Philip ‘Phil’ Sutcliffe competed in the men’s boxing at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, losing a unanimous decision to his Mexican opponent. Dr Tom Hunt describes Sutcliffe as ‘a double European bronze medallist’ at the time of Moscow, a distinction that placed him among the most decorated members of the Irish boxing team.

He was part of an eight-man Irish team that competed in Moscow having completed a rigorous collective training programme – athletes who refused to participate, such as Terry Christle, were excluded from consideration.

Sutcliffe went on to become one of the most significant figures in Irish boxing, as a coach and mentor to subsequent generations of Irish fighters.