by Donal Keenan
Just a month earlier Jimmy was part of the first Sarsfields team to win a Galway Senior Championship. The club was just fourteen years old and already a major power. When the year ended he was named the All Star corner back. ‘It was difficult to take it all in. It just seemed like the good days kept coming and that they would never end.’ Jimmy won a second All Star in 1981 after Galway had lost the title to Offaly. After serving a season as Galway’s captain in 1982, when they lost to Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final, Jimmy suffered a broken thumb during the 1983 National League. ‘I was self-employed, working on the farm and I had had a fair few injuries over the years. I couldn’t keep going, taking chances and not being able to work. So I decided then it was time to break from the county team and just play for the club.’
In August 1983 Jimmy wore the number sixteen jersey in the dugout as Galway lost the All-Ireland semi-final against Cork. In the minor game that day seventeen-year-old Joe Cooney wore number twelve as Galway defeated Tipperary. Joe scored five points. Anthony Cunningham scored two goals and one point. John Commins, Seán Treacy, Pat Malone, Gerry McInerney and Tom Monaghan were also in that Galway team. They beat Dublin in the All-Ireland final. Jimmy Cooney left Galway in safe hands. ‘Other players emerged in the next two years,’ he recalls. ‘[Michael] “Hopper” McGrath from our own club, Martin Naughton. There was plenty of new blood.’
A glorious era was dawning.
* * *
As Joe Cooney was growing up in Bullaun his father and brothers would often watch him practising against the wall of the house. They noticed the lightness of his touch, the ease with which he could control the ball. Jimmy remembers, ‘He was always belting a ball against the wall. It was a sponge ball so it would come flying back at him but he had great control. He was always doing tricks. He had great wrists, just a natural talent. He had touch and control, but most of all he had great vision. He could spot a lad 80 yards away and put the ball into his hand. The one thing was that he was very light and my father was always worried that he would be pushed around. But Joe was well able to look after himself and he didn’t have to be physical. He could see everything that was happening around him and he could react to every situation. He had a brilliant sidestep too.’
Joe’s progress to the Galway senior team was rapid. He was still in his teens when named as a substitute for the 1984 Championship. Joe watched from the bench in Thurles as Galway suffered a heavy defeat in the All-Ireland semi-final against Offaly, conceding four goals. He was a fully-fledged member of the forward line alongside Tony Kilkenny, Brendan Lynskey, Anthony Cunningham, Martin Naughton and Noel Lane for his first All-Ireland senior final in September 1985 when Galway again lost to Offaly, but this time by just two points. Joe won the first of his five All Star awards that year, the others coming in 1986, 1987, 1989 and 1990.
Cyril Farrell created a new tactical plan for 1986 based on Joe Cooney’s talents. He withdrew a player from the full forward line for the All-Ireland semi-final to lure a corner back away to allow Joe exploit the extra space. Kilkenny couldn’t cope. The extra space in Semple Stadium suited the plan perfectly. Joe scored two goals and tortured the Kilkenny defence. Galway won comfortably. It created a sensation in the sport.
‘It didn’t work for the final,’ Joe says ruefully. Critics claimed Galway were naïve to think Cork would fall for the same trick and that they should have changed tactics. Joe is not so sure. ‘I think their corner back Johnny Crowley had an ankle problem and he just stuck to his position because he wasn’t able to move around. We played the ball into where we had planned to create the space and everything fell into his hand. He got man of the match.’
By 1987 there was severe pressure on Galway to deliver. The triumph of 1980 was meant to be a launching pad for a decade of success, but now the romance was being replaced by frustration. Tipperary won the Munster Championship and the All-Ireland series took on a new complexion. Galway were gaining in experience and handled the semi-final against Tipperary well. Now they faced Kilkenny in the final. ‘It wasn’t a fancy game, it was a hard final,’ Joe admits. ‘It was a difficult day and Ger Fennelly missed a few frees for them that he would normally put over. But we had a great mix in our team by then. We had stylish players like Eanna Ryan, Martin Naughton and “Hopper” McGrath. We had ball-winners like Brendan Lynskey who brought the rest of us into the game. We had powerful backs; Conor Hayes and Sylvie Linnane didn’t take any prisoners. And we had that half back line of Gerry McInerney, Tony Keady and Peter Finnerty. It was a great line. There were so many players. We had the Kilkenny brothers Ollie and Tony. Steve Mahon and Pat Malone were great midfielders. Michael Coleman then came along. We were a team playing with the rhythm you only get from playing together for a few years.’
