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The Irish Sun

Fans all say the same thing in tribute to ‘breath of fresh air' John Giles after retiring from 30-year punditry career

FANS expressed their gratitude to John Giles after he announced his retirement from punditry. The Republic of Ireland legend, 84, Advertisement 2 John Giles has retired from punditry after 30-year career with RTE and Off The Ball Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile 2 Fans paid tribute to a legend of Irish football Credit: PA:Press Association Prior to his time in radio , Giles was an acclaimed part of And in response to his retirement, fans flocked to Mark said: "Best of luck to John Giles and happy retirement. "Will be sadly missed by the OTB listeners, a great player and a great football pundit. Advertisement Read More on John Giles "His views on football were always a 'breath of fresh air'." Mairtin hailed: "John was a brilliant pundit… "He knew the game so well and was eager to explain simplify and give an understanding of the game to the viewer or listener. "John always called the game as it was and as he saw it. He really believed in the old traditional fundamental values of the game" Advertisement Most read in Football Exclusive Ronan declared: "An absolute gift from god John was" Jim Gray said: "Loved Giles as player and pundit. RTE viewers in stitches at John Giles' cheeky one-word answer to Patrick Kielty on The Late Late Show "Had the cheek to ring him for interview few years ago when Leeds sent a team to @SligoSuperCup. "When told it was underage football, he couldn't have been nicer,went out of his way to help. Advertisement "Definitely one of the good guys. Happy retirement, legend." "Thursday night football with John Giles" has been a staple of the evening Off The Ball show since inception in 2002. His final appearance was preceded by a touching and poignant tribute featuring the best bits of his broadcasting career, both in RTE and Off The Ball. He goes down as one of the most influential men in the history of Irish football with a Advertisement And speaking on OTB for the final time, Giles said: "I was really lucky. I fell into the television . Eamon [Dunphy] helped me a lot in that. "When you're doing the job I was trying to do, you have to watch all the matches. You can't make it up as you go along. "I think it got to the stage where I was getting a bit stale trying to watch as many matches as I could and it became hard work . "Football has never been hard work to me, I have always loved it but there are so matches. Advertisement "Even in the summer now, you see the teams over in America [for the Club World Cup]. "I have had a good run of it. I am 84, nearly 85. "I have enjoyed it. I loved playing. I fell into to the television, I had no intention of doing that when I was actually playing the football. "No complaints whatsoever." Advertisement Off the Ball are going to hold a night of celebration in his honour in Dublin 's Sugar Club on Thursday August 14.