Paul Cooke had his grumpy head on. He’s now the president of the FAI but, back then, in February 2000, he was financial controller of the Irish Daily Star. Long before his move into Blazerville, the beautiful game was front and centre of his life. Cooke played centre-half in Dublin junior soccer with Larkview Boys, sometimes taking an important call during games with his phone acting as an auxiliary shinpad. So when George Best’s name came up, Cooke jumped at the chance to rub shoulders with a true football icon. That’s how we ended outside a packed Theatre L in…

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