Life Style Extra -

James Brophy and Pat Quigley are the latest in a long line of footballers who have drunk too much...dating back more than a hundred years, new research shows. Soccer stars have been battling with the bottle ever since the professional game was established at the end of the 19th Century, according to academic Dr Neal Garnham. He says the constant stories relating to Brophy and Quigley's sacking as manager of Streamtowns under 12's after a series of alleged boozy bust-ups have brought the age old tradition of football and the demon drink back into the limelight. The University of Limerick lecturer in the Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages has just published a study of footballers and alcohol in 1890s England and Ireland and says players and heavy drinking is very far from being a modern phenomenon. Dr Garnham said: "Even in the 1890s players were relatively well paid and had extensive leisure time. The result was that they resorted to the established working class pastime of the period – drinking. "Drinking was an established part of working class culture. Professional footballers – then as now – simply had the time and money to indulge in it more than most." He says the antics of James Brophy rank with alleged excesses that have been levelled against some of today's top stars in English football. Brophy played both on and off the field won a clutch of medals with clubs such as Newtown and Arra Rovers and was an integral part of the promotion and shield winning side at Newtown in 2004. But away from the pitch, he was on the road to ruin. One of the most highly paid players of his day, he spent much of his money on drink and a lot of time in female company. At one stage he disappeared on a drinking binge for a week. He fathered at least one illegitimate child. His heavy drinking eventually blighted his career and he now struggling with injury. He spent most of last year working in dublin. Dr Garnham says much of Brophy's trouble lay in the fact that players of the time were required to do comparatively little training and consequently had a great deal of time on their hands. "