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The Golden Years (Part 5): How Micko rebuilt Kerry after the heartbreak of ’82

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3 years ago

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Kerry manager Mick O'Dwyer is mobbed after Kerry's victory over Tyrone in the 1986 All-Ireland final. Photo: Ray McManus/Sportsfile.

In the fifth and final part of our Golden Years series, Adam Moynihan reflects on Kerry’s infamous defeat to Offaly in 1982 and how their leader stayed on to build a new team of champions.

Losing to Offaly in the All-Ireland football final of 1982 will (hopefully) always be the most heartbreaking moment in the history of Kerry football. Whether you were there or not, losing an unprecedented five-in-a-row in such traumatic circumstances still stings 38 years later, and will likely sting forevermore.

“I think of it at least once a week,” Mick O’Dwyer admitted in the terrific RTÉ documentary 'Micko', which charmed viewers in 2018. “It’s still implanted in my mind.”

Kerry’s manager was distraught at the final whistle and the loss sent him into a state of depression. He agonised over the outcome for months, spending his days rewatching the tape and forensically analysing what had gone wrong.

“One could not help but notice how badly he looked, his face drawn and haggard, his voice trailing away at the end of sentences that were left unfinished,” his biographer, Owen McCrohan, recalled. “To all outward manifestations, here was a broken man.”

In the winter of 1982, O’Dwyer decided privately that his time at the helm was up. He would step down in the New Year. The Kerry Dynasty, already reeling, was now on the brink of collapse.

ONE MORE SHOT

Fortunately for Kerry, Micko’s ambition and love for the game gradually returned and by the springtime he had resolved to give it one more shot. Unfortunately for Kerry, more despair was to follow.

In the Munster final of 1983, The Kingdom were gunning for an unprecedented ninth provincial title in a row. Incredibly, just like the Offaly game, a last-minute goal by Cork’s Tadhg Murphy snatched a historic victory from Kerry’s clutches. The Rebels won by a single point.

Now the knives were really out for O’Dwyer, but more concerning for Micko was the fact that some of his players appeared to be totally burned out. “Ger Power, Mikey Sheehy and John Egan were completely out of it when Cork beat us in ’83,” O’Dwyer later told McCrohan. “Ogie Moran was going through a bad patch. John O’Keeffe, Tim Kennelly, Ger O’Keeffe and Paudie Lynch were coming to the end of the road. We needed replacements and we needed them quickly.”

Ger Lynch, Ambrose O’Donovan, Timmy O’Dowd, Willie Maher and John Kennedy were duly drafted in and the return from serious injury of key forward Pat Spillane was a massive boost.

After the disappointment of 1982 and 1983, O’Dwyer worked wonders in lighting a fire under his key players for the 1984 season and the results were immediate. Kerry won the National League by defeating Galway in Limerick and they made light work of the Munster Championship as they hammered Tipperary before beating Cork by seven points in the final.

A handy victory over Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final followed and now the old foe, Dublin, stood between O’Dwyer’s charges and a return to the mountain top.

Writing in The RTÉ Guide in the days leading up to the centenary final, Paul Desmond questioned Kerry’s chances: “Their current team is neither a settled side nor one full of potential – it is a cowardly blend of experienced players, has-beens and a few newcomers.”

On the train up to Dublin, County Board Treasurer Murt Galvin pulled out the article in question. The players were not one bit amused and were determined to show their detractors what they were made of.

In his pre-game speech, O’Dwyer called on his players to do it for a fallen comrade. “I want ye to win this one for Kerry and for me and for Mikey Sheehy!” Kerry’s star forward had gone down with a bad injury eight days before the final and was unavailable for selection.

With their trainer’s words ringing in their ears, Kerry flew out of the traps and after a dominant display they emerged victorious with plenty to spare (0-14 to 1-6). After a brief hiatus, the kings were back.

SPONSORSHIP

And O’Dwyer wasn’t finished yet. The Waterville maestro led Kerry back to the All-Ireland again in 1985 where once again Dublin were the opposition.

The latest instalment of the game’s greatest rivalry should have been enough to keep everyone entertained but, remarkably, all the talk the morning of the final was about a washing machine.

Kerry had struck a sponsorship deal with washing machine manufacturer Bendix in the run-up to the decider. On All-Ireland final day, Bendix published a full-page ad in the national papers that caused quite a stir.

