Football’s Open University has closed down. John Giles has retired from punditry

John Giles gave his last lecture as a football pundit Thursday night, completing his run on Off The Ball

Former Republic of Ireland international John Giles on arrival at the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Awards 2024 at Clontarf Castle in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Football’s Open University has closed down, having taught a Masters course for almost 40 years. On Thursday night, John Giles gave his last lecture as a football pundit, completing his run on Off The Ball, nine years after finishing an iconic run on the RTÉ football panel after Euro 2016. The Ireland and Leeds United great has elected to retire from punditry, aged 84.

Over his time as an educator, he has taught us many important things. He has told us who the great players are and explained what made them great. On every sad occasion one of these greats has left us, it has been a privilege to have an inside man in the pantheon, able to give us the lowdown, speaking as a peer.