Eddie O’Mahony has always been an avid Soccer fan, and his passion for the game can be seen in every page of his book 40 Shades of Green.
How it began
His collection started in 2002, after Ireland played in the World Cup in Japan. When he was there, he was given the shirt by Stephen Meade, and bragged about it to all his friends for weeks afterward. At 22 years of age, he started to search for the Irish Soccer Museum—only to discover it didn’t exist.
He aimed to change that.
15 years later, a large chunk of Irish football history is secured and now has a home, thanks to Eddie
He has shirts from every tournament and even collected gloves, boots, jerseys and tracksuits from all the Irish soccer events to make his collection complete.
On the Book
The catalyst for the update of the website and the created of the book was James Nolan’s tragic passing at the Euros in 2012. The tragic accident his Eddie hard, as he himself had travelled to many matches when he was younger, just like James, and knew the kind of passion he must have felt for the game. He wanted a way to remember James and to express support to his family. After consulting with the Nolans, 40 Shades of Grey came to be, and is a memorial to Soccer and this young man.
The Foreword
Published by Lettertec and now on its second print run, 40 Shades of Green has been a runaway hit.
Three Ireland also gave sponsorship of the book, as have the FAI and Robbie Keane has written a fantastic foreward for the book:
“I am honoured to have been asked to write the foreword to this book, celebrating the history of the Irish football jersey over the last thirty two years. This has been a special period in the history of the Irish International team with many fantastic days and memories for the Irish supporters. I am extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to play for, and captain my country for over half of this time – it was my ultimate goal when I started out to get the chance to play for Ireland and it has been, by far, my greatest achievement.”
Favourite Shirt
When asked about his favourite shirt, Eddie seems to always insist that it is Richard Dunne’s Iconic Russian shirt, which had the Number 5 written on it in marker, was a moment that was immortalised in Irish Sporting history and Eddie believes that an Irish Soccer museum would help to show how ingrained sport is in our society.
About the book:
Charting the history of the famous Republic of Ireland International soccer shirt from Jack Charlton’s first game in charge of Ireland in 1986 until Martin O Neill’s win against Wales in Cardiff in 2017, “40 Shades of Green” by Eddie O Mahony features every example of soccer shirt worn by the Irish players over the next thirty two years. The story, as told through the medium of the fabric the actual players wore on the field of play includes Euro 88, Italia 90, USA 94, Japan & Korea 2002, Poland 2012 and France 2016.
Lettertec, and we here are Selfpublishbooks.ie, are proud and honoured to have brought this book to the market and would like congratulate Eddie on not only the fantastic book but playing a blinder.
You can hear more from Eddie on his book and working with Lettertec on his recent interview from The Ryan Tubridy show below.
40 Shades of Green is available for purchase at Lettertecbooks.com