“They arrived into Tralee from Dublin with a van with a washing machine in it," O'Dwyer explained.

"They brought it into the dressing room and when we finished training, players put their jerseys into the washing machine and that was the photograph that was in the paper the following day. They were all standing around half-clothed.

“We got something in the region of €15,000. That was the start of sponsorship by the counties. Croke Park were going on over that as well but I didn’t give a damn.”

Unperturbed by the furore their bare chests and controversial deal had caused, Kerry powered to a memorable 2-12 to 2-8 win.

BORROWED TIME

Speculation about O’Dwyer’s imminent retirement was widespread but ultimately unfounded. “I knew most of us were living on borrowed time but the experience of coming back with a blend of old and new players brought a marvelous feeling of fulfillment. It was like a drug. Once we had put Dublin behind us in ’85, I think everyone decided to keep at it. Winning three-in-a-row became the new target.”

It was a target they would reach by beating Tyrone in 1986 and although dreams of another four-in-a-row, and possibly the elusive five, kept O’Dwyer motivated thereafter, it would prove a bridge too far for his ageing stars.

Three successive defeats to Cork in the Munster final followed before the great man stepped aside. In the end, he readily admitted that he should have done so after ’86, but a few bad defeats could not detract from his legacy.

He took over for a year in 1975 and ended up putting together the greatest team in the history of the GAA. Micko, more than anyone, was responsible for Kerry’s Golden Years, and for that we owe him a huge debt of gratitude.

Mick O'Dwyer's Record as Kerry Manager

Years in charge 15 (1975-1989)

Games 55 (Won 43, Lost 7, Drew 5)

Win Percentage 78%

League Titles 3

Munster Titles 11

All-Ireland Finals 10

All-Ireland Titles 8

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Almost impossible to look beyond East Kerry but Dingle are best placed to challenge

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6 days ago

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15 September 2023

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Adam Moynihan breaks down the groups and likely contenders in the 2023 Kerry Senior Football Championship

Group 1: East Kerry, South Kerry, West Kerry, Templenoe

Defending champions East Kerry are on the hunt for their fourth county title in five years and with a talented squad that’s looking as stacked as ever, only the brave would back against them.

Rathmore’s promotion back to senior level means that Kerry players Shane Ryan and Paul Murphy are missing from last year’s nine-point final victory over Mid Kerry but East Kerry’s strength in depth in all sectors means that no individual player is irreplaceable – excepting the obvious.

David Clifford’s performance for the ages in Fossa’s landmark intermediate semi-final win over Stacks provided a stark reminder of his awe-inspiring talents. Paudie Clifford was excellent too and this year the Two Mile brothers are joined on the panel by four clubmates – another glaring indicator of how far Fossa have come.

James O’Donoghue must be considered an injury doubt after only managing a cameo in Legion’s last outing but his clubmates Brian Kelly, Jonathan Lyne, Darragh Lyne and Cian Gammell are all likely to feature. Current Kerry senior panelists Chris O’Donoghue and Darragh Roche (Glenflesk), Ronan Buckley and Ruairí Murphy (Listry), and Donal O’Sullivan (Kilgarvan) would also be expected to play their part, with plenty of young talent from all seven clubs hoping to break into the starting line-up.

Realistically, the holders should navigate Group 1 with little fuss with South Kerry, West Kerry and Templenoe battling it out for second.

South Kerry and Templenoe played out a draw in the group stage of last year’s championship so there might not be much between them this year either.

West Kerry will be aiming to pick up at least one result after losing all three of their fixtures in 2022.

VERDICT: East Kerry and Templenoe

GROUP 2: Kenmare Shamrocks, Rathmore, St Kieran’s, Feale Rangers

Kenmare came mightily close in the Senior Club final and they should be able to carry that momentum through to the County Championship. Seánie O’Shea is obviously their one bona fide match winner but they’re also strong around the middle third where James McCarthy, David Hallissey and Kevin O’Sullivan put in the hard yards.

The fact that Feale Rangers reached last year’s semi-final indicates that they’re on an upward trajectory. The question now is can they repeat the trick? In 2022 the team was backboned by Listowel Emmets players (seven started that defeat to Mid Kerry) and those lads are coming into this competition in confident form having secured a spot in the still-to-be-played Junior Premier final.

Rathmore are always a tough championship team and the Ryans (Cathal and Mark at midfield and Shane at full forward) are sure to be a handful for any opposition.

