Pat Spillane

Infobox GAA player
code= Football
sport = Gaelic football


name = Pat Spillane
irish = Pádraig Ó Spealáin
fullname = Patrick Gerard Spillane
placeofbirth = Templenoe
countryofbirth = County Kerry
bday=2
bmonth=12
byear= 1955
dod =
occupation =
height =
nickname =
county = Kerry
province = Munster
club = Templenoe
clposition = Half-forward
clubs =
clyears =
clapps(points) =
clcounty =
clprovince=
clallireland =
counties = Kerry
icposition = Half-forward
icyears = 1975-1991
icapps(points) =
icprovince = 11
icallireland = 8
allstars = 9
clupdate =
icupdate =

Pat Spillane (born 1 December, 1955) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played senior Gaelic football with Kerry from 1975 until 1991. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all-time.

Early & private life

Pat Spillane was born in Templenoe, County Kerry in 1955. His interest in Gaelic football stems from his father’s involvement as a player with the Kerry senior football team. Some of his uncles on his mother’s side also had the distinction of representing their county in football. Spillane’s father, Tom, died when he was just eight years-old, leaving his mother to take over the running of the family pub while simultaneously raising a family of four children. Spillane was educated locally and later attended St. Brendan’s College in Killarney, where one of his best friends was Páidí Ó Sé. Here his football skills were developed and he played senior football with "Brendan’s" but lost both an All-Ireland Colleges’ semi-final and a final. Spillane later attended Thomond College where he studied to be a P.E. teacher. He was later joined by his brother Mick at Thomond and they both played on the college football team. In 1978 Thomond became the only college to win the All-Ireland club football title, helped in no small way by the Spillane brothers.

In the late 1980s Spillane took over the running of the family pub in Templenoe. He currently works as a geography and P.E. teacher in St. Gobán's school in Bantry, County Cork.

Playing career

Club

Spillane played his club football with his local Templenoe club. He won a Kerry County Novice title in 1973 before winning a Junior County Championship medal in 1975.

Minor & under-21

By the early 1970s Spillane had joined the Kerry minor football team, however, he had no success in this grade at either provincial or All-Ireland level. He quickly progressed onto the Kerry under-21 team where he won both Munster and All-Ireland honours in 1975. In 1976 he made it two in-a-row by capturing another set of Munster and All-Ireland medals at under-21 level.

enior

Spillane made his senior inter-county debut as a substitute in a National Football League game against Galway in March 1974. He retained his place as a sub for Kerry’s unsuccessful Munster Championship campaign. In 1975 a new-look Kerry team was formed under the management of the legendary Mick O'Dwyer. It was the beginning of a glorious era for Kerry football and Spillane played a key role in orchestrating much of the success. That year he won his first Munster title, dethroning Cork as provincial champions in the process. Spillane later collected his first All-Ireland medal at senior level following a defeat of Dublin. As team captain Mickey 'Ned' O'Sullivan had departed injured in the first-half, Spillane, at the age of 19, was given the task of accepting the Sam Maguire Cup on the Hogan Stand.

In 1976 Spillane captured his second Munster , however, Dublin gained revenge for the previous year by defeating Kerry in the All-Ireland final. 1977 was another frustrating year as Spillane won another Munster title but lost out to Dublin yet again, this time in the All-Ireland semi-final. By 1978 Kerry were ready for success. They easily won another Munster title and breezed into the All-Ireland final to face Dublin. The game itself is remembered for Mikey Sheehy’s cheeky goal which he scored by lobbing the ball over the head of goalkeeper Paddy Cullen. The final score was 5-11 to 0-9 and Spillane had finally secured a second All-Ireland medal. In 1979 Kerry once again faced up to Dublin in the All-Ireland final and, in spite of Páidí Ó Sé being sent off for a foul, the men from the Kingdom had another emphatic victory over Dublin.

A victory for Kerry over Roscommon in 1980 brought Spillane’s All-Ireland medal tally up to four. In 1981 he won his seventh consecutive Munster title, however, he damaged his knee in a club game in August of that year. His movement was severely hampered but he was still selected as a sub for the 1981 All-Ireland final against Offaly. He was brought on with only a few minutes left in the match and he captured his fifth All-Ireland medal on the field of play. Spillane played sporadically for Kerry in 1982 as the team attempted to capture a fifth All-Ireland medal in-a-row. Once again Kerry faced Offaly in the final, with Spillane coming on as a sub in the second-half. Kerry had the upper hand for much of the game and were leading by two points with two minutes left to be played. The game, however, was not over as Offaly substitute Séamus Darby, who had entered the game almost unnoticed, produced the most spectacular of finishes by scoring a late goal. Kerry failed to score again to level the match and Offaly went on to win their third All-Ireland title ever.

Spillane played no part in the 1983 championship as he was recovering from an operation on his snapped cruciate ligament. While many players would never play again following such an injury Spillane fought his way back to fitness in time to win his eighth Munster title in 1984, before securing back-to-back All-Ireland victories over their old rivals Dublin in 1984 and 1985. In 1986 Spillane collected his third All-Ireland title in-a-row with an 8-point victory over Tyrone. It was his eighth All-Ireland medal overall, a record haul of All-Ireland medals and a record that he shares with fellow Kerrymen Páidí Ó Sé, Ger Power, Ogie Moran and Mikey Sheehy. For the last trio of All-Ireland victories Spillane was joined by his two brothers, Mick and Tom, on the Kerry team.

The glory days were now over for Kerry as Cork captured the next four Munster titles. Spillane continued to play with Kerry, winning his eleventh Munster title in 1991. Kerry were subsequently defeated by Down in the All-Ireland semi-final and Spillane decided to retite from inter-county football.

Records

In all Spillane collected eleven Munster Championship medals between 1975 and 1991. He played in ten All-Ireland finals, ending up on the winning side on eight occasions. Spillane also won Railway Cup football medals with Munster in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981, as well as four National Football Leagues in 1974, 1977, 1982 and 1984.

Spillane has also received nine All-Star awards, more than any other player in the history of Gaelic football. He shares the record within the Gaelic Athletic Association with D.J. Carey and Eddie Keher (although Keher's record is made up of 5 All-Stars and 4 Cú Chulainn Awards as his career predates the All-Star awards) who have also received nine All-Stars for their hurling performances for Kilkenny. Spillane was honoured with an All-Star accolade during the following years: 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985 and 1986.

Post-playing career

In retirement from inter-county football Spillane became a pundit on RTÉ's Gaelic games programme "The Sunday Game". As an analyst of games he was often criticised for his controversial views, particularly in 2003 when he described Armagh’s and Tyrone’s style of defence as “puke football.” He currently presents the Sunday Game highlights programme during the summer months, as well as writing a weekly column in the Sunday World newspaper.

In 2000 Spillane’s prowess as a player was honoured by the Gaelic Athletic Association when he was named in the right wing-forward position on the "Football Team of the Millennium."

Teams

Navboxes
title= Pat Spillane's teams
list1=Kerry Football Team 1975

ee also

* List of people on stamps of Ireland