9 moments that made a master

A career touched by true genius

BORN in 1971 in Dublin, Jim Gavin’s family were immersed in their local GAA club Round Towers in Clondalkin with whom he enjoyed much underage success.

He later went on to make the

Dublin minor football squad that tasted All-Ireland final defeat by Kerry in 1988.

Gavin made the Dublin senior panel for the 1992-93 campaign and went on to represent the county for the next decade, the high point coming in 1995 when the Pat O’Neill-managed side defeated Tyrone 1-10 to 0-12 in the All-Ireland SFC final.

Gavin had shown an interest in management after his playing career and worked closely alongside former Dublin senior boss Tommy Lyons with the county’s Under 21 side.

He would later be calling the shots himself when the capital’s U21s claimed All-Ireland glory in 2003, with a 0-12 to 0-7 final victory over Tyrone. Further All-Ireland titles followed in 2010 and ’12 when Donegal and Roscommon were beaten in the respective deciders.

At senior level, Dublin finally ended a 16-year drought between Sam Maguire Cup successes when they claimed All-Ireland glory in 2011 under manager Pat Gilroy with

Kerry beaten in the decider on a

1-12 to 1-11 scoreline.

Gilroy stepped down the following year and was replaced by Gavin whose first Championship match in charge was against Westmeath in the 2013 Leinster campaign, with the Dubs winning 1-22 to 0-9.

By the end of the year, Dublin had regained the All-Ireland crown, beating Mayo by 2-12 to 1-14 in the September decider.

In 2014, after retaining their Leinster title, Gavin suffered his only Championship reversal when the Dubs were beaten by counterattacking Donegal in the All-Ireland semi-final.

That defeat was seen as a watershed moment in Gavin’s management career and so began a run that would end in a historic five-in-a-row of All-Ireland titles.

The Dubs were back in the All-Ireland winner’s enclosure in

2015 when Kerry were beaten in the final, 0-12 to 0-9, and the Kingdom were also defeated (1-18 to 0-15) in last September’s replayed decider – Gavin’s last match in charge.

In between, Mayo (twice) and Tyrone went down to Gavin’s Dublin juggernaut in All-Ireland finals.

Dublin played 107 games under Jim Gavin, winning 86 and drawing 10. In line for 21 major trophies during his time in charge, he won 18 of them and claimed six All-Ireland titles, seven Leinster crowns and five National Leagues.

Playing Honours - all-ireland sFC: 1; Leinster

SFC: 2; National Football League: 1.

Managerial Honours - all-ireland sFC: 6; Leinster SFC: 7; National Football League: 5