Duff got 100th cap in Heathrow pub

Damien Duff turned down an offer from England manager Roy Hodgson to receive his 100th Ireland cap in a special presentation before Ireland’s recent game at Wembley.

And the retired international has revealed how, instead, he took possession of the cap in the rather less glamorous surroundings of a pub in Heathrow Airport.

Duff, who hit the ton mark when he captained the side in what turned out to be his last game for Ireland – the match against Italy at Euro 2012 – explained: “Roy Hodgson [Duff’s former boss at Fulham and Blackburn] rang me two weeks ago, I think he must have met [FAI chief executive] John Delaney somewhere and he offered to get my 100th cap presented to me on the pitch at Wembley against England last week. But I was like ‘gaffer’ – I still call him gaffer – ‘no chance, you must know me by now, it’s not going to happen’. As much as it would be something to look back on, it wasn’t for me.