ROY Keane, Brian O’Driscoll, Alan McLoughlin… 2014 has seen plenty of gripping tales told about sports stars. And behind every great sports person is a great sports ghostwriter, to paraphrase the old saying.
With that in mind, we asked some of our scribes to pick out whose autobiography they’d most like to pen in the coming year.
William Porterfield
By Nemesha Balasundaram
2015 will prove a big year for Irish cricket.
No sooner will unwanted Christmas presents have been returned, wrapping paper recycled and gym memberships bought, will Ireland’s boys in green be heading down under for the Cricket World Cup.
Captain William Porterfield and his team face stiff competition in their group, not least from defending champions India.
What Porterfield has behind him is a string of impassioned performances from his team in 2014.
The year began with an impressive St Patrick’s Day victory over Zimbabwe in the World Twenty20 tournament in Bangladesh.
In September they clinched a 2-0 ODI series win at Malahide after beating Scotland by three wickets.
Importantly, Ireland’s youngsters namely Craig Young impressed.
Yes, there’s work to be done. But no one can doubt that the future of Irish cricket looks exciting.
So, the chance to tell the story of the nation’s most successful cricket captain of all time, leading run-scorer and county cricket veteran is a highly attractive prospect.
How has the perception of cricket as a mainstream sport in Ireland transformed since he took on the captaincy? Does he have plans to coach after retiring? In a country where the GAA and soccer lead the way, when and why did he first pick up a cricket bat?
There are endless questions, and no doubt endless answers.
Recounting Porterfield’s journey is one where I’d be keen to get on board.
Dougie Costello
By Robert Mulhern
Too often the tale of high achievers in sport is the focus of ghostwriters, but the stories of those hammering out a living just below that level of excellence can be far more interesting.
The only child to a single mum who grew up on a tough Galway Council Estate, Costello was not born into a racing dynasty — a leg-up many of the sports elite were granted as a birth-right.
Instead he took the long way round, a journey of wide corners and thousands of miles, sometimes covered in one weekend between tracks in the US and England.
If you’ve read his excellent column in this paper over the last five years, you will have some understanding of what life is like on the road for this humble but utterly committed horseman.
If you haven’t, then get reading because unfortunately, tomes of this nature are not readily welcomed by publishers.
Gary Doherty
By Ned Keating
For me there’s one man whose career might be considered that of a journeyman, but some say he represents everyman.
A former Tottenham Hotspur player and Ireland international now plying his trade in a lesser league.
I hope you’re not thinking of Robbie Keane.
Who wouldn’t want to hear about Gary Doherty, the man from Carndonagh in Co. Donegal who went from the tip of Ireland to the top of football?
Stories from his playing career will include how he set the then Division Two alight as a striker with a whopping 12 goals in 70 games. It’s no wonder Spurs forked out £1million.
He’ll also talk about how his move to centre-back whilst at Tottenham helped him win his greatest honour later in his career — 2006 Norwich City Player of the Year.
There’ll also be tales from his private life, such as the time when he asked my dad to pass him a pizza in Tesco (other supermarkets are available).
As for the name of the autobiography, there is one moniker that has stuck with him throughout his career, from his early days with Luton Town to his current club Wycombe Wanderers.
The Ginger Pelé. Out 2015.
Cathal McCarron
By James Martin
The former Tyrone All-Star nominee has in the past 12 months spent two spells playing club football in London, including a period where he turned out for the county side.
The Dromore native has had widely-reported personal problems, which were the catalyst for him coming to England, and which would have no benefit in being repeated here.
Over the past few years, the 26-year-old has not said a word in public. Purely from a journalist’s point of view, this would provide a great opportunity for exclusive lines and angles to explore.
This is a man, after all, who famously kept Dublin’s Bernard Brogan scoreless as the Red Hands reached the National League Final less than two years ago.
His story would be likely to attract huge amounts of interest in Ireland and further afield.
It was recently announced that McCarron has returned to training with the Tyrone seniors and would not be speaking with the mainstream media for the foreseeable future.
Therefore, it might not be a great surprise if an autobiography does appear on the shelves next autumn.
Carl Frampton
By Rob Brennan
The main man in Irish boxing right now is Carl Frampton.
The 27-year-old, from Tigers Bay in Belfast, is managed by Barry McGuigan and was crowned world champion in May following an impressive performance against Kiko Martinez.
Frampton goes by the nickname ‘The Jackal’ and splits his time between Belfast and London, where he prepares for fights at McGuigan’s gym in Battersea.
Despite growing up in one of the most loyalist areas of Belfast, Frampton isn’t one for religion or politics.
He does most of his talking with his fists, but possesses a razor sharp sense of humour as displayed by his witty interactions with amateur boxing star Paddy Barnes.
The Frampton story has a long way to go, but the journey to this point needs to be told.
See More: 2015, Ghost Writing, Sports Autobiographies
