King denies claims he broke Dunphy’s nose

Noel King has denied he once broke Eamon Dunphy’s nose back when their playing careers briefly overlapped at Shamrock Rovers.

There had been speculation Dunphy’s withering criticism of King during the interim manager’s two games in charge of Ireland might have been in part coloured by rumours of a training ground bust-up between the two back in the late 70s.

But, when asked yesterday, if there was any truth to the story that he once broke the TV pundit’s nose, King laughed and replied: “No, I didn’t break his nose. Not at all. He ran away too quick. I couldn’t catch him (laughs). Let’s say he ran up the wall.”