Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy’s Saipan bust-up to be made into film – starring Steve Coogan
Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy’s infamous World Cup bust-up is to be made into a film starring Steve Coogan.
Saipan will chronicle the story of the Republic of Ireland’s turbulent preparations for the 2002 tournament on the tiny Pacific island, which culminated in captain Keane being sent home.
Coogan will star as Republic manager McCarthy, with Bafta-nominated Irish star Eanna Hardwicke playing Keane in a film scheduled for release next summer.
Keane and McCarthy’s feud overshadowed the team’s World Cup campaign, which ended when they were knocked out on penalties by Spain in the last 16.
The pair’s falling out was triggered by Manchester United captain Keane publicly criticising the squad’s preparations, including the quality of the facilities they were using.
Clear-the-air talks then descended into a furious row in which Keane was said to have told McCarthy: “Mick, you’re a liar... you’re a f------ w-----. I didn’t rate you as a player, I don’t rate you as a manager, and I don’t rate you as a person. You’re a f------ w----- and you can stick your World Cup up your a---.”
McCarthy later told reporters: “I cannot and will not tolerate being spoken to with that level of abuse being thrown at me so I sent him home.”
The co-directors of Saipan, Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with this extraordinary cast and creative team to tell the story of an infamous moment in Irish and football history that drew battle lines across a nation, cast its hopes, dreams and sense of identity into disarray, and briefly made a tiny volcanic island in the Pacific one of the most famous places on earth.”
Producers Macdara Kelleher and John Keville added: “A million words have been written about what happened on that fateful week in 2002 on the tiny island of Saipan. Next year audiences will finally get to experience first hand the feud between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy and why it was labelled ‘the worst preparation for a World Cup campaign ever’. We are so excited to have Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn direct this iconic story with our equally iconic cast.”
