Tom Humphries

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Tom Humphries is a sportswriter and columnist who writes for The Irish Times. He lives in Dublin with Mary and his two children, Molly and Caitlín. ^[1]

Humphries, born in London, ^[1] grew up in Raheny, on the northside of Dublin, and was educated at St. Joseph's Christian Brothers School, Fairview (alma mater of politicians Charles Haughey, John A. Costello and George Colley). Attending University College Dublin (UCD) he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Commerce and a Higher Diploma in Education. A major league students union politician, Humphries ran for the office of University College Dublin Students Union Education Officer. After teaching for a period he entered journalism.

Although acknowledged as one of Ireland's foremost sports journalists^{[citation needed]} his name came to international prominence when he interviewed Irish football player Roy Keane in Saipan in May 2002, as Ireland were preparing to take part in the World Cup in South Korea and Japan. Originally his intention had been to write an article based on the interview, but such were the nature Keane’s revelations, in particular his thoughts on the Irish team’s preparations for the World Cup and the attitude of the management, players and the FAI (Football Association of Ireland), that the article appeared as a verbatim transcript of the interview, starting on the front page of The Irish Times (an almost unheard of concession) and continuing in full on the inner pages. The resulting furore caused Keane, the preeminent Irish player of his generation, to resign from the squad at the same time as being sent home by the Irish football team manager, Mick McCarthy, before the World Cup started.

His book 'Lap Top Dancing and the Nanny Goat Mambo' was published in 2003 and was an account of his year spent covering sporting events in 2002, including the Saipan events and the Champions League Final.

Humphries covers most major sports for The Irish Times but is at his best^{[citation needed]} on Ireland’s national games, Gaelic football and hurling, as well as football and rugby. He also covers global sporting events such as the World Cups, the Olympic Games and the Ryder Cup (although he is not a fan of supporting a united European team). He is a champion of drugs-free sport and was one of the first Irish journalists to question the validity of Michelle Smith’s swimming success in the 1996 Olympics^{[citation needed]}. He is also a frequent contributor to Sports Illustrated.

Besides his regular sports reporting and feature articles, Humphries writes a Monday column in the Irish Times called 'The Locker Room', wherein he provides analysis or opinions on sporting topics of the day.

'Green Fields: Gaelic Sport in Ireland' was Humphries' first book and is an outstanding analysis^{[citation needed]} of the importance of the GAA in modern Ireland, a recurring theme of his work.

He was ghost writer on Irish footballer Niall Quinn's autobiography Niall Quinn - The Autobiography, published in 2002 and nominated for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.

A collection of his Irish Times and Sports Illustrated writings was published in 2004 as 'Booked!' and was nominated for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. All royalties from the book went to Amnesty International.

His most recent book is 'Dublin V Kerry', an account of the series of historic clashes between the two dominant teams in Gaelic Football of the mid to late 1970s.

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Author biography. In Irish Books Online - TownHouse Dublin, Ireland. Retrieved on July 20, 2006.

[edit] Bibliography

• • 'Green Fields: Gaelic Sport in Ireland (Weidenfeld Nicolson Illustrated , ISBN 978-0297835660, 1996)
  • Laptop Dancing and the Nanny Goat Mambo: A Sportswriter’s Year (Pocket Books/Town House, ISBN 1-903650-53-4, 2003)
  • Booked! (V. Carefully) Selected Writings (Town House, ISBN 1-86059-212-0, 2004)
  • Dublin V Kerry (Penguin Ireland, ISBN 1844880850, 2006)