Billy Morgan: Teddy McCarthy was a GAA natural and inspirational leader but a great character too

He was not a big man really but in the aerial battles, he could match anybody, both in football and hurling

IN THIS great city and county of ours we have been blessed to have had among us some of the finest sports people that it has been our privilege to witness, men and women whose feats will not diminish with the passage of time.

The late and great Teddy McCarthy ranked right at the very top of that list. Not since the one and only Christy Ring was taken from us over 44 years ago has there been such an outpouring of grief among the sporting fraternity here and far beyond...

There’s a saying that the good die young, they are taken far too prematurely and once more that has been tellingly illustrated.

Teddy McCarthy was an incredible hurler and footballer but far more importantly an incredible person, who never let fame go to his head. He remained until his last breath as down-to-earth a person that one could ever wish to meet.

He was as happy watching a junior B game in his beloved Riverstown, Ballinlough, or any other of the many venues throughout the length and breadth of the county that you would come across him. In fact, he became as great a supporter of the GAA as he was as a player of immense talent.

First and foremost his family was number one, followed closely by his great love of the club that he served with such great distinction, Sarsfields, and of course, the red of the Cork jersey that he gave so much to as one of the great dual stars of all time.

From an early age, he was blessed with a unique talent in both codes, progressing through the ranks with club and county to develop into the wonderful athlete that he became. Only 14 players have won All-Ireland medals in hurling and football, eight of them being from Leeside but only one man has ever won the two in the one year, the memorable year of 1990.

That is an achievement that will remain as long as the games are played and as the late and equally great Jack Lynch told us at the graveside on that cold Sunday morning all those years ago at the graveside in Cloyne of Ring, that will be forever.

In Thursday’s Irish Examiner, Christy O’Connor put it so eloquently, Teddy Mc was the dual jewel, that he was, is and forever will be.

His status as one of the highest midfielders in both codes is well documented and the photographic evidence is there for all to see It was just simply incredible at the heights that he reached to pluck the ball out of the skies.

There is the image of his catch against Wexford in the trilogy of games between the two counties in the 1993 national hurling league final and there are many similar images with the bigger ball.

There is so much grief across the county at his unexpected death, people are simply lost for words and his great friend and footballing mentor, another of our greatest sportspeople, Billy Morgan told The Echo that he was simply the best as a player and person.

“Firstly, I cannot believe he’s gone. He was a great friend that I had the honour of coaching him, not that there was much of that to do with Teddy because was a natural. He was not a big man really but in the aerial battles, he could match anybody, both in football and in hurling too.

“There is no doubt, he is one of Cork’s all-time greats, a player with so much natural talent. 

He was a tremendous character too and a person that was so much fun to be with.

“Fame never went to his head, in fact, he’d be embarrassed when somebody brought up about his career and the double that he won in 1990.

“His love of the games never diminished when his playing career ended. He’d go anywhere to watch a game and on the bank in Ballinlough, he’d be there watching a game no matter the status of that game.

INSPIRATIONAL

“When I coached him there was little to do because he had all the skills, he could kick with both feet, he was just an inspirational presence in our teams.

“I cannot believe that he has been taken from us around a similar age to Christy Ring.”

Hurling-wise, he was the backbone of Cork and Sars for many years and his versatility was one of his real strong points of which there were many.

He could figure anywhere on the field, centre-back, midfield, half-forward even in the inside line on the edge of the square.

In 1989, Sars lost the county final to the Glen, led by his lifelong friend Tomás Mulcahy and while the disappointment of losing that final was acute it was compensated for when his son Cian played a starring role for the club when they landed the title in 2008 and subsequently in 2010, 2012 and 2014. There was not a prouder man in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on those never to be forgotten days when one of Cork’s iconic clubs reigned supreme again.

Amazingly, when Cork triumphed over Galway in 1986, McCarthy only played one game in that campaign, the All-Ireland final itself, an illustration of the faith placed in him by the management team back then. Club great, Jim Murphy told The Echo that he was Sars through and through.

“He was and he became vice-chair of our club this year and he was so proud of that and in a very short space of time he put in an immense amount of work, organising our golf classic and other things.

“The club is in darkness at his passing because he gave us so much on and off the field. 

As a player and now administrator, his contribution was immense, you just cannot describe his loss, first and foremost to his family and to us as a club here in Sars.”

Warm words that countless others across the GAA landscape will empathise with.

Somebody once wrote that when somebody dies they leave something behind, great memories to last forever, Teddy McCarthy has left us all with a thousand of those and many more of a life so well lived and fulfilling.

May he rest peacefully.