The Last Ditch: GAA, the Fear, and One Man s Long Road to Croker

"To write about sport in Ireland is a serious matter. Micheal O Muircheartaigh could describe a football match like an epic battle and recite it with the musicality of a bardic poet. Con Houlihan could turn a petty squabble on the ball into a profound reflection on the nature of human life. Now add to this noble list the name of Eamonn Sweeney, whose prose is on fire as he bears witness to struggles on the playing field and in his personal life. Seamlessly woven into a blistering book that everyone who loves football, hurling or just life in general will relish enormously." - MICHAEL HARDING"The Last Ditch reads like a championship season as redemption song. Eamonn Sweeney's tight prose is full of insights and moments of great levity as he journeys across the country tracking the hopes and dreams invested in the GAA. But ultimately it is he who is the big winner, the season challenging him to confront his own demons and find a way back home. A cracking read." - MICHAEL CLIFFORDSweeney is a true believer. His knowledge and passion for the GAA inform every line of this propulsive book. Page after page is lit with insight and fond regard for everyone he meets on the campaign trail. But it's the way he turns the spotlight on himself and his own mental health struggles that elevates this account above the normal ruck of sports books. Wracked with anxiety from a secret travel phobia, the championship becomes an existential odyssey towards well-being that has all the tension of tight knockout encounter. A truly valuable account of both how vulnerable and resilient a man can be. No doubt about it, The Last Ditch is one of the books of the year." - Mike McCormackThe Last Ditch [is] penned with Sweeney's trademark wit and innate understanding of the game and the culture - RTE GuideThe Last Ditch becomes so much more than a book about following a championship season. It's that, surely, but it's crammed with layers, poignancy, love, hatred, certainty, vulnerability ... It has the potential to become an instant classic. After reading it, we had to speak to him, even after he threw that shade several years back ... brings us through modern Ireland's struggles in sport, machismo, racial tensions and culture ... A book that enters the GAA canon - The 42Eamonn Sweeney reveals how he got back on track after a travel phobia made it difficult to watch the sport he loves ... A magical-mystery tour of the 2024 GAA season - Irish IndependentOne of the most compelling sports books of 2025 ... The gradual, quiet process of Sweeney reclaiming his life for himself - Irish Times