Tony O'Donoghue was our guest on this week's football show, and you can listen to the interview below. It was a wide-ranging chat, as we touched on the highlights of Tony's career, along with his relationship with Martin O'Neill and his stint managing a band in the 1980s.
When conversation strayed to the topic of his post-match interviews with RTE, there was one we could not ignore. It came after Ireland's recent friendly with Oman (well, the most recent one), which also marked Robbie Keane's final game in an Irish shirt.
At the end of his final post-match press interview with RTE, Keane embraced O'Donoghue, having said it was honour to be interviewed by the RTE correspondent, with Keane also referencing Tony's successful recovery from cancer.
You can watch it below:
O'Donoghue recalls it fondly, although admits that he didn't realise it was going out live:
I'm still kind of embarrassed about that, to be honest. On that interview, I was certain that the cameraman, Eamon Taggart, would have turned off the camera by then. He's always complaining about how heavy the bloomin' thing is on his shoulder, and how long it takes me to do these bloody interviews. I thought the interview was over, and the camera was off, but it was a lovely moment.
It was not preconceived, or anything, and I'm a little embarrassed about it still, but for Robbie to think in those moments...and I must say that when I was sick a few years ago, quite a few of the players were very good for getting in touch. But for Robbie to remember that, considering where his career has gone in the last few years, and the places he has been, it shows the character of the man.
Superb. Listen to the full interview on the podcast.
