Click here to purchase OFF CENTRE CIRCLE by Ger McCarthy
OFF CENTRE CIRCLE PRESS RELEASE
Evening Echo Publications 2009
Evening Echo Publications (Cork) Ltd is pleased to announce the launch of a new exciting title entitled Off Centre Circle By Ger McCarthy
Gerard McCarthy is 35 years old and lives with his wife Úna and daughter Caoilin in Clonakilty, West Cork, Ireland. He is a regular soccer contributor to the Evening Echo newspaper.
In 2008, yielding at last to the urgings of fellow players, referees, supporters, doctors and complete strangers, he once again announced his retirement from active playing duties following an amateur soccer career that spanned more than a decade.
The 2009 amateur soccer campaign represented his fifth consecutive year of coming out of retirement. He has since decided to take part in an Over-33s outdoor summer soccer tournament, an Over-35s winter indoor soccer competition, and make an appearance at pre-season training ahead of the 2010 West Cork soccer league.
During the course of completing this book the author sustained a dislocated shoulder, a torn muscle tendon as well as two dislocated and fractured fingers. His body aches like never before, yet he can’t wait for the new season to start.
Off Centre Circle is a witty account of life in the junior soccer leagues. The story is based in West Cork, Ireland, but it represents amateur soccer in all the countries of the world that are affiliated to FIFA. There are no superstars in junior soccer, but there are heroes and villains. The glamour of a Milan derby might attract the rich and famous to the San Siro, but can it capture the rivalry, discord and sheer antagonism of a clash between Clonakilty and Bantry Gunners with vital league points at stake?
Born and raised in Cork, the author recounts early memories of watching Match of the Day, playing Subbuteo, reading Roy of the Rovers comics and travelling to support his beloved Cork City in the Shed end of Turner’s Cross, chanting and singing with the home fans.
The book also covers the author’s early years playing Under-18 soccer, breaking into the local junior team for the first time and then fainting. Playing matches on the side of mountains with cow dung dotted around the pitch, going toe-to-toe with Vinny Jones on the Late Late Show and helping his local club rise from the bottom tier of the West Cork League to eventual Beamish Cup glory.
Anyone who has ever laced a pair of boots on the side of the road and marched on to a muddy pitch (after a night on the beer) to represent their local soccer club will forge an immediate connection with the stories and characters detailed in the book.
Click here to purchase OFF CENTRE CIRCLE by Ger McCarthy
