CROAK PARK
Micko shouted so much from sidelines he loses his voice
In a moving RTE documentary on his life, the 82-year-old says he is completely addicted to football – and still can’t pass a GAA field without wandering in to watch a match.
In Micko, the film crew follows him to the Croke Park dressing room where he was part of a recordbreaking 21 All-irelands as either a player, manager or selector.
The cameras also go back to the Waterville, Co Kerry, home where he spent more than half a century married to his childhood sweetheart Mary Carmel, who passed away over four years ago.
He said: “We lived next door to one another. I gave her a lift and that was that. We were together for 50 years after. She ran the scene while I was around the country. We were apart most of the time, I suppose that’s why it lasted.
MISS
“She passed away about four years ago and by God you’d miss someone like that that was always there.
“No matter where you travelled she’d be there when you’d come home.”
The father of four says his weakened left hand has left him unable to play his beloved accordion or golf, but he could still “catch a high ball if it was coming”.
He had a litany of injuries on the pitch but his famous Kerry voice was permanently affected by his management stints that brought unprecedented success to the counties of Kerry, Kildare, Laois and Wicklow.
He added: “I was an awful man for roaring and shouting and encouraging players on the pitch. It comes and goes. Some days I can’t speak.”
The show, from Loosehorse, delves into the many highs and few lows or regrets of his life.
Micko said: “Every spare moment I had I spent on football fields all over Ireland. I don’t think there is anything I love more than watching football. I’m addicted to the game and am addicted to driving as well.”
As a young mechanic he tells how he bought a Chevrolet as his first car, adding: “Going to Dublin to a game I managed to get it up to 180 miles an hour. I was a speed merchant. I could have quite easily gone into rallying.”
He was asked to go rallying in the Lakes of Killarney when first selected for his county. He recalled: “My father said, ‘Mick you can always go rallying but you might only get one chance to play for Kerry’.” He remembers his first All-ireland win in 1959 when the team left the Sam Maguire in Croke Park, promising: “I can assure you it wouldn’t happen today.”
After finishing his career as a footballer, he was asked to manage the Kerry senior team, and built what is considered perhaps the finest side of all time. He said: “After ’77 we found a man by the name of Eoin ‘Bomber’ Liston. He was a nice soft pudgy little fella when I got him. He was a great man for the Mars bar and packages of Smarties but he lost about five stone weight night after night training. He was the missing link I think.”
Micko added: “I haven’t one regret in life. I packed everything I wanted to on the 82 years I’ve spent on this planet. I’ve enjoyed every moment.
“I’d like to be on the sideline watching or in the stand and drop dead. That’s the way I’d like it to happen but not for another while.” Micko, RTE1, tomorrow at 9.35pm.
news@irishmirror.ie