For some of us it's hard to believe that it's three decades since Ray Houghton stuck the ball in the English net for a famous 1 nil victory over England in Stuttgart at Euro 88.
By any standards it was a great strike.
The stifling heat from that remarkable afternoon in the Neckarstadion, Stuttgart, left the Ireland players foaming at the mouth, by the time the final whistle blew, with the squad exhausted and oblivious to the scale of what they had just achieved.
England had entered the tournament with, as their manager Bobby Robson said, their “best squad for six years” and harbouring genuine ambitions to rule the continent.
The Republic of Ireland, it seemed to almost everyone including certain members of Jack Charlton’s squad, were just happy to participate.
“We’ve been preparing for two years,” Robson said on ITV before the game. In contrast, Charlton claimed: “We’ve been preparing for three weeks.”
It's for anthropologists to debate, but the goal has also been credited with changing our national psyche into one which developed a 'yes we can' attitude for sport, business and life.
We celebrated the goal on the Ian Dempsey Breakfast show 30 years later and it highlighted several home truths.
Firstly many of us are losing the battle against Father Time at an alarming rate.
While some recalled what they (we!) were doing on that famous day, for others it's a case of Ray who?
Like Martin Conroys son!
Met Ray with my son at an Irish game a few years ago. Asked for a photo and it was no problem, absolute gent. Then I had to show my son who he was and what he did on YouTube🙈😂🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/uaomka3XGc
— Martin Kojak Conroy (@ConroyKojack) June 12, 2018
I represented Ireland in the opening ceremony (part of a choir) & we were on the plane home when the captain announced that he had scored & everyone went mad. Happy days, can’t believe it’s 30 years ago!
— Olga Carry (@carryo) June 12, 2018
Also in 2018 with talk of artificial intelligence and robots dislodging humans in the workplace, it's clear AI has a bit to go to be in a position to decode Christy Moore lyrics, George Hamilton commentary and Kevin Moran's accent.
Herewith the evidence as a machine tries to create a transcript from the audio package broadcast and decode Packie Bonnar's lingo with hilarious consequences.
Were you even born when Ray Houghton stuck the ball in the English net in Stuttgart? 30 years ago today! Here's how that moment was remembered on the @IanDempsey show @TodayFM We may not be at the #worldcup but we have our memories! #Euro88 pic.twitter.com/lPVe648gt7
— Paul Collins (@paulcollinstipp) June 12, 2018
And the last word to Julian Lee!
@paulcollinstipp @IanDempsey With all this #Stuttgart30 #Houghton stuff, we as a nation can NEVER slag off the English for still going on about 1966!! 😂😂😂
— Julian Lee (@Julian_Lee76) June 12, 2018
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