DOWN GAA has bid farewell to another of its favourite sons following the passing of Tony Hadden – the Newry Shamrocks star who was part of the groundbreaking All-Ireland winning teams of the early 1960s.
Hadden played at corner forward as Down became the first county to bring the Sam Maguire Cup across the border in 1960, before beating Offaly in the following year’s decider to ensure the famous trophy remained in the Mourne County.
Indeed, 1961 was a special year all round, as Hadden also captained the Shamrocks to the Down SFC title.
“Would you believe it, the final was actually played on the Wednesday after Easter in 1962,” he told Micheal McGeary back in 2002, “this was because of Down’s All-Ireland success the previous September that put everything within the county on the back burner for several months.”
That proved to be the club’s last senior crown, though a 20-year-old Hadden also part of the 1956 championship-winning team. It is through those history-making achievements in the red and black of Down, however, that he achieved sporting immortality.
“Tony wasn’t one to go on about any of that, though,” says lifelong friend and former Shamrocks team-mate, Mickey Keenan, “he was just a genuinely humble man.”
“I have always considered myself extremely fortunate to have been part of that side,” Hadden told McGeary.
Powerfully-built, and with a footballing brain that allowed him to excel across the board, he played a key role as Down made the breakthrough, having first come into the county picture in 1954.
The late Barney Carr was a huge admirer, and considered Hadden one of the unsung heroes of those great sides.
“He would always have said that, without the likes of Tony, Down wouldn’t have won any All-Irelands...”
And Keenan got to see first hand what Hadden brought to the county set-up in a quality Shamrocks side – as well as feeling the physical strength that made him a force to be reckoned with on the field.
“He was a class act.
“I remember one night we were training, I went for the ball and I wasn’t watching – he was going for the same ball, came in and I did not know what had hit me… I was seeing stars for about an hour after.
“But while he was a big, strong footballer, he was a nice footballer too; there were no bad strokes in him. He didn’t need to do that.
“Another thing he was always known for was being able to fist the ball further than most could’ve kicked it – and these were the heavy leather balls with the laces across them. He’d an unbelievable left hand on him.”
A new role with Bass, working as a sales rep in then north then across Ireland, brought the curtain down on Hadden’s county career in 1964 – though Keenan recalls “he’d have thought nothing of travelling 80 or 90 miles to play a challenge match with us.”
He ended up becoming managing director of Bass, rejuvenating the company’s fortunes, but always remained in touch with his roots.
“Tony was a great Shamrocks man.
“I remember when we were building our lounge, we were struggling for money and he got us a grant of £20,000 from Bass, which was telephone numbers in them days. That’s the sort of man he was.
“I was coming out of Mass there and telling a couple of Burren people that Tony Hadden had died, and they couldn’t believe it. He was that well got; not just around here but across the country. People all over Ireland knew him, there’s nobody would have a bad word to say about Tony.
“A wonderful player, and a wonderful person. A true gentleman. I honestly couldn’t say enough about him.”
