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Eamon Dunphy is leaving RT\u00c9 after 40 years working with the broadcaster.<\/p>\nEamon Dunphy is leaving RT\u00c9 after 40 years working with the broadcaster.<\/p>\n
The 72-year-old informed RT\u00c9 bosses before the World Cup that he’d be ending his stint as their longest serving football pundit, which stretched back to the 1978 World Cup.<\/p>\n
He’d previously told RT\u00c9 he was quitting after Euro 2016 but they offered him a small raise to stay on, he said.<\/p>\n
The footballer-turned-journalist announced the news through the Twitter account of his podcast, The Stand, which he will now be working on full-time.<\/p>\n
“Two years ago, I decided not to renew my contract with RT\u00c9 Sport,” he said. “At the time, they prevailed upon me to stay and, in fact, offered me a rise, a small one, to do so.<\/p>\n
“However, before the World Cup I told them this time, I would be leaving.<\/p>\n
“I intend to focus on my podcast The Stand which is flourishing and has had over 2.3 million listens since we started. That\u2019s where my energy will now be devoted.<\/p>\n
“In my 40 years with RT\u00c9, I made many good friends and I wish them the very best for the future.”<\/p>\n
Declan McBennett, Head of Sport at RT\u00c9, said: “We would like to thank Eamon for the immense contribution he has made to our sporting coverage across four decades.<\/p>\n
“He was there for every key moment throughout that time as we were gripped by the exploits of our international side in particular.<\/p>\n
“His insight and analysis informed, enthralled and entertained a nation.<\/p>\n
“Eamon has now decided to pursue other avenues and we wish him every success in those ventures.”<\/p>\n
It marks the end of the final link to the long-serving RT\u00c9 football panel of Dunphy, John Giles and Bill O’Herlihy.<\/p>\n
Giles, who Dunphy encouraged to enter punditry, left the station in 2016 after being dropped by RT\u00c9, while Bill O’Herlihy retired after the 2014 World Cup, a year before his death.<\/p>\n