Review
`As well as being an account of how sport fared during the Troubles, Whose Side Are You On? traces Jamieson's wildly ambivalent relationship with the country of his birth...It's certainly a rich stew, and no one could accuse him of not doing his research - he's interviewed all the key personnel, except, for obvious reasons, Best and Higgins.' --Daily Mail
Book Description
Product Description
From the late 1960s, Northern Ireland has been mired in violence. Yet it has had seen more than its fair share of sporting heroes - from footballer George Best, through snooker champion Alex Higgins, to boxer Barry McGuigan. Life was tough for these working-class lads, but they could shine on the football field or find refuge at the town boxing club.
For other kids, like the young Teddy Jamieson, a knockabout in the back-lanes was as good as it got, but at least they had their heroes. Watching McGuigan on telly, Teddy could feel proud to be Northern Irish. But sport - like everything else in Northern Ireland - could quickly turn nasty when politics were involved.
This extraordinary journey through sport and the Troubles has it all: from Olympic gold-medals to Gaelic football; from death threats to reconciliations. Then there is Teddy's own story, as we learn how the age-old playground question 'Whose side are you on?' doesn't always have an easy answer.
From the Back Cover
It is 9.47pm in 1982. World Cup football on the Beeb. Northern Ireland are playing the hosts Spain ... Arconada palms it out, straight to the feet of Armstrong who smacks it smartly into the back of the Spanish net ... I swear I can hear the whole street erupt - every house on the Coleraine council estate matching the shouts from ours. At that moment I feel more Northern Irish than I ever have ... Some four hours later my dad is blown up.
From the late 1960s, Northern Ireland has been mired in violence. Yet it has had seen more than its fair share of sporting heroes - from footballer George Best, through snooker champion Alex Higgins, to boxer Barry McGuigan. Life was tough for these working-class lads, but they could shine on the football field or find refuge at the town boxing club.
For other kids, like the young Teddy Jamieson, a knockabout in the back-lanes was as good as it got, but at least they had their heroes. Watching McGuigan on telly, Teddy could feel proud to be Northern Irish. But sport - like everything else in Northern Ireland - could quickly turn nasty when politics were involved.
This extraordinary journey through sport and the Troubles has it all: from Olympic gold-medals to Gaelic football; from death threats to reconciliations. Then there is Teddy's own story, as we learn how the age-old playground question 'Whose side are you on?' doesn't always have an easy answer.
