DNA test by legend Aldo after ‘plastic Paddy’ label
IRELAND legend John Aldridge has taken a
DNA test — after getting sick of being labelled a “plastic Paddy” by some fans.
Liverpool-born Aldridge (65) was the first player to line out for Ireland under the “granny rule” after being recruited by then manager Jack Charlton.
He confessed jibes about him playing for Ireland did get to him.
The former Liverpool and Tranmere Rovers star said: “It can be a little bit hurtful. You’ve got to try and let it go over your head a bit.
“People did say I should do a DNA test and I did one a few months back. I’ve got the results.
“I am 41 per cent English, nine per cent Scottish, two per cent Danish and Swedish — and 46 per cent Irish.”
The star lined out in the 1989 FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in Sheffield at Hillsborough where 97 people lost their lives after a crush — and it took him a long time to come to terms with the tragedy.
Aldridge said: “I couldn’t talk about the Hillsborough disaster for a long time. But time kind of heals and the more you talk about it the easier it gets.”
Asked if it was the worst time of his life, he told host Brendan Courtney on RTE show Keys To My Life: “It was, yeah. Absolutely. Ninetyseven people died at a game, we are talking about people’s lives. Ninety-seven lives.”
Being on the pitch that day changed Aldridge as a person and it affected him for a long time.
Family
The former striker said: “It definitely scarred me, absolutely, it scarred all of us. If you take my family away, Liverpool Football Club is next. It always has been, since I can remember.
“I just love Liverpool Football Club, it is embedded in me. I can be a bit of a lunatic, before that I wasn’t too bad. I am alright now, but I was a bit of a ‘loony’ at times.”
He found it hard to leave Liverpool not long after, because his four-year contract finished.
Aldridge said: “I was shown the door, that really hurt me. I scored 31 goals that season in the league and cup.”