Four Seasons at Hale Barns was a favourite watering hole for them lot, and later generations. Brasingamens another.
Met McGrath at the Four Seasons, my old man had his 60th there. He was about 5 Guinesses deep when me and the bro-in-law decided to join him and "introduce" ourselves as Blues. To be fair he was a good bloke and was happy to tolerate 2 pissed up Blues.
It went tits up when he went for a piss and just before he got back to the bar someone else jumped in his seat. Cue the bro-in-law exclaiming "oi mate, that seats reserved for the Captain of England". The look on McGraths face was a mixture of confusion and utter contempt.
We beat a hasty retreat back into the function room.
10 minutes later 2 pints of Guinness were brought to our table with a note..
"Sláinte, from the Captain of the Republic of Ireland"
Top bloke (for a rag).