It was the same formula that saw them maintain their dominance over Tipperary in 1988 when Galway won a second successive title. It was the beginning of a rivalry that was not always healthy, though Joe contends that it was not as bitter as some would suggest. Contests between them included the 1989 National League final which Galway also won. It was their second League triumph in three seasons. The Galway and Tipperary players met regularly in the interprovincial series, the Railway Cup, when the Connacht team made up entirely of Galway players won four titles out of the five competitions played between 1986 and 1991. Galway and Tipperary played again in the 1989 All-Ireland semi-final, which had been shrouded in controversy over the suspension of Tony Keady for unwittingly playing illegally in an exhibition game in New York. ‘Because we were meeting so often the rivalry got a bit out of hand and sometimes it boiled over,’ admits Joe. ‘But I don’t think it was ever too bad. What happened with Tony [Keady] was a pity because he was such a great hurler. But a lot of the challenges in the semi-final that day were more awkward than anything else. And when the game was over it was all forgotten.’
Galway were back in the All-Ireland final in 1990 where they played Cork. For the first thirty-five minutes Joe Cooney produced a virtuoso performance at centre half forward, one of the greatest halves ever produced by an individual in Championship hurling. It wasn’t enough. ‘Ah, it was one of those days,’ he explains. ‘All I ever did was to go out and do my best. In the first half that day everywhere I went the ball was there, every time I put up my hand the ball fell into it. In the second half the puck-outs weren’t as long, we weren’t winning them as easy and it went better for Cork. I remember before half time Jim Cashman kept looking to the sideline to see if he was going to be switched; there was no need to switch him in the second half because the game changed completely. But we could still have won it. I remember Martin Naughton going for a goal. I was waiting for the net to shake and thought “this is it”. But Ger Cunningham dived and the ball hit him straight between the eyes. He couldn’t have seen it. It went out for a ‘65’ but the umpire didn’t signal it. The ball was pucked out and Tomás Mulcahy got a goal at the other end. And that was it.’
His career was coming to an end in 2000, but Joe Cooney still displayed the style and control that made him a favourite of Galway hurling fans. © Damien Eagers/SPORTSFILE
Three years later Joe played in another All-Ireland final when Galway lost to Kilkenny. It was his last appearance in a final. He played on until 2000 in search of another title. ‘We had a team that was good enough to win a few more titles,’ he says, ‘but we didn’t realise it at the time. Maybe we started taking short cuts. We didn’t get cocky, but when you are playing for a long time you might think you are going better than you really are. It was a great time for hurling and you had a lot of teams competing. Ourselves, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Cork, Offaly, Wexford and Limerick were always close. There was never much between any of us. When you are at the top, other teams tend to play above themselves against you so you need to be alert all the time. That’s not easy. It’s why the current Kilkenny team is so special, because they have stayed successful for so long. Back in 1988 when we won our second title you would never have thought that Galway
would still be waiting for another one. We had good teams and we were very close. But I suppose we should be glad we got two.’
* * *
Joe was blessed throughout his career to avoid serious injury. It allowed him to play for sixteen seasons with the county and the best part of twenty years with Sarsfields. ‘I always knew that I was lucky playing for Galway because I was going back to play for a very good club team in a very good setup. For other players with Galway it was a much harder slog because their clubs were not as strong.’
Jimmy, Packie, Michael, Joe, Brendan and Peter Cooney were well accustomed to their individual habits, abilities and weaknesses on the hurling field. They had learned at home initially and in the new premises in Bullaun that houses the Sarsfields club. There were Brodericks, Kennys, Kellys, McGraths and many others that made up the tight-knit unit. Jimmy Cooney was club chairman for three years while still playing senior hurling for them during the 1980s and he was also a selector for a few years. It was all hands on deck. Numbers were tight. The spread of talents, both administrative and playing, was wide.
