Tommy Martin: It’s 20 years since you-know-what but does Saipan still matter?

This weekend in 2002, the sporting tragedy/theatre (depending on your take) of our lifetime was about to erupt on an island few had even heard of. How many column inches have been afforded to a two-decade-old row between the recently sacked manager of Cardiff City and a famously irascible TV pundit?

SAIPAN STANDOFF: Roy Keane alone with his thoughts on a Pacific island that became a byword for a changing Ireland. 

And so, this year of commemoration dawns. We recall a great conflict, a war to end all wars. A bitter feud that divided families and rent the nation in twain. We pray for the fallen, shot down on radio phone-ins and internet message boards. Man’s inhumanity to manager.

Age shall not weary them, whose arses were on the bacon slicer.