LAST UPDATE | 29 Jul 2024

CASTING HAS BEEN announced for a film about the infamous “incident” between Roy Keane and then-Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy that resulted in the team captain being sent home from the World Cup training camp in Saipan in 2002.

The film is described as being about “the events leading up to Ireland’s incendiary 2002 World Cup campaign”. Production will begin on the film this summer.

Two-time Oscar nominee Steve Coogan will star as McCarthy in the film. 

Bafta-nominated Cork native Éanna Hardwicke will play former Ireland and Manchester United football player Keane. He has also appeared in the Irish film Lakelands and TV dramas The Sixth Commandment and Normal People. 

Really excited to be partnering with @VertigoRel on SAIPAN which is set to be a major theatrical release next summer.

Starring Steve Coogan as Mick McCarthy & Éanna Hardwicke as Roy Keane, the feature will tell the story of the events leading up to Ireland’s incendiary 2002… pic.twitter.com/nHBv1T1Slu

— Wildcard Distribution (@WildCardDistrib) July 29, 2024

Saipan is being directed by Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa. The pair directed the 2013  Irish comedy-drama Good Vibrations and the 2019 romantic drama Ordinary Love, starring Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville.

The film has been written by Paul Fraser and is produced by Macdara Kelleher and John Keville for Wild Atlantic Pictures, who are behind films such as Evil Dead Rise and Cocaine Bear, along with Trevor Birney and Oliver Butler for Fine Point Films (Kneecap, Bobby Sands: 66 Days).

Patrick O’Neill, Eoin Egan and Rachael O’Kane will serve as executive producers.

The film will be made in association with Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen, with a shoot set for Ireland and Saipan later this summer.

The Saipan incident was sparked after a public disagreement between Keane and McCarthy while training for the World Cup.

The team captain was unhappy with the team’s training standards and the quality of the facilities provided by the FAI. After suggesting that he would leave the camp on 21 May, Keane was persuaded to stay.

But that same day, he gave an interview in which he spoke about why he was unhappy in the camp, including the provision of cheese sandwiches, and apparently being asked to train on a pitch that was like a car park.

When McCarthy called a team meeting the day the interview was published, Keane let fly – telling the manager: “I don’t rate you as a player, I don’t rate you as a manager, and I don’t rate you as a person.”

Manager Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane during a World Cup training session with the Irish squad during a Republic of Ireland training session in Saipan in 2002. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Adding, “you can stick your World Cup up your a**e”, Keane was promptly sent packing from the tournament. This prompted a major split in the Irish public between those who felt Keane was serving his country by seeking higher standards, and those who argued he was deserting it at a time when his midfield skills were most needed.

Keane did not play for Ireland again until 2004, after McCarthy had stepped down as manager.

“A million words have been written about what happened on that fateful week in 2002 on the tiny island of Saipan,” producers Kelleher and Keville said.

“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”.

Directors Barros D’Sa and 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.”

Wildcard and Vertigo Releasing have acquired UK and Ireland rights for the film, and are scheduling a saturation theatrical release for summer 2025.

‘Can this be real?’

The news has received a mostly positive reaction, with people reacting with delight and disbelief on social media. 

Can this be real https://t.co/Dmux9MC4bp

— Ossian Smyth TD (@smytho) July 29, 2024

“Can this be real?” asked Minister of State Ossian Smyth.

One woman said it was “fantastic” to see Cork actor Éanna Hardwicke getting such great roles, describing his as a real talent. “Can’t wait to see what he does with this!”

“Outstanding. I’ll queue overnight to get in the cinema for this. Dress up as Keano. The lot,” was how one man reacted to the news.

Another man said: “I want this to be the start of the Irish Soccer Cinematic Universe (ISCU) that builds up to Thierry Henry and the Handball Incident.”

Thoughts also turned to who the rest of the cast might be, with one man suggesting Nicholas Lyndhurst for the role of Niall Quinn. 

Another man had Muppets on his mind, referencing films where the Jim Henson creations appear alongside human actors, such as The Muppet Christmas Carol.

“‘Saipan’ should clearly be a Muppet film with only Keane played by a person,” he said.