland'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland_Act_1948

So we end up with this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_Irish_state#Legal_description

Either way Conor McGregor is the most famous unofficial King of Eire/Ireland/Republic of Ireland.
I wonder what De Valera would have thought of him? :rolleyes:

Beasty

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

George best wasn’t known around the world. Roy Keane would have been better known in his day.

At that time there was probably only Pele who could be considered a global star, and even then he would have been largely unknown in places like Eastern Europe, Asia and North America

Football is a truly global sport nowadays - there was no such sport in the days of B&W television, 1 or 2 TV channels and news being mainly local and national, and rarely covering stories outside these islands.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Beasty wrote: »

At that time there was probably only Pele who could be considered a global star, and even then he would have been largely unknown in places like Eastern Europe, Asia and North America

Football is a truly global sport nowadays - there was no such sport in the days of B&W television, 1 or 2 TV channels and news being mainly local and national, and rarely covering stories outside these islands.

Yes. And Roy was captain of the premiership’s biggest brand - Man United - at their most successful and famous.

Ireland in Saipan was probably a bigger issue precisely because it involved Keane.

Zubeneschamali

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

What about McGregor?

If he was involved in a real sport, maybe.

spyderski

Has anyone mentioned Jonathan Rea? 4 x World Superbike Champion, he'd be far better known abroad than he is here. Not in the same league as McGregor or McIlroy, but far more famous internationally than some others previously mentioned.

Strumms

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

George best wasn’t known around the world. Roy Keane would have been better known in his day.

If Best had have been around in the days of sky sports, the internet / social media etc. he would have been a global and possibly interplanetary sensation.

gormdubhgorm

Strumms wrote: »

If Best had have been around in the days of sky sports, the internet / social media etc. he would have been a global and possibly interplanetary sensation.

I am not sure about that he did not seem like the nicest fella in the world, there were constant excuses made for him both on and off the pitch.
He probably would have crashed and burned sooner in today's world more temptation, easy access to vices.

Zubeneschamali

Strumms wrote: »

If Best had have been around in the days of sky sports, the internet / social media etc. he would have been a global and possibly interplanetary sensation.

It's possible he was an interplanetary sensation, how would we know whose posters the girls on Mars pinned up?

Strumms

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

I am not sure about that he did not seem like the nicest fella in the world, there were constant excuses made for him both on and off the pitch.
He probably would have crashed and burned sooner in today's world more temptation, easy access to vices.

I’m not saying his life wouldn’t have ended up on a similar trajectory but his talent would have been exposed to and appreciated by a wider audience. People in Salvador, Brazil could sit down and watch George Best run rings around the league at lunch as we make dinner...exposure.

Strumms

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

It's possible he was an interplanetary sensation, how would we know whose posters the girls on Mars pinned up?

Could have been Cyril Regis, we’ll never know !

Tombo2001

Beasty wrote: »

At that time there was probably only Pele who could be considered a global star, and even then he would have been largely unknown in places like Eastern Europe, Asia and North America

Football is a truly global sport nowadays - there was no such sport in the days of B&W television, 1 or 2 TV channels and news being mainly local and national, and rarely covering stories outside these islands.

I would question that; however I'd say a major difference between now and 50 years ago was that back then footballers became famous through the World Cup.

Everyone in Europe and South America tuned into it. (Not sure about elsewhere).

George Best never played at the World Cup.

The big names at the world cup would have been the likes of Eusebio, Pele, Bobby Moore & Gordon Banks, Gerd Muller, Cruyff and so on.

Mario Kempes, Geoff Hurst, Toto Schillachi and Paolo Rossi would be very good examples of players that didnt necessarily have stellar club careers, but achieved worldwide fame through their exploits at the world cup.

For absolute sure, English Premier League Soccer is now a near global product. I remember visiting Thailand 20 years ago, taxi driver picked us up wearing a Sheffield Wednesday away jersey.....

As such, keane would have been very well known. Probably though the big difference between soccer and MMA would be the number of footballers - Keane would be well known, but probably there are equally maybe 200-300 other footballers in the past 30 years who are equally well known. To people outside Ireland/ UK, he is a name, the equivalent of us knowing Bixente Lizarazu or Oliver Kahn.

Whereas McGregor is the face of MMA, he is a media personality; people know a lot about McGregor. Again - thats where debate comes into it, is McGregor known for his big mouth or for his sporting achievements. Its much moreso the former......hard to debate otherwise (and there nothing wrong with that). Lots of MMA fighters have achieved more in their sport, and are not well known at all.

Sephiroth_dude

Mod

Beechwoodspark you were told not to post in this thread again, take a week off for ignoring mod instruction.

partyguinness

People suggesting Eoin Morgan and the exposure in India. Fair enough in terms of numbers but how many in India etc associate him with being Irish?

Not many- he is an English cricket player.

This is a guy who turned his back on playing for his country to line up for 'God Save the Queen' for personal glory and career advancement. Say no more.

Funnily enough I am willing to suggest that most people in Ireland could not pick Eoin Morgan out of a line up.

eagle eye

Totally agree that if George Best was the best footballer playing in Britain in today's social media age that he would be the biggest Irish sports star and maybe even most well known person.

salmocab

partyguinness wrote: »

People suggesting Eoin Morgan and the exposure in India. Fair enough in terms of numbers but how many in India etc associate him with being Irish?

