Wallace: Mossie was a true

Zidane: a 21st Century Portrait

EVERY generation the world of soccer throws up a protagonist who is more than just a footballer. He is an artist.

Think Pele. Best. Cryuff. Maradona. Messi. Somewhere in the middle of all those was Zizou - Zinidine Zidane, the French and Real Madrid player who brought his own peculiar je ne sais quoi to the beautiful game.

A World Cup and European Championship winner with France, Zidane who spent most of his career with Juventus and Real Madrid, was coming to the end of best days in 2006 when Scottish artist Douglas Gordon and French director Philippe Parreno landed on an idea to film Zidane - and just Zidane - through an entire game.

The result is a powerful portrait of the mercurial French man playing against Villarreal on April 23, 2005 at the Bernabéu Stadium using 17 synchronised cameras to film him in real time.

Apart from the on-field action, the film lets into Zidane’s thoughts and observations on his playing career, which in themselves are interesting coming from a player regarded as dark and broody and seemingly always on the edge of crossing the line, as he infamously did in the 2006 World Cup Final when he head butted Italian Marco Materazzi in the chest for an alleged personal insult directed at him by the Italian.

In the film, the close camera shots of Zidane - the way he continually taps his foot off the grass is fascinating - when he’s not on the ball and away from the action are as compelling as anything he does while on the ball, and the fact that he doesn’t make it to the final whistle still on the pitch seems a particularly apt, if accidental, denouement.

Another notable feature of this documentary is the soundtrack, which is scored by Scottish rock band Mogwai. Anyone who’s aware of their idiosyncratic sound will appreciate how that can only enhance the whole ambience of the film.

All in all this is a visual and aural masterpiece; part arthouse, part soccer docudrama. If you were drawn to Zidane as a football this is a must watch.

- Paul Brennan

“A true gentleman and a loyal friend’ is how Joe Wallace described the late Mauirce (Moss) Spillane, who died suddenly in his Tralee home last week.

Moss - or Mossie as he was know to some - was a steward for Kerry GAA who officiated predominately at Austin Stack Park on match days, but he was also one of the caretakers of the Kerry GAA ground in Caherslee, and fulfilled a number of stewarding and other roles for the Association in Kerry.

The 72-year-old father of four was well-known and much loved by GAA supporters, players and officials, all of whom would be familiar with Moss from his regular station at the gateway from the Austin Stack Park dressing rooms on to the pitch.

A native of Scartaglin, Moss lived in Tralee with his wife Mary and four daughters, where he had worked with the ASB for a time. His involvement with the GAA in Tralee started with him helping out maintaining the Caherslee facility - which was literally over the wall from him home in Balloonagh - and then he moved on to stewarding at Austin Stack Park, as well as Fitzgerald Stadium when called upon by the Munster Council.

Joe Wallace, who worked closely with Moss in Caherslee and Stack Park, said he was shocked and greatly saddened by the news of the passing of his great friend.

“It came as an awful shock to me when I heard. He was fine and in good form then last time I’d spoken to him on the phone not long before. We hadn’t seen each other in a while because we were both cocooning because of the virus, but I was very surprised and shocked,” Mr Wallace told The Kerryman.

“He was a great friend of mine. He never

had a car and didn’t drive, so I used to carry him everywhere. I’d call in for him and away we’d go, stewarding, selling tickets, doing whatever jobs had to be done for the county board.

“He was a great help to me when he started coming up to Caherslee. He lived right over the wall from the pitch. He had a battered old wooden ladder that he’d throw up against the wall, a high enough wall at that, and he’s climb up to the top and sit on it. Then he’s pull up the ladder and let it down the other side and climb down on to the pitch. It saved him a good long walk going around. In latter years we actually cut a door into the wall so he didn’t have to go up and down the ladder,” Joe said.

“He was a true gent, a hard worker, very obliging, and a honest man. We was a great friend to me, and to Kerry GAA. He did some amount of work for the county board, unseen work. Whatever I might be asked to do by Peter (Twiss) or whoever, I could ring Mossie and he’d be ready and waiting for when I’d call to collect him. If this lockdown hadn’t been going on we’d have been getting ready for the Night of Champions dog night above at the track. We used to go all over selling lotto tickets or tickets for the car raffle. We did Puck Fair, the Pattern Day in Ballyheigue, Listowel Races, we even travelled up to Limerick in 2014 for the Kerry Mayo semi-final and sold tickets out on the road before the game.

“He was mighty craic. He liked a pint, loved dancing in a big way, and adored his daughter and grandchildren. He came from Scartaglin and was a Scartaglin man out and out, but he was a long time in Tralee and had a huge amount of friends in the town. You could see from the turnout at his funeral, at the guard of honour up at Austin Stack Park, how highly he was regarded by officials and players and everyone. On behalf of myself and the county board I’d like to thank everyone who came out for the guard of honour on Saturday. It just shows again the strength of the GAA in times like this.

“Moss contributed to the County Board in a big way, and he will be really missed for that.

“My sympathy to his wife Mary, his four girls and all the family on a huge loss,” Mr Wallace added.

Meanwhile, Kerry GAA issued a statement saying: “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the news of the death of our very good friend Moss Spillane. Moss was always a gentleman. His smile settled many nerves on big game days. His love of Kerry GAA was well known. He had the respect, trust and friendship of everyone involved with Kerry GAA. We have lost a great man, may Moss rest in peace. Our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Moss Spillane. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.”