Francis Loughnane

Infobox GAA player
code= Hurling
sport = Hurling


name = Francis Loughnane
irish =
fullname = Francis Loughnane
placeofbirth = Roscrea
countryofbirth = County Tipperary
dob = 1944
height =
nickname =
county = Tipperary
province = Munster
club = Roscrea
clposition = Half-forward
clubs =
clyears =
clapps(points) =
clcounty =
clprovince=
clallireland =
counties = Tipperary
icposition = Centre-back
icyears = 1960s-1970s
icapps(points) =
icprovince = 1
icallireland = 1
allstars = 3
clupdate =
icupdate = Francis Loughnane (born 1944 in Roscrea, County Tipperary) is a retired Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Roscrea and with the Tipperary senior inter-county team in the 1960s and 1970s.

Playing career

Club

Loughnane played his club hurling with his local Roscrea club. He enjoyed some success at underage levels before winning his first senior county championship medal in 1968. He won a second county medal in 1969 before winning his first Munster club title. In 1970 Loughnane claimed another set of county and Munster club titles, before later winning an All-Ireland club title in the inaugural year of the competition. Further county titles were won by Loughnane in 1972, 1973 and 1980.

Inter-county

By the early 1960s Loughnane had joined the Tipperary minor hurling panel. He won a Munster minor medal in 1962, however, he failed to win an All-Ireland medal at this level. Two years later in 1964 Loughnane captained Tipperary to inaugural Munster and All-Ireland under-21 titles. He won a second Munster under-21 title in 1965.

Three years later in 1968 Loughnane was a substitute when Tipp won the Munster senior title. By 1971 he was a full member of the team and won his first senior Munster title. Loughnane later won his first All-Ireland title when Tipp defeated Kilkenny in a high-scoring game. He finished off the year by winning the first of three consecutive All-Star awards. The rest of the 1970s proved to be a bleak period for Tipperary’s hurling fortunes, however, Loughnane finished off his career by winning a National Hurling League medal in 1979.

Teams