David Forde in the Hot Press Annual

“Just the presence and aura of them – it’s given everyone a boost,” he says of Martin 'n' Roy. “ Ultimately it’ll boil down to whether or not we qualify for the next European Championships, but at present you’d have to say that the FAI scored a major coup in getting ‘the dream ticket’. We had a great 10 or 11 days when we met up, which will be built on in the New Year. The friendlies feel more like competitive games because we’re all fighting for our places.”
David has nice things to say about their predecessor too.
“I’ve a lot of gratitude to Giovanni Trapattoni for giving me the No. 1 shirt. He qualified for a European championship for the first time in 20 years, and in some circles was harshly treated. I still have the utmost respect for the man. I think quite a bit – the ‘Ireland has no league’ thing for instance – was lost in translation.”
He also talks about big Wembley dayouts, how the League of Ireland saved his career, his passion for GAA, Robbie Brady, Germany and loads more in a fascinating look back at the footballing year for both club and country.