George Hamilton leaving RTÉ Sport: 'I didn't want to stop doing ...

As he signs off from a 40-year career at RTÉ Sport, the nation’s best-known commentator talks about his move to Premier Sports, his regrets about not working at this year’s Olympics and the future of Irish football

George Hamilton is reliving his most infamous moment in football commentary, and it’s impossible not to wonder how many of the tables around us in the bustling coffee shop where we meet are covertly tuning in, familiar with both the unmistakeable voice and the scene described.

The Belfast-born commentator’s brogue is so distinctive, you’re instantly transported to that spine-tingling moment in 1990 that saw Ireland heading for the World Cup quarter-finals.