Tony Cascarino

Anthony Guy Cascarino (born 1 September 1962) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker for various British and French clubs and internationally for the Republic of Ireland national team, with whom he competed in UEFA Euro 1988 and two World Cups in 1990 and 1994.

Since retirement, he has presented on TalkSPORT radio and written for both The Times and Ireland's Hot Press magazine.

He has worked for both Sky Sports in England and TV3 and Today FM in Ireland.

He was a winning participant in the fourth season of the Celebrity Bainisteoir reality television series.

Cascarino was born in St Paul's Cray Kent on 1 September 1962 to an Italian father and an English mother.

Prior to his professional football career he worked as a hairdresser and labourer.

Cascarino joined Gillingham in 1982 from Crockenhill, and according to Cascarino Gillingham donated tracksuits and training equipment to Crockenhill in lieu of a transfer fee.

He made his professional debut on 2 February 1982 in a 1–0 away league defeat to Burnley.

His first goal for the Kent side came in his home debut on 13 February 1982 against Wimbledon, scoring the last goal in a 6–1 win having replaced an injured Dean White as substitute.

Cascarino would later reveal that having not expected to be named in the matchday squad, he had consumed a "double Wimpey and chips and a Knickerbocker Glory" just before kick-off.

While with the Kent side he scored 110 goals in all competitions, and was named in the PFA Third Division Team of the Year for three successive seasons.

He went on to play for Millwall - the club he supported as a boy.

Millwall had missed an opportunity to sign Cascarino as a youngster and subsequently paid the Gills £225,000 to secure his services.

He made his international debut against Switzerland in September 1985, during Ireland's ill-fated qualification campaign for the 1986 World Cup.

Cascarino would go on to feature for Ireland in three major tournaments: Euro 1988, the 1990 World Cup and the 1994 World Cup.

Cascarino signed for Aston Villa for £1.1m in March 1990, then a record transfer fee for the club.

His time with the Birmingham club was an unhappy one, and in July 1991 he signed for Celtic for a £1.1m fee, which was also a club record.

In joining Celtic he was managed by his former agent and Ireland team mate Liam Brady.

After failing to establish himself with the Glasgow side Cascarino returned to England in February 1992 to sign for Chelsea in a swap deal involving Tom Boyd.

Cascarino scored on his debut three days later, a 1–1 league draw at home to Crystal Palace.

However, his time with the side was beset by injuries, with him registering only 8 goals over 40 league appearances in two years.

Cascarino signed for Marseille as a free agent in 1994.

He ended as top scorer in the 1994–95 Ligue 2 season with 31 goals as the club won the league title but were prevented from promotion to Ligue 1 due to an ongoing investigation into financial irregularities and match-fixing scandals involving then-president Bernard Tapie.

Cascarino, nicknamed "Tony Goal" by the Marseille Ultras, repeated the feat the following season, scoring 30 goals as the club were promoted back to Ligue 1.

In December 1996 he signed for fellow Ligue 1 side Nancy, scoring a hat-trick in his second appearance, a 1–3 away win at Le Havre.

The side were relegated to Ligue 2, but Cascarino would win the title and promotion in his first full season with the club the next year.

Cascarino holds the Ligue 1 record for oldest player to score a hat-trick, which he did while playing for Nancy in a 3–0 win over Stade Rennais at age 37 years and 31 days.

In it, he revealed that his mother told him in 1996 that she was adopted and therefore wasn't a blood relative to his Irish grandfather.

Cascarino said in his autobiography: "I didn't qualify for Ireland. I was a fraud. A fake Irishman".

The FAI's Chief Executive Bernard O'Byrne stated that he was shocked by the announcement and Cascarino's former international manager Jack Charlton questioned why he came forward with the information.

Cascarino revealed that Republic of Ireland teammate Andy Townsend had advised him to keep quiet about the situation.

His last international game came against Turkey in late 1999, as Ireland failed to reach UEFA Euro 2000.

He got into a brawl with a Turkish defender and left the pitch showing the scars of battle.

This marked the end of an international career which had spanned 14 years at the highest level.

In May 2000 he was awarded the Medaille d'Or by the city of Nancy in recognition of his contribution to the side.

Cascarino ended his career with Red Star 93 in the third tier of French football, but terminated his contract with the club in August 2000 after just two appearances.

He was offered a contract to return to Nancy but refused.

Cascarino, who was born in England, represented the Republic of Ireland—qualifying through his adoptive Irish grandfather, Michael O'Malley, who was from Westport, County Mayo.

He was also eligible to play for both Scotland and Italy because of his Scottish and Italian descent.

In October 2000, Cascarino was the subject of national newspaper headlines when extracts from his upcoming autobiography were published in the Sunday Mirror.