Have you read about the day Eamon Dunphy went for a drink in London with George Best? Or the day Paul Kimmage sat down with Roy Keane in Saipan? Or the story about Paul O’Connell and the Superman tee-shirt? Have you met Hurling Man? Do you know why prop forwards rule the roost in Rugby Hell? Or why a famous goal brought so much misery to the man who scored it? These stories and many more can be found in a new collection, On The Seventh Day, an anthology of some of the best sports writing published in Ireland over the last thirty years.

There is a literary quality to the best of sports writing - a refusal to dumb down. The cliché that fans are some kind of one-dimensional bozos is largely a creation of people who know little about sport and less about those who are passionate about it. These are the kind of people who have espoused a ban on alcohol sponsorship in sport but not in the arts because the more refined types are wiser to the dangers of alcohol than the ruffian hordes who go to football games. On the Seventh Day showcases some of the best of Irish sports writing, and features undoubted stars of the genre like Paul Kimmage, Eamon Dunphy and David Walsh. Kimmage’s remarkable piece, `Inside the team that Mick built’, which tells the story of Ireland’s memorable win over Holland in 2001, opens the book and sets the tone for a stunning collection of articles spanning the years from Euro 88 to the summer of 2018. Featured writers also include Eamonn Sweeney, Joe Brolly, Neil Francis, Colm O’Rourke, Brendan Fanning, Marie Crowe, Anthony Cronin, Dion Fanning, Richard Sadlier, Cliona Foley, Tommy Conlon, and Mick Doyle, covering the GAA, soccer, rugby, golf, athletics, horse racing, boxing, snooker and more. On The Seventh Day explores anger, joy, humour, sadness, pity, tragedy, beauty; there are memories, controversies and celebrations; tales of addiction and tales of redemption. Together, the pieces, which are taken from the pages of the Sunday Independent over the last three decades, show how truly great sports writing stands the test of time.

John Greene is the sports editor of the Sunday Independent. He was previously deputy sports editor for the Irish Independent, having begun his career with The Longford Leader. John was educated at St Mel's College, Longford, and has a BA from Trinity College Dublin and an MA from DCU.