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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Robert Hynes & Darragh Culhane

Who is Mick McCarthy's wife and what age is the former Ireland boss?

Mick McCarthy will appear to do a tell all interview on Virgin Media on Monday night as he looks back on his career.

McCarthy will speak on Sports Stories with Tommy Martin as he looks back at his playing career and his two stints with Ireland.

And no doubt, McCarthy will also look back at the 2002 World Cup and his fall out with Roy Keane.

Those can tune into Virgin Media One at 10 pm.

Irish Ancestry

Mick was born in Barnsley, England, but his father Charles came from Tallow in Waterford.

Wife and Children

Mick McCarthy (©INPHO/Pascal Muller)

He is married to wife Fiona McCarthy and the couple have three children: Katie, Anna, and Michael. The couple are childhood sweethearts and actually met while they were in primary school in Yorkshire and she has always been there. When he played briefly for Lyon in 1989, they moved to France with their three young children.

Speaking out his wife in previous interviews, Mick revealed that Fiona always grounded him when he needed it, bringing him back to family time.

Recalling once incident in their marriage when work was stressing him, Mick told the Irish Independent: "Fiona put manners on me years ago. We were coming back from church one Sunday morning and I was having it really tough with Millwall. The results were bad and I'm right under it (the cosh) because it's my first job and if you lose that first job – check the stats – it's something like above 50 per cent or 60 per cent don't ever get another one.

"One of the kids kicked the back of the car seat and I had a snarl at them and Fiona let it rip at me: "It's not them, it's you! The kids are doing nothing wrong, it's just you, you're completely absorbed by this." And there were a few choice words and she was dead right. And from that day I've tried at least, and as I've got older, I've got better."

His Sporting Career

Mick began his career as a football player, playing for Barnsley, Manchester City, Celtic, Lyon, and Millwall, before retiring in 1992. With an Irish father, Mick was eligible to play for Ireland and in total played 57 for Ireland, scoring two famous goals one against Yugoslavia in April 1988, the other against the United States in May 1992.

He then turned his attention to management and became the manager of the Republic of Ireland team for the first time,in 1996, replacing Jack Charlton.

He took the nation to the second round of the 2002 World Cup. However it was his public spat with Keane - who was Ireland captain at the time - that is most remembered from the tournament.

Afterwards his stint as Irish manager was dogged by criticism in the media and facing mounting pressure, he resigned in 2002. On 25 November 2018, he was appointed manager of Republic of Ireland for the second time, replacing Martin O’Neill.

Spat with Roy Keane

Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane (©INPHO/Andrew Paton)

The football manager had a famous falling out with Keane at the 2002 World Cup. Roy was sent home on the eve of the tournament after the pair rowed after Keane questioned the quality of the preparations and facilities the team were using in an interview.

Keane told the Irish Times: "Well, I was basically accused of faking an injury in a match and not being available for a match, when I was injured.

"So to have that thrown at me and the timing of it, in front of the group of players, let me tell you, you’re going to get fireworks."

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