“Phil Mac Giolla Bháin faced down a mixture of physical threats, official denials and scorn from the Scottish journalistic community before he was finally vindicated when Rangers suffered its financial collapse.”
Professor Roy Greenslade, City University London
THE BOOK
Downfall – How Rangers FC Self-Destructed is the riveting story of the biggest sporting scandal in British history – the demise of Rangers Football Club, the roots of which are shown in the author’s prophetic online output over a three-year period.
The telling of the Rangers story has been a triumph for new media over traditional news organisations and represents a paradigm shift in Scottish journalism. The story was led by bloggers like Phil Mac Giolla Bháin, an established print journalist in Ireland who was at the heart of this digital revolution in the Fitba Fourth Estate.
Using his own website and other online outlets he broke exclusive stories and provided analysis and comment to a growing audience, including 15,000 twitter followers. The idea of Rangers being liquidated was unthinkable, but it happened. It caught the traditional media by surprise. The fans didn’t want to believe it.
This book is proof that the truth was out there, but many coul not handle it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mac Giolla Bháin is an author, playwright, blogger and journalist. Formerly a member of the Irish Executive Council and Irish representative on the NUJ's New Media Industrial Council, Mac Giolla Bháin is currently an author, playwright, blogger and journalist. He is an active member of the National Union of Journalists and the Irish Writers Union.
Phil has contributed to publications as diverse as An Phoblacht, The Guardian, The Irish Independent, Magill magazine and The Irish Post. He has also built up a considerable online readership through his blog – www.philmacgiollabhain.ie. His use of the online platform to break stories has brought him acclaim from media commentators and colleagues.
Phil has 45,000 dedicated followers on Twitter @Pmacgiollabhain
Native Shore is especially topical subject matter for anyone following the Scottish Independence movement and the approaching referendum
Praise for Phil Mac Giolla Bháin's previous work
“A tale of our times, brilliantly told.” Alex Thomson, Channel 4 News, on Downfall
"Mac Giolla Bháin should have been a certainty to be journalist of the year for his work.”
Kevin McKenna, Scottish Review of Books
Price £9.99
ISBN: 978-1904684268
320 Pages
Category: Sports/Current Affairs/Scottish
Format: B Paperback 198 x 130 mm
