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1/12/07, 5:15 PM EST
A REVIEW BY MARIE-CLAIRE McGANN
How an English Goalie Helped Teen Escape From Abyss of 'The Troubles' | ||||||||||||||||||||
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has earned considerable prestige from his 1997 compilation of eyewitness accounts of the Jan. 30, 1972, massacre that beset his boyhood hometown of Derry. His latest book, "Gordon Banks: A Hero Who Could Fly," does not, however, explore Ireland's "Troubles" nor is it, despite appearances, a book simply on renowned British football goalkeeper Gordon Banks. His is a simple story of the author's love and admiration for those who influenced his life. Not solely a homage to Banks, it is also a tribute to his father, son, and childhood best friend.
As such it is a universal tale. Still, what distinguishes this book is the improbability of Mullan, who lived in the republican stronghold of the Creggan Estate, adopting Banks as his lifelong hero. Banks, writes Mullan, was his bridge to the "other side" of Ireland's 800-year-old conflict. All held in his precious scrapbook, young Mullan treasured every stage of Banks' life.
| Gordon Banks: A Hero Who Could Fly By Don Mullan Foreword by Gabriel Byrne A Little Book Company (March 2006) 128 pages ISBN: 0954704738 Price: € 9.99/19.99 |
, when Banks, who later was awarded a knighthood, helped lead England to victory. It then follows the subsequent 40 years of Mullan's life — a span punctuated by deaths of loved ones and fatherhood, all with constant references to and mirroring of Banks, culminating with his face-to-face interview with England's "greatest goalkeeper."
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| Photo By Aoife O'Donnell Gordon Banks and Don Mullan at last summer's Dublin launch of 'A Hero Who Could Fly." |
. Mullan gives a first-hand account of that dark day's events, while also delineating the violent conflict and all that it wrought, including a raid on his house. However, the book does not dwell on such occurrences, just as the young Mullan did not. Football, friends and Banks were his refuge — and so very little of the troubles are covered within the book. Growing up amid army raids on his house and gun battles outside his window at night, Mullan found a sense of normalcy, and inspiration and hope, in contemplating Stoke City's Banks and his on-field exploits. So when gun battles broke out on his estate, Mullan lay awake in bed facing posters of his hero, whose face was lit up by the army flares.
I was glad Mullan didn't focus too much on "The Troubles." The book conveys his life, and predominantly childhood memoirs. It would have almost been a forced pretence to have included more on the violence that plagued Northern Ireland then, and it would have removed the innocence that holds it together.
| So when gun battles broke out on his estate, Mullan lay awake in bed facing posters of his hero, whose face was lit up by the army flares. |
in the 1970 World Cup, was beyond idol status for Mullan. Banks serves as Mullan's inspiration through several difficult phases of his life. When losing a loved one, Mullan compares his loss to Banks' similar experiences, outlined in the athlete's biography "Banksy." A constant, earnest query 'What would Banksy do?' guides Mullan through his own troubles. But when they finally do meet as adults — one can't help feel that they were meant to meet.
Mullan also credits Banks for helping him avoid the temptations of joining in the violence that plagued Mullan's hometown. Unlike many of his peers, the author did not join the IRA
Their relationship is clearly far more complex than that of a fan and his hero. Mullan sees Banks as a guardian angel of sorts, but also Banks is the bridge that pieces together all of Mullan's main relationships. Obviously, these don't interlap with Banks' own, but among Mullan's favorite memories are his father's arrangement for Mullan, who took to playing goal for his neighbourhood side, to meet his hero as a teen. Similarly, Mullan's childhood pal was linked to football — they first connected when young Mullan blocked a seemingly sure goal that his striker friend shot. The beginning of the book opens beautifully with an emotional scene with his father, and as a reader I hoped the book would return to the tone that was set then. Alas, "Gordon Banks" doesn't quite, perhaps because the book focuses on Banks, but I would have enjoyed a bit more focus by Mullan on his relationship with his father, just as he had done so perfectly with his telling of his relationship with his best friend.
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| 'Banksy' in action: His "best save" may have been in the Creggan. |
In an e-mail to friends and colleagues in July, Mullan wrote: "I still proudly retain a 500-page scrapbook as a testimony to the inspiration this supreme athlete had on my formative years. As a dyslexic child, crippled with self-doubt and low self-esteem, it was through that scrapbook I learned to read and write. That's one of the reasons why I retain such an affection for Gordon Banks to this day." As an exclamation point to the book's tone of hope and candor, Mullan is donating royalties from the title to the Dyslexia Association of Ireland.
Mullan suggests that his life was perhaps the 'best save' that Banks ever made. That is simply how Mullan sees it. Banks was the young Mullan's insight to the other side during "The Troubles
This feature was edited by Patricia Jameson-Sammartano and Gerry Regan and produced by Gerry Regan.
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Copyright © 2007 by Marie-Claire McGann and GAR Media LLC. This article may not be resold, reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior permission from the author. Direct questions about permissions to permissions@garmedia.com.
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