By Chris Wright
A small but crucial missing underscore left a priest in New York completely baffled a few days ago when he was suddenly bombarded with Tweets congratulating him on his move to Celtic.
Father Michael Duffy received scores of messages wishing him well at Celtic Park after successfully tying up his deadline day move from Derry City.
Alas, in a classic case of mistaken Twitter identity, it turned out that Celtic had actually signed “20-year-old Northern Irish winger” Michael Duffy, not “Associate Pastor at St. Kilian’s church in Farmingdale, New York” Michael Duffy.
I seem to be getting confused with an Irish soccer player by the same name @michaelduffy_ At least one Michael Duffy is a famous athlete!
— Father Michael Duffy (@MichaelDuffy) February 4, 2015
Never thought I’d do an interview with the BBC about a soccer player with the same name as myself. God’s blessings on @michaelduffy_
— Father Michael Duffy (@MichaelDuffy) February 5, 2015
Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle, Father Duffy said:
“I started receiving congratulations messages from people in Ireland.”
“I was looking at their names and thought, my goodness, I don’t know who these people are and why they’re congratulating me.
“I finally found out that the other Michael Duffy signed with the Celtics [sic] – I’ve never in my life before been confused with a professional athlete, so it was a first for me.
“My Twitter handle @michaelduffy while his @michaelduffy_ with an underscore after it.”
So close, and yet so far.
Indeed, Father Duffy freely admits he has no real interest in football and had never heard of either Celtic or Derry City before this kerfuffle, continuing:
“I only watch soccer if it happens to be at the World Cup or if someone else is watching it, but here in New York we have a lot of international priests coming to us from Ghana or South America, so I’d watch a game with them.”
However, the father did wish his footballing namesake well in his new venture and also congratulated him on achieving his boyhood dream of playing for the Celtics.
“We’re proud to be Duffys today,” he said.
Amen.
(Via BBC Sport)