Days of Heaven: Italia '90 and The Charlton Years

by Declan Lynch

They were the best days of our lives. This is how so many of the Irish remember Italia 90 and all that came with it the atmosphere of wild celebration, the scenes of chaos, the fine madness. Declan Lynch recalls the great moments Packie's save and his leap into immortality; Pavarotti's ""Nessun Dorma"" and U2's ""Put 'Em Under Pressure""; Kevin Sheedy's sweet strike; and all that drinking. Days of Heaven is full of hilarious accounts of how the Irish abandoned reality in that glorious time called Italia 90. But it wasn't just the fortunes of the football team that were changing during the Charlton Years. The economy was about to be utterly transformed; the Church was on the verge of disaster; there were Irish people winning Oscars and selling millions of rock 'n' roll albums; there were new voices in the media; and a woman was running for President. And there was Jack, our most unlikely icon. In this brilliant book, Declan Lynch brings it all together, the sporting, the social and the autobiographical. Dermot Morgan and Father Michael Cleary were part of the story too; U2 and UB40 made their contributions alongside Eamon Dunphy and Charles Haughey. Days of Heaven brings us back to this extraordinary time. And it brings it all to life again.

Genres: Football

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[Brendan Crowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of Declan Lynch’s writing. I first read Days of Heaven not long after it came out in 2010 expecting a more standard telling of the Charlton era – an updated version of Paul Rowan’s excellent Team That Jack Built. Instead, I found myself devouring an immensely well written look at the Irish psyche, our relationship with success, failure, alcohol and the world. With some football in it.

I was 6 during Italia 90, too young to fully grasp what has happening. By the time USA 94 came around I was 10, and nothing had ever been as wonderful as that tournament. I’m always amazed that anyone my age, or particularly slightly older, could have grown up in Ireland and not have an irrational obsession with the Irish international team.

So while I was too young to really remember the period Lynch writes about, the portrait of Irishness Lynch paints is instant recognisable to anyone who calls Ireland home. Lynch looks into the soul of Irish people – and hits on home truths we all know, but maybe can’t or don’t want to admit.

Lynch evaluates the Celtic Tiger creation myth that Italia ’90 was the catalyst for Ireland’s emergence into the world and the boom era. He recognises the role that failure, emigration and outsiders also had in our success. In many ways, Lynch also extends the narrative to consider how Italia ’90 and the changes in Ireland at the time, also laid the seeds for the crash that would follow the Celtic Tiger.

As the book jacket says, Lynch considers the sporting, the social and the autobiographical as he paints a picture of a special time to be Irish and the lessons that time teaches us about ourselves.

Alcohol plays a key part in the story – both in how it happened, and in how Lynch feels we should view it. I’ve been reflecting on alcohol a lot of late and have given it up for 2018 to get a proper sense of when and why I would drink and the impact on my mental health. Lynch’s comments on alcohol really struck a chord with me. Any look back on this period, or maybe any period, of modern Irish history would be incomplete without consideration of the role of alcohol. Ultimately Lynch links the national drink problem with an immaturity as a country, the same immaturity to leads to bad political decision both on the part of politicians and the electorate. Its a hard view to dispute.

Lynch captures so much of what it means to be an Ireland fan – the dread, the worry, the hope and the brief unbelievable moments of joy. He also captures the Ole Ole nature of away trips where its as much about the journey and the story as it is the football – although he is probably more critical of such jollies than I am.

Although I disagree with his lack of trust for those who identify as Ireland fans – you can love football without being overly attached to any one club side – for the most part Lynch is spot on in his observations – about our nation’s immaturity, our relationship with alcohol, and with our sense of ourselves in the world.

Overall, this a must read for any Irish sports fan or anyone seeking to understand how modern Ireland came to be.

See all of my sports book reviews at https://allsportsbooks.reviews

[Pat McCrann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ordered this book on Amazon and read it over Christmas. The book provides some interesting social and political commentary on Ireland during the Charton era - some of the observations are spot on. However, the author's fawning attitude towards U2 undermines some of the points he makes about the immoral political figures of that time. It seems as though it is okay to be a tax exile if you're a rock star! The other frustrating aspect of this book is that the author seems to see himself as a true football man and more legitimate than those who jumped on the bandwagon during the success of the Charlton era - this is despite the fact that he seems to watch every match on television in the pub!

Finally, the book contains a number of factual errors. The author refers to Frank Stapleton's disallowed goal against France in Paris on more than one occasion. Ireland did have a disallowed goal in Paris courtesy of Michael Robinson, but I can only assume the author has confused this with Stapleton's disallowed goal against Belgium. In summary, this book reads as though it was rushed through the publication process with little time for editing or fact-checking.