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The actor playing Paddy Don Patricio. TG4

Film about the Irishman who captained Man United and managed Barcelona hits our screens

TG4 will tonight show a documentary about the remarkable life of Paddy Don Patricio.

HAVE YOU EVER heard the one about the Drumcondra-born footballer who made a name for himself at Belfast Celtic before going onto play for Manchester United and leading Barcelona to silverware as their manager?

Patrick O’Connell (or Paddy Don Patricio) had an incredible career in the beautiful game during the first half of the 20th century yet, remarkably, many people have never heard of the man.

Born into a working-class family in 1887, O’Connell earned the reputation as a talented defender for Liffey Wanderers. A move north followed and he was soon playing in England – for Sheffield Wednesday, Hull City then Manchester United, where he became captain and was involved in a betting scandal with a number of team-mates.

During this time, he earned several caps for Ireland and won the British Home Nations Championship in 1914.

He made the move to Spain after hanging up his boots and led Real Betis to an unlikely league win in 1935. The Catalan giants came calling on the back of that success and while they didn’t compete in La Liga due to the Spanish Civil War, Barca toured Mexico and North America – earning a large fee and keeping them afloat financially.

Directed by IFTA award winner Pat Comer (In the Name of the Fada, Tall Dark & Ó hAilpín), and produced by Gráinne McElwain (Stone Cold Sober, GAA BEO, Imeall Geal), Paddy Don Patricio premiered in Belfast and will be shown on TG4 tonight (9.30pm).

Whilst he enjoyed adulation and famous victories on the field of play, his personal life was tainted with both the suspicion of match fixing and the reality of an abandoned family and bigamy,” ,” a press release for tonight’s documentary reads.

“Complex and colourful throughout, Paddy was to learn that life, like football is a game of two halves and he ended his days alone and in poverty, his grave unmarked and his sporting achievements all but forgotten.”

Watch the trailer here:


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    Mute brian o'leary
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    Mar 17th 2025, 7:04 AM

    I’m not a huge fan of the tap penalty, would lineout and maul not yield greater returns?

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    Mute Niall Boyle
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    Mar 17th 2025, 7:07 AM

    @brian o’leary: no guarantee you’ll win the lineout, that the other team won’t sack the maul etc. Tap penalty is the safest option to guarantee possession

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    Mute brian o'leary
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    Mar 17th 2025, 7:21 AM

    @Niall Boyle: correct, but I wonder if there’s any stats available comparing the success rate of the two options?

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    Mute Stuart
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    Mar 17th 2025, 9:33 AM

    @brian o’leary: scrum for me all day in that situation. Huge scrummaging machine pushes opposition pack backwards, secures another penalty, play of 8 around the house or 9 to the backline through one or two power phases..a thing of beauty…

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    Mute brian o'leary
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    Mar 17th 2025, 11:19 AM

    @Stuart: ireland got a try from a 5 metre scrum, and two from lineout mauls v italy. We’re not converting from rucks inside 5m as much as we used to, getting held up a lot?

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    Mute Gary D
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    Mar 17th 2025, 12:47 PM

    @brian o’leary: I’m still very in the fence about the held up law. It may because it feels like Ireland and Leinster get done by it a lot, which is maybe just my own perception, but it feels way too heavily weighted towards the defence. The attack could put together 5 or 6 great pieces of play to get themselves there and then one guy just needs to do one action to get his body under it and it undoes all of the hard attacking work and sticks you 30/40m back. That feels bad every time.

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    Mute chris mcdonnell
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    Mar 17th 2025, 12:53 PM

    @Stuart: ireland have a poor record with ref’s and scrum penalties. If the opposition tighthead took a chainsaw to our frontrow the ref would give a penalty against porter for bleeding

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    Mute Michael Corkery
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    Mar 17th 2025, 7:13 AM

    Easterby’s best shot at being a 6n’s head coach permanently is with Wales. I think the IRFU will have noticed that the team has got progressively worse over the course of the championship under his watch. Is it all down to Easterby being there instead of Faz, possibly not but as an audition it definitely didn’t go well.

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    Mute brian o'leary
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    Mar 17th 2025, 7:29 AM

    @Michael Corkery: maybe they’ll notice that being without their head coach for a period might not be the best idea, and will say no the next time?

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    Mute Dolores Scully
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    Mar 17th 2025, 7:47 AM

    @brian o’leary: Agreed. I think IRFU were wrong to sanction AF going off on Lions jolly at this time when Ireland were going for the 3 championships in a row and building towards WC….he is head coach and this is where he should be…end of. Coaching team need to look at their selection management over the entire 6n campaign.

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    Mute Jonny Miller
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    Mar 17th 2025, 8:14 AM

    @Dolores Scully: If the IRFU refused to sanction Farrell coaching the Lions, im pretty sure it wouldnt go down too well with Farrell.

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    Mute Oran Burns
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    Mar 17th 2025, 8:44 AM

    @Jonny Miller: when will they get another chance to do 3 in a row?
    Farrell should stay on his holidays if he is not committed.

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    Mute brian o'leary
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    Mar 17th 2025, 8:46 AM

    @Jonny Miller:our coach could be told pre contract that its not an option?
    I’m not sure why lions coach need to miss the six nations, he going to be familiar with all the players anyway, and stats can do the rest?

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    Mute Michael Corkery
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    Mar 17th 2025, 8:58 AM

    @brian o’leary: at the same time, in terms of succession planning, they got a look at the next man in potentially mid RWC cycle. They should have brought someone like Felix Jones in to concentrate on defense and basically have Easterby do the exact same role as Farrell but he kept his defensive role (which as a result of his attention being elsewhere fell well below the usual standard). For example if Easterby had left, wasn’t replaced and Farrell had to cover defense in his absence. Would we have seen similar regression?

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    Mute Stuart
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    Mar 17th 2025, 9:46 AM

    @Dolores Scully: I don’t understand why AF didn’t coach the Irish side during the 6nts ..sat in the stands ? The lions squad are not even together yet…surely the lions gig is at mostly a part time gig at the moment with the administrational/planning stuff?

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    Mute John Cleere
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    Mar 17th 2025, 10:32 AM

    @Dolores Scully: Building towards a world cup. Same story every year

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    Mute mark sheehan
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    Mar 17th 2025, 10:54 AM

    @Dolores Scully: rubbish there’s November series 25 &26, six nations 26 & 27 and a summer tour in 26 for Andy Farrell to be assessing options before the world cup.

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    Mute chris mcdonnell
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    Mar 17th 2025, 1:00 PM

    @Oran Burns: maybe our best ever coach and you don’t think he’s committed?

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    Mute Dolores Scully
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    Mar 17th 2025, 11:05 PM

    @mark sheehan: well if you want to look at it like that the WC is a 4-year cycle and surely not getting past the quarter final should mean that building/ planning should start straight away. Also, as previously stated here, the 6n is worth a hell of a lot financially to the IRFU…needed to build the squad. And no, as head coach, the team should be front and centre…or is it another case of Sexton’s ” we lost but we won” rubbish.

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