Irish Examiner view: A hearty three cheers for Pat Spillane

The outspoken player-turned-pundit ruffled plenty of feathers — but he is an intrinsic part of the GAA family

Pat Spillane watching Westmeath and Cavan in the Tailteann Cup final at Croke Park earlier this month. As fierce an observer of sport as he was a player, he will be missed from our screens. Picture: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho

It was an emotional Pat Spillane who bade farewell to our national television screens on Sunday, fittingly so as Kerry beat Galway to secure a 38th All-Ireland Football Championship for the Kingdom.

As a man who, aside from his eight senior All-Ireland medals, won two U21 All-Irelands and two National League medals, as well as Player of the Year in 1978 and 1986, Spillane contributed vastly to the game during his career.

For many, however, it is as a television pundit that he will be most remembered. Although disliked by some for his fastidious and consistent criticism of the modern game, Spillane was also revered as a no-nonsense broker for a sport he loved.

Some may have taken exception to comments about “puke football”, but he was an intrinsic part of the football family nationwide, and his emotional and passionate defence of the sport when it was under pressure made him an essential seam in the fabric of Gaelic football across all 32 counties.

With his fiery demeanour and flushed cheeks, Spillane was as fearless on the field as he was an enthusiastic defender of football off it and, as such, his absence from our screens will be a loss when our counties have at it again next year.