Not many- he is an English cricket player.

This is a guy who turned his back on playing for his country to line up for 'God Save the Queen' for personal glory and career advancement. Say no more.

Funnily enough I am willing to suggest that most people in Ireland could not pick Eoin Morgan out of a line up.

The question doesn’t exclude who he plays for or the sport it’s in or even if anyone at all in Ireland has heard of him. It’s purely a numbers game and he is surely well up there.

citytillidie

partyguinness wrote: »

People suggesting Eoin Morgan and the exposure in India. Fair enough in terms of numbers but how many in India etc associate him with being Irish?

Not many- he is an English cricket player.

This is a guy who turned his back on playing for his country to line up for 'God Save the Queen' for personal glory and career advancement. Say no more.

Funnily enough I am willing to suggest that most people in Ireland could not pick Eoin Morgan out of a line up.

He choose England simply because there was no top class cricket ie Ireland were not a test playing nation at the time he was breaking through.

partyguinness

citytillidie wrote: »

He choose England simply because there was no top class cricket ie Ireland were not a test playing nation at the time he was breaking through.

Yeah I think we all get that thanks.

Marcus Rashford

partyguinness wrote: »

citytillidie wrote: »

He choose England simply because there was no top class cricket ie Ireland were not a test playing nation at the time he was breaking through.

Yeah I think we all get that thanks.

In circumstances where your own country doesn’t actually compete and you’re a world class player, what reasonable person wouldn’t play for someone else?

What’s the alternative? “Feck that, I’m a rabid republican, I’ll just take up another sport”?!

partyguinness

Marcus Rashford wrote: »

In circumstances where your own country doesn’t actually compete and you’re a world class player, what reasonable person wouldn’t play for someone else?

What’s the alternative? “Feck that, I’m a rabid republican, I’ll just take up another sport”?!

I didn't see George Best, Ryan Giggs, Johnny Giles jumping across trying to play for England.

Sergio Parisse would have had more international success if he played for Argentina. But let's not derail the thread.

DEFTLEFTHAND

partyguinness wrote: »

People suggesting Eoin Morgan and the exposure in India. Fair enough in terms of numbers but how many in India etc associate him with being Irish?

Not many- he is an English cricket player.

This is a guy who turned his back on playing for his country to line up for 'God Save the Queen' for personal glory and career advancement. Say no more.

Funnily enough I am willing to suggest that most people in Ireland could not pick Eoin Morgan out of a line up.

Ed Joyce and Morgan are the ones that people without even a passing interest in the game have usually heard of. Both made headlines when they switched to play for England, although Joyce subsequently returned yrs later.

Test cricket is the elite of the game. You couldn't really blame them at the time.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Marcus Rashford wrote: »

Best, McIlroy, Frampton, Clarke, and Dunlop aren’t Irish in the truest sense.

Truest sense of what though? His heritage is Irish, McIlroy family are an ancient northern clan.

There's a sizeable portion of Catholics in the north who are not nationalist.

partyguinness

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Truest sense of what though? His heritage is Irish, McIlroy family are an ancient northern clan.

There's a sizeable portion of Catholics in the north who are not nationalist.

What he is saying is that being Protestant does not count as real Irish although McIlroy is Catholic but a bit of a Jackeen. Partitionist protagonists would be proud.

Tombo2001

partyguinness wrote: »

People suggesting Eoin Morgan and the exposure in India. Fair enough in terms of numbers but how many in India etc associate him with being Irish?

Not many- he is an English cricket player.

This is a guy who turned his back on playing for his country to line up for 'God Save the Queen' for personal glory and career advancement. Say no more.

Funnily enough I am willing to suggest that most people in Ireland could not pick Eoin Morgan out of a line up.

Sorry.

You are 100% wrong there.

He is an Irish player who plays for England.

Big difference.

As regards your other comment - if Kevin Kilbane got kicked out of a pub in Coventry or Sunderland because he lined out for a country that had a militaristic anti-British national anthem; I'm fairly sure you'd be outraged.....

Complete double standard, its gas the anti British thing, when English players have been coming over to play for us for decades. Its mad really as a feature in Irish society that this sort of hypocrisy goes so completely unchallenged.

Tombo2001

partyguinness wrote: »

I didn't see George Best, Ryan Giggs, Johnny Giles jumping across trying to play for England.

Sergio Parisse would have had more international success if he played for Argentina. But let's not derail the thread.

(I) So winning a European cup with Man U (an English Club!) isnt an opportunity to play at the highest level in the sport.

(II) Johnny Giles and Georgie Best didnt have that opportunity, because the rules were and are different in soccer.

RoryMac

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Sorry.

You are 100% wrong there.

He is an Irish player who plays for England.

Big difference.

As regards your other comment - if Kevin Kilbane got kicked out of a pub in Coventry or Sunderland because he lined out for a country that had a militaristic anti-British national anthem; I'm fairly sure you'd be outraged.....

Complete double standard, its gas the anti British thing, when English players have been coming over to play for us for decades. Its mad really as a feature in Irish society that this sort of hypocrisy goes so completely unchallenged.

Bit of a contradiction no?

How can you be an Irish player who plays for England?