Kerry legend Mick O’Dwyer at Loughinisland’s big night

Kerry legend Mick O’Dwyer at Loughinisland’s big night

1 June 2016

KERRY football legend Mick O’Dwyer was the special guest at Loughinisland GAC’s annual awards night held in the clubrooms on Saturday evening.

O’Dwyer is known as once of the most exquisite footballers of his generation and as a player won four All-Ireland medals with The Kingdom. 

However, it is as a manager that he has carved out his name in GAA folklore and he is regarded as the greatest manager 

of all time with 22 major honours including eight All-Irelands, 11 Munster Championships and three National League titles.

Mick gave an insight on Saturday night into the dedication required to achieve success on the football field during an 

interview with radio and television personality Frank Mitchell. 

He spoke of the great players he had been involved with at Kerry and singled out Eoin Liston as one of the best he had ever managed. 

Mick also gave an insight into his tough training regimes at the time which included running his players for an hour and a half for 27 days in a row, something managers in the modern day would never dream of. 

He also told the large crowd of how he controlled a young and exuberant Pat Spillane during his early days as a Kerry footballer.  

Last season’s  championship double winning manager Jerome Johnston thanked the club for their assistance during his spell as manager alongside fitness coach Paul Duffin.

He had a special word of praise for Declan Valentine and wished the club every success in the future during his heart-felt speech.

Following a fantastic four-course meal Vincey McGlew took to the mic and announced Hugh McNamara as the club’s Hall of Fame award winner to rousing applause from those present. 

During a lengthy, but interesting acceptance speech, Hugh reminisced on the past and spoke of the great games played against Downpatrick and Ballykinlar to name but a few in his time as a footballer. 

He also had a special word for the men who formed the club following a meeting in McCaffrey’s barn and spoke of how proud they would be of today’s team which had such a successful year in 2015, winning the Down and Ulster Intermediate Championships.

Alongside Hugh, those men included Hugh O’Toole, Mick McCabe, John Toman, Pat Toman, Bobby Madine, George Gordon, Jimmy Keenan and Bob Tweedie.

The special awards presented on the night were as follows:

Ladies player of the year, Laura Mason; club-person of the year, Una Boyd; young player of the year, Feargal Murray; reserve player of the year, Damhan O’Toole; sportsperson of the year, Paddy McKenny; senior player of the year, Dan Gordon; Hall of Fame award, Hugh McNamara.