Saipan

Ireland, 2025

On bar stools and terraces the length and breadth of the country, beleaguered fans of the Republic of Ireland national football team have long debated what led to the spectacular fall out between manager Mick McCarthy and captain Roy Keane while the team prepared to take part in the 2002 World Cup in Japan at a training camp on the island of Saipan. What really happened has been frequently contested over the years and sides have been taken. Acclaimed directors Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa (Good Vibrations, Ordinary Love) kick a hornets nest by recreating these events in committed fashion, with Steve Coogan as McCarthy and Eanna Hardwicke as Keane relishing their roles. Saipan is a daring and ingenious portrayal of a key moment in Ireland’s sporting history, but football fans be warned: you will find this hard to watch, though you won’t be able to look away. - Michael Hayden

DIRECTORS
Glenn Leyburn, Lisa Barros D’Sa

WITH
Éanna Hardwicke
Steve Coogan
Peter McDonald
Alice Lowe