St Kieran’s have troubled decent teams in the not-too-distant past – although they lost all three group games (including one against Kenmare) a year ago.

VERDICT: Kenmare and Feale Rangers

GROUP 3: Mid Kerry, Spa, Kerins O’Rahillys, Shannon Rangers

In 2022, Spa found the going tough in a Group of Death that included East Kerry and Dingle. The draw has been kinder to them this time around and they would probably expect to beat Rahillys and Shannon Rangers.

The wheels came off against Dingle in this year’s Senior Club Championship but they impressed the week before against Kenmare. Dara Moynihan, Evan Cronin and Cian Tobin will be important players in attack, with Dan O’Donoghue manning the midfield and Shane Cronin protecting their defensive third from number 6.

Mid Kerry, runners-up last season, will provide their sternest test in this pool. A lot of eyes (including those of Jack O’Connor) will be on Cillian Burke after his heroics for Milltown/Castlemaine in the semi-final of the Intermediate Club Championship. His clubmate Éanna O’Connor (son of the Kerry bainisteoir) will also play a crucial role at centre forward.

Rahillys are facing a relegation playoff if they fail to reach the final of the Kerry SFC and their form in recent weeks would suggest that making it that far is a long shot.

VERDICT: Mid Kerry and Spa

GROUP 4: Dingle, Dr Crokes, St Brendan’s, Na Gaeil

Breaking free of East Kerry’s stranglehold will not be easy but crafty Senior Club champions Dingle are surely best placed to wriggle loose. With four in-form Geaneys in the forwards – Paul, Mikey, Conor and Dylan – they have the tools to trouble any defence, and the return of their established AFL player Mark O’Connor adds solidity going the other way. They also have the incomparable Tom O’Sullivan pulling the strings. As things stand, they are easily the standout club team in the county.

Their Group 4 opponents Dr Crokes will be aiming to improve upon their showing in 2022 when they bowed out at the quarter-final stage. Naturally much will depend on the availability or otherwise of star players Gavin White and Tony Brosnan. White missed the recent Senior Club semi-final defeat to Kenmare with a hamstring injury. Encouragingly, Brosnan (who has been sidelined with a recurrence of a lung problem) was togged for that match, though he did not play.

The Killarney club will be fancied to qualify from their group alongside Dingle, although St Brendan’s – strengthened by the addition of an unknown number of Austin Stacks players to their ranks – could be dangerous.

The other team in the pool, Na Gaeil, are facing a relegation playoff against Rahillys once both sides are finished with the Kerry SFC. Reaching the final of this competition would spare them but Na Gaeil can count themselves unlucky to have been handed a difficult draw for the second year in a row.

VERDICT: Dingle and Dr Crokes

All things considered East Kerry and Dingle appear to be the frontrunners to capture the Bishop Moynihan trophy but there will be plenty of twists and turns along the way, starting this weekend with a full round of fixtures.

All eight matches will be either televised or streamed online. Dingle v Dr Crokes is on TG4. The remaining seven matches are on Clubber.

Fixtures

Friday 8pm Na Gaeil v St Brendan’s (Austin Stack Park)

Saturday 3pm Templenoe v West Kerry (Fitzgerald Stadium)

Saturday 5.30pm Rahillys v Shannon Rangers (Austin Stack Park)

Saturday 7.30pm East Kerry v South Kerry (Austin Stack Park)

Sunday 1.30pm Rathmore v St Kieran’s (Fitzgerald Stadium)

Sunday 2.15pm Dingle v Dr Crokes (Austin Stack Park)

Sunday 3.30pm Feale Rangers v Kenmare Shamrocks (Fitzgerald Stadium)

Sunday 4.15pm Mid Kerry v Spa (Austin Stack Park)

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Kerry’s old dogs ready for Tyrone challenge in All-Ireland final

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6 days ago

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15 September 2023

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Adam Moynihan chats to Kerry Masters goalkeeper Tony Lyons ahead of the over 40 All-Ireland football final

Hi Tony. Thanks for speaking to me.

No problem, Adam.

Can you tell me about the Kerry Masters’ season to date?

We played six round robin games in the league phase to see which competition we would be in at the end. There are five championships in all with the senior championship being for teams that finish 1st to 4th in the league, the plate for 5th to 8th and so on. There were 23 counties involved in total this year with new entrants like Armagh, Derry and Limerick.

