Belfast author and film director Evan Marshall has fulfilled a lifelong quest to put the “legend” of Northern Ireland’s 1982 World Cup odyssey into print.
Fields of Wonder, which charts the remarkable story of Billy Bingham’s fabled team of the early-Eighties, is now available in all good bookstores.
The publication, which features a foreword by former international captain Martin O’Neill, will be officially launched at the old Tesco building in Belfast on Monday evening.
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And it concludes several years of research for Evan who was a starry-eyed 11-year-old when Northern Ireland reached the second phase of Espana 82.
Fields of Wonder follows on from Evan’s previous book ‘Spirit of 58’ which recounted Northern Ireland’s historic charge to the quarter-finals of the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.
And just like Spirit of 58, which was a follow-up to an acclaimed sports documentary by the same name, Fields of Wonder will be released as a film later this year.
Evan said: “The idea was always to write a follow-up to the 1958 World Cup book and bringing the 1982 World Cup story to life on its 40th anniversary was an obvious sequel.
“It was a story I always wanted to tell. I watched the 1982 World Cup when I was a child in Ballybeen and all of my life I bought into the legend of that Northern Ireland team.
“I was 11-years-old and in P7 at school when the 1982 World Cup took place, so my memories are of playing football in the street, collecting Panini stickers and all of that.
“At that age you eat, sleep and drink the World Cup, so I was kicking the football against garages every day with friends, reliving matches from the night before.
“It was a magical time and watching the Northern Ireland games was so exciting because I was young enough to naively believe we might win the tournament.
“At that age you’re thinking ‘why not?’ At 11, you’re the perfect age for taking it all in but also believing that anything was possible. It was a very special time.”
Evan used interview tapes from previous chats with legendary boss Billy Bingham and key players who helped Northern Ireland reach the second round of the tournament.
The story spans Bingham’s appointment as manager in 1980, winning the British Championship in 1980, the ups-and-downs of qualifying and the drama of playing at the finals in Spain.
“I spoke with Billy and interviewed pretty much all the main players from 1982,” said Evan.
“I spoke with the likes of Martin O’Neill, Pat Jennings, Billy Hamilton, Sammy McIlroy, Gerry Armstrong, Jimmy Nicholl, John McClelland and Norman Whiteside.
“Looking back, 1982 was a wonderful rollercoaster ride, not only to qualify for the finals but to do what that team went on to do in Spain.”
After drawing with Yugoslavia and Honduras, Northern Ireland progressed to the second stage thanks to a famous 1-0 win over hosts Spain, Gerry Armstrong scoring the winner in Valencia.
But with the second round consisting of a three team group stage, Bingham’s men bowed out after a manic 2-2 draw with Austria and 4-1 defeat to a Michel Platini inspired France in Madrid.
Asked if any anecdotes or revelations surprised him while writing Fields of Wonder, Evan said: “Some of the local media coverage, and how hostile it was, actually surprised me.
“Every bad result, the team was sliced and diced and some of it was a bit off-colour. I actually mentioned it to the players and they were aware of it.
“When I looked at the newspaper archives, it wasn’t always a case of ‘our wee country is doing well, isn’t this fantastic’. The team was heavily criticised after some results.
“Another thing that jumped out at me was how the Irish FA almost hampered the potential success of that team; for example organising a crucial qualifier with Sweden in June.
“The English leagues had closed down for the summer and the Swedish league was in full flow. We lost 1-0 and it looked as if our hopes of qualifying were gone after that result.
“The players were distraught and there was actually a quote in the Swedish press the following day where they thanked the Irish football authorities for playing the game in June.
“Jock Stein, who was managing Scotland who went on to top our qualifying group, said after that game ‘football in the summer is good for the administrators, but not so good for the players’.”
Despite their summer setback in Stockholm, Northern Ireland managed to secure a spot in Spain, at the expense of the Swedes and Portugal, with a home win over Israel five months later.
And the rest, as recorded in Field of Dreams, is history.
- Fields of Wonder: The Incredible Story of Northern Ireland’s journey to the 1982 World Cup will be launched at 2 Royal Avenue, Belfast (the old Tesco’s building) on Monday night (7-9pm). Everyone is welcome to attend.
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