Days of Heaven: Italia '90 and the Charlton Years

The best of Irish Soccer. The kickstart the country needed. The men, the excitement, the places, the stories, the goals and above all, the journey. They were the best days of our lives. This is how so many of the Irish remember Italia 90 and all that came with it - the atmosphere of wild celebration, the scenes of chaos, the fine madness. Declan Lynch recalls the great moments - Packie's save and his leap into immortality; Pavarotti's Nessun Dorma and U2's Put 'Em Under Pressure; Kevin Sheedy's sweet strike; and all that drinking. Days of Heaven is full of hilarious accounts of how the Irish abandoned reality in that glorious time called Italia 90.

From Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Declan Lynch began his writing career at the age of seventeen with Ireland's rock 'n' roll magazine Hot Press. He now writes for the Sunday Independent. He is the author of several books including Ireland on Three Million Pounds a Day, Free Money: The Gambler's Quest, and the acclaimed novel The Rooms.