Dub Sub Confidential: A Goalkeeper's Life with - and without - the Dubs

Product Description

John Leonard was a gifted goalkeeper who had the misfortune to reach his prime at the same time, and in the same county, as one of the all-time greats: Stephen Cluxton. Of course, it didn't help that he also had a problem with drink and drugs ...

Dub Sub Confidential is a book about how Gaelic games collide with real life. It brings us inside the Dubs' dressing rooms, training methods and drinking sessions; it traces the exquisite agony of playing second fiddle to a great keeper who never got dropped; and it tells of how John Leonard finally got sober and figured out how to live. It is a brilliantly honest and vivid read from a remarkable personality.

'Astonishing, exceptional, visceral' Kieran Shannon, Irish Examiner

'Reads like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas . . . a great read.' Ray D'Arcy, RTE Radio 1

'Engaging, honest, sad and frightening in places - ultimately raw and real. Couldn't put it down.' Ryle Nugent, RTÉ

'The overall feeling of Leonard's sporting life is of a high-wire act. He somehow managed to have a part-time romance with Dublin football while full-bloodedly chasing whatever and whoever was on offer in Dublin after dark . . . There is an antic and often jubilant energy to Leonard's writing.' Keith Duggan, Irish Times

'Compelling and ground-breaking.' Dave Hannigan, Evening Echo

'A must read.' Loaded, Top 10 Books of 2015