Football

Tributes paid to late Leo Murphy, stalwart of Down 1960 and '61 All-Ireland winning teams

Leo Murphy (back row, fourth from left) with the Down team that first brought Sam Maguire back across the border after beating Kerry in the All-Ireland final
Leo Murphy (back row, fourth from left) with the Down team that first brought Sam Maguire back across the border after beating Kerry in the All-Ireland final Leo Murphy (back row, fourth from left) with the Down team that first brought Sam Maguire back across the border after beating Kerry in the All-Ireland final

TRIBUTES have been paid to Down legend Leo Murphy, one of the cornerstones of the team that brought the Sam Maguire Cup across the border for the first time, after he passed away yesterday morning at the age of 78.

Tall, strong and elegant on the ball, Leo Murphy was the full-back who could do a bit of everything as those Down teams made history in 1960 and ’61 by landing the county’s first-ever All-Ireland titles.

Men like Paddy Doherty, James McCartan, Patsy O’Hagan and Sean O’Neill may have lit up the road to Croke Park with their extravagant attacking gifts, but the Mourne County were backboned by a solid spine that ran right through the team.

Wearing the number three jersey on his back, Leo Murphy was one of its central pillars.

He was just 21 when Kerry were defeated in 1960, and as Down hit the heights Murphy enjoyed some memorable tussles with Kerry's John Dowling, Offaly's Donie O'Hanlon, Cavan's Charlie Gallagher, Donegal's John Campbell and Dublin's Lar Foley.

The better the opponent, the better he performed, a colossus in red and black. Despite his tender years, the size of the occasion only served to bring out his very best.

Born in Kilkeel, Leo Murphy boarded at St Colman’s College in Newry and helped the Violet Hill school to the MacRory Cup in 1957.

After starring for the Down minors he was quickly drafted into the senior panel and made an instant impression as the Mournemen won the Ulster junior title in 1958 before progressing on to the All-Ireland senior stage, via victory over an all-star Galway team at the prestigious Wembley tournament in 1959.

Although he played his football with Lisnacree during his early days, Murphy turned out for Rostrevor from the mid-1960s after taking up a teaching post in the village.

Pete McGrath, who led Down to two All-Ireland successes in the 1990s, played alongside Murphy in the red of Rostrevor for six years between 1969 and 1975 and recalls a larger than life personality both on and off the field.

He said: “During Leo’s playing days with Down, his role at full-back was a traditional role. He was a tall, strong commanding figure, he had great hands.

“He very rarely caught a ball above his head – he was one of those players who was able to run, jump and take a ball right at the very top of his chest.

“He was a no-nonsense player but along with the likes of George Lavery and Pat Rice, they got the job done without any great degree of fuss.

“Unfortunately we also lost Joe Lennon last year but they were great men, a great team, and Leo was certainly one of the pin-up boys of that team.”

Away from football, McGrath remembers a man whose interests extended way beyond the field of play.

“His personality in many ways reflected his physique – Leo was big endearing man, great craic and had a very wry sense of humour,” he added of Murphy, who managed Rostrevor in the early 1980s and was in charge of Jordanstown when they won the All-Ireland freshers title in 1983/84 before leading them into their first Sigerson campaign in 1985.

“Leo was a very keen gardener, very widely read, a very keen historian. No matter when you met Leo, the conversation could take any kind of direction, whether it was football, politics, gardening, Irish history, his days playing for Down… it could meander anywhere.

“He was a very infectious person, a person who when you were speaking to him, for some reason you always felt better after the conversation than you did before. He was just that type of fella.

“Leo was a great man, and he’ll certainly be missed by his wife Sodilva and family. He was a part of my life growing up, and we will all miss him. I’m grateful for having known the man.”

As news of Leo Murphy's passing spread throughout the county, Sean Rooney - chairman of the Down County Board - added his voice to those paying tribute.

He said: “Leo Murphy was a giant of a man in every way, he commanded the square as a full back and was a man who gave great service to the county for over a decade.

"We extend our sympathies to his wife Sodilva, his son Leon, daughters Ciara and Tara, grandson Conor and remembering too his late son Donard John."

Leo Murphy’s funeral Mass will take place tomorrow morning at 11am in St Mary's Star of the Sea Church, Rostrevor.