Mick O'Dwyer, the legendary Kerry Gaelic football manager and player, has died aged 88.
Over the course of a 57-year inter-county career as player and manager, O'Dwyer rewrote the history books and arguably changed the face of Gaelic football.
Marty Morrissey remembers 'Micko' - fine player, revolutionary manager, an Irish sporting icon who wore his greatness lightly.
Mick O'Dwyer was born on 9 June, 1936, in Waterville Co Kerry.
A hotelier and mechanic by profession, his love of football simply consumed him from an early age.
At 17, he played for the Kerry minors, losing in the All-Ireland MFC final. He subsequently made his debut for the Kerry seniors in the National Football League in the 1956/57 season.
As a Kerry footballer he won four All-Ireland medals in 1959, 1962, 1969, and 1970; 12 Munster Championships, including eight in a row; and eight National Football Leagues titles.
He retired in 1974 but a year later transferred from being a inter-county footballer to become the new Kerry boss. So began an incredible career as an inter-county manager. Indeed, he emerged as one of the greatest football managers of all time.
He guided his beloved Kerry to eight All-Ireland, including a four-in-a-row between 1978 and 1981, a three-in-a-row between 1984 and 1986, 11 Munster titles in 12 seasons and three National Football Leagues.
'Micko', as he was affectionately called - not just in Kerry but nationwide - simultaneously took charge of the Kerry Under-21 footballers, winning three successive All-Irelands titles for the green and gold. Truly remarkable by any barometer.
Some of the most wonderful players in the game came under his spell; men like Jack O'Shea, Pat Spillane, Mikey Sheehy, Ogie Moran, John O’Keeffe, Charlie Nelligan, the late Paidi Ó Sé, Tim Kenneally and John Egan RIP.
For me at least, that era of Micko's Kerry and Kevin Heffernan's Dublin was truly a golden one for Gaelic football.
After 15 years in charge of Kerry - from 1975 to 1990 - he moved to Leinster to embrace new challenges, taking charge of the Lilywhites from 1991 to 1994.
In 1997, he was re-appointed and amazingly ended a 42-year Leinster title famine in Kildare. He actually won two Leinster crowns, guiding Kildare to their first All-Ireland final appearance in 70 years in 1998.
They lost to Galway who were managed by another great manager, the late John O’Mahony, on a day when the present Galway boss Paraic Joyce scored a cracking goal.
But there's more…
In 2002 when Micko was 66 years of age, he moved to Laois, travelling all the time from Waterville, two months after leaving Kildare. A year later in 2003, he won a Leinster title ending a 57-year wait for the O’Moore County.
He stayed in Leinster after his Laois days were over and took on the job as Wicklow manager from 2006 where he stayed for five years.
In 2007 Wicklow won the Tommy Murphy Cup on a rare but wonderfully emotional day in Croke Park for the Garden County. Two years later Micko brought Wicklow to the last 12 in the All Ireland championships. Yet another milestone in a career of an amazing man, an amazing character from South Kerry.
He ended his inter-county career by crossing the River Shannon to Clare, who he managed for one year before hanging up his boots in 2013 and retiring after 38 years as an inter-county manager.
There were disappointments along the way, like Seamus Darby's sensational goal for Offaly in the 1982 All-Ireland final that ended the five-in-a-row dream.
There were controversies too, like the Adidas deal for the 1982 Munster SFC final and the Bendix washing machine advertisement on the morning of the 1985 All-Ireland decider when the Kerry players were photographed around a washing machine with the line: 'Only Bendix could whitewash this lot'. One might say he was ahead of his time.
Mick O’Dwyer was one of Gaelic football's greatest managers. He revolutionised the game, while his time in Kerry marked an increase in the intensity of the rivalry between the Kingdom and Dublin.
From a distance I admired Mick O’Dwyer. I first made contact with him in 1989 when Cork's Castlehaven played St Senan's Kilkee in the Munster Club football final in Killarney.
I was starting off my broadcasting career with Clare FM so I took a chance and I rang Mick O'Dwyer, asking him would he join me on commentary from Fitzgerald Stadium.
He hadn't a clue who I was, while he was a real life legend. He said "yes" immediately to me and for the next 36 years, we have been great friends.
He has been sick for some time but I miss his smile, his bit of roguery, his chats on the phone and his great knowledge of Gaelic football.
He was unique.
His legacy and achievements will last forever. His contribution to the counties he coached will never be forgotten.
A sign of the man was the fact his last management role was at the helm of the Waterville Under-14 football team.
Mick O’Dwyer was 88 years of age. A true GAA legend.
Rest in peace my friend.
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