Tony Cascarino

Anthony Guy 'Tony' Cascarino (born 1 September 1962 in St Paul's Cray, Orpington, Kent, England) is an former association football player who played as a forward for various British and French clubs and internationally for the Republic of Ireland national team, with whom he competed in the 1988 European Football Championship and two World Cups in 1990 and 1994.

Since retirement, he has presented on TalkSPORT radio and written for both The Times and Ireland's Hot Press magazine. He has worked for both Sky Sports in England and TV3 and Today FM in Ireland. He departed Sky Sports in mid-2011 after describing Arsenal footballer Armand Traore's performance in a game against Manchester United as a "holocaust". He has since denied any allegations of anti-semitism. After this he went on to win Celebrity Bainisteoir.

Football

Club career

Cascarino joined Gillingham in 1982 from Crockenhill.^[2] He went on to play for Millwall the club he supported as a boy. Millwall had missed an opportunity to sign Cascarino as a youngster and subsequently paid The Gills £225,000 to secure his services. He went on to play for Aston Villa - where he was the club's record signing at £1.1 million in early 1990, Celtic and Chelsea, playing in the 1994 FA Cup Final for the latter.

However, his most successful years were with Olympique de Marseille and Nancy in the French Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. A testament to his transformation while in French football, Cascarino was known by the nickname "Tony Goal" throughout France.

He retired from playing at the end of the 1999-2000 season, in his 38th year.

International career

Cascarino was born in England but represented the Republic of Ireland, qualifying through his Irish grandfather. However, he later revealed that his mother told him in 1996 that she was adopted and therefore no blood relative to the grandfather. Cascarino said in his autobiography: "I didn't qualify for Ireland. I was a fraud. A fake Irishman". The adoption of his mother gained her the right to Irish citizenship and he was eligible.^[3]

Cascarino scored nineteen goals in eighty-eight international appearances, and he was for a time Ireland's record caps holder. His aerial prowess fitted well with the long ball style of the team. Cascarino was an integral part of the teams that took part in the European Championship in 1988 and World Cup in 1990 and 1994. In the latter competition, given the injury to Niall Quinn, Cascarino was expected to lead the Irish attack, but suffered an injury in the approach to the games and was only able to manage a late cameo performance in the defeat against Holland.

Cascarino played his last international game against Turkey in late 1999, as Ireland failed to reach UEFA Euro 2000. He got into a brawl with a Turkish defender and left the pitch showing the scars of battle. This marked the end of an international career which had spanned 14 years at the highest level.^[4]

Retirement

Since retiring from football, Cascarino has become a semi-professional poker player, having appeared in the television series Celebrity Poker Club and commentating on the PartyPoker Poker Den. He has become something of a cult figure and was referenced in the song "All Your Kayfabe Friends" by Welsh band Los Campesinos! where the singer tells that "You asked if I'd be anyone from history / Fact or fiction, dead or alive / I said I'd be Tony Cascarino, circa 1995."

In December 2008 Cascarino was arrested for allegedly assaulting and threatening to kill his wife, French-born Virginie, who is the mother of two of his children. Cascarino divorced his previous wife, mother of two other children, after impregnating Virginie.^[5]

In 2011, he participated in season 4 of Celebrity Bainisteoir managing Killeshin GAA Club, Laois, which went on to win Celebrity Bainisteoir 2011,^[6] beating Paul Gogarty's Oughterard team after extra-time in the final to win the show.^[7][8]

Autobiography

Cascarino produced an autobiography,^[9] which received great critical acclaim.^[10]

The book detailed his love of gambling, particularly playing all forms of poker, and revealed that his career had been blighted by crippling self-doubt, which he summarised as the "little voice".^[9] The book also candidly refers to his shame over his infidelities^[9] and of leaving his wife, Sarah and two sons, Michael and Teddy (who was named after Cascarino's former Millwall team-mate Teddy Sheringham) and muses: "...maybe, just maybe, I was so wrapped up in my newfound celebrity that I'd become immune to the suffering I was causing".

He also revealed that during his time at Marseille, he and many other of the club's players were injected by club president Bernard Tapie's personal physician with an unknown substance. The physiotherapist at the time insisted the substance was legal and would provide an "adrenaline boost". Cascarino claimed that most players accepted the injections^[9] and that "it definitely made a difference: I felt sharper, more energetic, hungrier for the ball". He also later admitted suffering from depression. His popularity amongst Marseille fans has been damaged by these revelations.

References

External links

• Tony Cascarino at the Internet Movie Database
• Tony Cascarino career stats at Soccerbase
• Tony Cascarino Hendon Mob poker tournament results
• Tony Cascarino French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
• talkSPORT interview
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