The six Cooney brothers were on board when Sarsfields won the county title for only the second time in the club’s history in 1989. They won the Connacht title as well and then played a powerful Ballyhale Shamrocks team in the All-Ireland semi-final in February 1990 in Ballinasloe and only came up short by two points. It was a period of intense competition in Galway club hurling. Kiltormer won the All-Ireland Championship in March 1992 and were fancied to win another Galway title. But Sarsfields emerged as champions and set out in search of an elusive All-Ireland club title. They beat Buffer’s Alley of Wexford in the semi-final and qualified to meet Limerick champions Kilmallock in the final on St Patrick’s Day 1993.
Packie Cooney was captain and right full back; Brendan was full back and Michael manned the left corner. Joe was at midfield and Peter played at left corner forward. Jimmy was hanging on as a substitute. Kilmallock had outstanding players like Dave Clarke, Mike Houlihan and Pat Tobin. Friends and relations returned to Ireland from all over the world. Families re-united. Arch rivals in Galway even wished them well. ‘It was such a unique occasion,’ explains Jimmy. ‘For such a small club to get to an All-Ireland final was a great achievement. But to go on and win it was incredible.’
Joe remembers running out onto Croke Park that St Patrick’s Day. ‘Some of us were used to it. Myself and “Hopper” [McGrath] were playing there a couple of times a year. But there were lads with the club who might have been fighting for a place on our team and here they were getting a chance to tog out and run onto Croke Park. That meant so much to them and so it meant a lot to us.’ Sarsfields beat Kilmallock by 1–17 to 2–7. ‘We were fortunate that so many good players grew up around the parish at the same time. It is difficult for parishes like these to be successful all the time so when the opportunity presents itself you have got to take it. There have been so many strong teams like Athenry and then Portumna. Then you had all the great Kilkenny club teams that came along. For us to be associated with them and to have achieved what we did means a lot to everyone. Hopefully in the future another bunch of players will come along and we can enjoy that level of success again.’
‘What struck me about those guys,’ says Jimmy, ‘is that they were so dedicated. Take a player like Noel Morrissey. If the team was training five nights a week Noel would be out again the other two nights. It didn’t matter what the weather was like, he gave everything he had to the team.’
They went on to become the first team to retain the title and Packie was the first man to captain a team to consecutive titles. They beat St Rynagh’s of Offaly in the 1994 semi-final and then Toomevara of Tipperary in the final, a game that is still fresh in the mind of Jimmy Cooney. ‘That result typified what that Sarsfields team was all about. They were being beaten at half time and Galway teams did not do well in those situations. But they stuck at it. I remember a line ball for Sarsfields under the Cusack Stand. Pádraic Kelly took it and drove it in high. Joe put his hand up through a cloud of hurls and plucked the ball out of the sky. He flicked it to “Bottler” Kenny and he scored a goal. Aidan O’Donoghue then scored a ‘65’ and that was the end. Toomevara were a slightly better team but Sarsfields knew how to win tight games.’
* * *
Jimmy Cooney had been refereeing hurling games before his own inter-county playing career had ended. Living close to the Bullaun pitch, he was readily available to look after under-age games if required. His wasn’t a real vocation. He just felt it was the right thing to do to ensure that young lads would get a game in the evening. Work on the farm was typically physical and kept him in reasonably good shape. He was also involved in administration at club level. Part of his role was to encourage others to take up refereeing. The best way of doing that was by example.
When he eventually decided in 1996 that his club days were over – he had played junior hurling for three years – Jimmy found himself elevated to the inter-county referees panel. In the ultra-competitive club environment in Galway he had been a popular and respected referee. That followed him to the inter-county scene and in August 1998 he was given one of the toughest assignments possible in that year’s Championship – Clare versus Offaly in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Tensions were high in the build-up to the game. Clare had been involved in a heated Munster final replay against Waterford. Brian Lohan had been suspended following his dismissal. Colin Lynch was suspended for three months after a post-match inquiry and failed in a High Court bid to have the suspension lifted. The Clare manager Ger Loughnane was confined to the stand. At the same time Offaly had been mired in controversy when their manager, Babs Keating, resigned following a spat with the players.