We won five of our six league games against Limerick, Cork, Waterford, London and Clare. Unfortunately we were well beaten by Dublin during the league phase but that served us well because we knuckled down after that and upped the training to twice a week.

We also got a physical trainer on board from Keel, David Clifford, and he has had a huge influence on our development the last couple of months, allied to Adam and Gary O’Reilly from Glenflesk, and Jason Foley from Keel.

We then beat Derry in the All-Ireland quarter-final by a point, setting up a semi-final against Galway in Limerick which we won by 12 points to 7 a couple of weeks back. it That quarter-final win against Derry was our most pleasing result of the season because we were down a few bodies.

What’s the standard like?

The standard is actually very good. While we don’t have a lot of former Kerry players with us – aside from William Kirby and Aidan O’Mahony – we do have a very good calibre of club player with us, the likes of John O’Connor from Kerins O’Rahillys and John Paul Leahy from Ballyduff for example. We’ve come across some big names in some of the games. Limerick had Ciarán Carey, Dublin had Denis Bastick, Cork had Nicholas Murphy and John Miskella, and Derry had Paddy Bradley.

The first halves of the games are really competitive with the second halves probably becoming more of a war of attrition. The key is having depth in your squad and being able to bring players in and out at the right time as players tire, and I think Adam and his management team have mastered that at this stage.

Would a number of the players have represented Kerry at some level in the past?

We haven’t a huge amount of former Kerry seniors but some of the guys would have represented Kerry at junior and underage level at various stages. What the management team focused on when it became apparent some of the former players weren’t joining was getting good quality club players who could commit and make most of the trainings, and I think that has worked well for them.

What’s key as well is that a lot of the players have been playing very recently for their clubs either at senior or junior level. That’s a huge help.

How are the fitness levels?

Depends on what time of the season you’re talking about! The first few weeks is all about trying to knock off the pounds and get to a certain level of fitness. In fairness to Adam O’Reilly, he places a big focus on the warm-up which is important for players of all ages but especially for those of us over 40.

Very few of the starting 15 would last the 60 or 65 minutes so it’s important that the replacements coming in can add an impetus and build on what the guys before them have done. Last year our panel was probably a little light but we have added well with the likes of Kevin Lynch (Castleisland Desmonds), Mark Crowley (Kenmare) and James Nagle (Keel) – all strong and very fit guys – coming in.

Tell me more about your management team.

Adam O’Reilly is the manager. He came on board this year and brought Gary O’Reilly and Jason Foley with him. Gary looks after the statistics, gear and so on and Jason is a selector as well as taking parts of training at various times. David Clifford came on board about two months ago as physical trainer and he has added greatly to the set-up, improving our fitness levels and tackling in particular.

What’s the most enjoyable part of playing with the Kerry Masters?

A huge part of it, Adam, is playing with guys who you would have tried to knock lumps out of at club level over the years! There’s a big social part to it also with us meeting for a pint or two after games and, as well as that, guys getting back into a dressing room environment and having the craic at training.

For some guys who were never lucky enough to wear the Kerry jersey, there’s a huge sense of pride to put it on at this stage. It’s a real an honour. To be fair to the other teams we played, they have treated us with a lot of respect because they know Kerry teams will play football first and foremost.

Also it’s nice to involve our families, kids, partners, and wives and for them to come to the games. We have noticed a lot more people coming to our matches this season.

Which of your teammates are the best craic?

There are a few fellas like Tim O’Donoghue who thinks he’s hilarious but the jury’s out on that one. I suppose the goalies, myself and Niall Hobbert, would be jokers but then the rest of the panel would tell you the jury is out on us too! Kirby is good craic, as is the former Spa man Brian O’Sullivan Darcy. It’s great fun. I would thoroughly recommend it to any guy 40 or over who wants to play a bit of competitive football and also continue training in what is almost like a club environment.

How would you rate your chances in the final on Saturday? Are you expecting a difficult challenge from Tyrone?

Look, it’s going to be very tough. Tyrone have won the last two All-Ireland finals at Masters level and they have the experience, whereas this is our first go, as it were. They have a solid team built with the likes of Seán Cavanagh, Conor Gormley and Stephen O’Neill in their ranks.

It will be a tall order for sure but we’ll give it our all and the whole panel are chomping at the bit and ready for action.

Kerry v Tyrone takes place on Saturday at 4pm in Roscommon. Follow @KerryMastersGAA on Twitter for more information.

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