Yesterday, we all learned the sad news that 98FM sports presenter Johnny Lyons had passed away.
Since then, touching tributes and anecdotes have flowed in for the hugely popular broadcaster, whose immense generosity has been highlighted by friends, fans and colleagues.
Journalist, comedy writer and the man behind the brilliant Ross O'Carroll Kelly character, Paul Howard, was among those sharing stories on Twitter:
It’s hard to pick a favourite Johnny Lyons moment. Although it would hard to beat the time he turned up to the press conference...
— Ross O'Carroll-Kelly (@RossOCK) August 19, 2015
before Ireland played Holland wearing a Dutch jersey [Dutch football was his passion]. Mick McCarthy refused to take questions from him...
— Ross O'Carroll-Kelly (@RossOCK) August 19, 2015
until he took it off.
— Ross O'Carroll-Kelly (@RossOCK) August 19, 2015
Tonight, he joined us on Off The Ball to pay tribute to Johnny and gave us an insight into a dear friend with eclectic interests ranging from heavy metal and '70s Dutch football to cricket, and shared anecdotes like the time he turned up to an Ireland v Netherlands pre-match press conference wearing a Dutch jersey and brought a ghetto blaster with him to interview English cricketer Ian Botham at the Shelbourne Hotel.
