Northern Ireland v Luxembuourg (05/09/2024)

MARSHALL GILLESPIE AND WIFE PAULA SHOW THEIR SUPPORT FOR NORTHERN IRELAND

WORDS: HEIDI McALPIN

MARSHALL LOVES A GOOD STAT “I don’t know,” admits Marshall. “I always

took an interest in stats from when I was a teenager. As a child I’d put things together such as details about Northern Ireland players and which clubs they played for. “I then went on to collect football books, everything from Rothmans Football Yearbooks to Italian, European and German yearbooks. I have around 750 at the last count, including books I have contributed to over the years. “I also have almost every edition of Ireland’s Saturday Night in the loft, from 1987 until the last publication in 2008. I’ve stopped collecting now – I’ve run out of space.” It is my fulsome belief that men get animated over football stats in a way that we women never will. We use different brain lobes – Mars v Venus and all that. But I can appreciate the time, effort and, dare I say, money that goes into accumulating such a stash. What though, I wonder, does Mrs Gillespie think of her husband’s obsession? “I would call myself a collector,” Marshall explains, “but my wife Paula would probably call me a hoarder. My daughter Kate also has no interest and would sell my collection now, but my son has said he won’t.”

Lurking within this hallowed tome lies an article of exceptional precision and supreme craftsmanship, honed through decades of unparalleled record-keeping. I am, of course, talking about those words from the nib of Norn Iron’s very own Statto, Marshall Gillespie. Marshall has been churning out Northern Ireland-focused footy facts and figures since the Eighties and, here’s a tally for you, his X @ NIStats account has 13k followers and counting (including OG Statto Angus Loughran). This laudable contribution to the local game was recognised by his peers when Marshall received the Merit Award at this year’s NI Football Awards. But what is it about this results-driven service that continues to ignite the passion of our very own statistician par excellence?

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NIR V LUX