The general consensus after the semi-final, which ended in a draw, was that Cooney had handled it well. There were the usual criticisms: the free he awarded Clare that drew the match was soft; he had not played sufficient injury time. But no one complained too loudly when he was appointed to referee the replay on the following Saturday, 22 August. It is a date he will never forget.
‘A nightmare, just one long nightmare that stays with me today,’ he states bluntly. Clare led by 1–16 to 2–10 in a titanic struggle. The hurling had been fast and furious, there were some heavy hits and a few that might have earned sterner rebukes from the referee. He chose the discretionary route, believing that a dismissal would have generated a negative reaction generally. But all in all it was a great occasion. Until Jimmy Cooney blew the final whistle. For a second there was a confused silence around Croke Park. And then bedlam. ‘I knew in less than thirty seconds what I had done wrong,’ says Jimmy. ‘I had blown five minutes early. There were two minutes of normal time to play and I had planned on adding three minutes of injury time.’
The players knew he had made a mistake; the defeated Offaly players and their new manager Michael Bond spoke to him. His officials came to him. His thoughts were in a spin. He tried to get them in order, to decide what he should do. He wasn’t allowed. Security officials bundled him off the field towards the corner between the Cusack Stand and the canal end where the referee’s dressing-room is situated. They shielded him from photographers and he felt like a prisoner.
Jimmy Cooney, the referee, is escorted off Croke Park after he ended the 1998 All-Ireland semi-final prematurely. He had happier days in the stadium when winning an All-Ireland title with Galway in 1980. © David Maher/SPORTSFILE
For hours he was kept in the confines of the dressing-room. He was numb. He got regular updates about what was happening outside, some of them more accurate than others. The Offaly supporters had spilled onto the pitch and were staging a protest. A game between Kerry and Kildare that was due to follow had to be called off because the supporters would not leave the field. ‘I even got one report that they were tearing up the pitch. Galway and Derry were due to play in the football semi-final the following day. I had planned to stay in Dublin for that game. Now it was being said the game was in dou
bt because the pitch would not be playable. I was responsible for all of this. It was a shattering experience.’ Of course, the Offaly supporters did no such thing. They protested quietly until told that an official investigation was being held and an announcement would be made.
Jimmy retraces the afternoon. He had intervened in an altercation between two players with about a quarter of an hour remaining. It wasn’t much but he needed to bring calm to the situation. He stopped his primary watch. And forgot to restart it. He noticed it some minutes later and resorted to his secondary watch. Add on a bit of injury time and there would not be a problem. Except that he had set the secondary watch for thirty minutes, not thirty-five. That was the calamity.
During the hours he was kept in isolation underneath the Cusack Stand he wrote up his match report and formally submitted it. There was no hiding place from what had happened. He admitted his error.
‘I made a bad mistake and I was humiliated. Looking back now we should have acted differently. We should have been able to re-start the game, explain quickly what happened and got on with it. I wish someone had said “hold on, let’s see what we can do about this”. But I was shifted off the field before we had time to gather ourselves. The hours I spent in that dressing-room were the longest of my life. And the days after that were fairly long as well.’
He worried for his wife, Kay, and the children. He worried about his mother at home and the rest of the extended family. There were tears shed when Kay was eventually allowed to see him. He was due to stay in Dublin but abandoned that idea. There was no way he could be seen in public the following day, especially in Croke Park with Galway playing. Eventually he was escorted out of the room still surrounded by security men talking into walkie-talkies. It would have been funny in other circumstances, but he felt hounded. He could predict the furore that would follow, the negativity and the attention. Kay was flying to Lourdes as an assistant with a pilgrimage so she would be spared the worst of it. ‘But the house was a lonely place when I got back to it,’ he says.
