Anthony Daly: Jimmy Cooney reffed as he played - tough, uncompromising, but fierce honest

1998: Referee Jimmy Cooney, having blown the full-time whistle early, is escorted from the pitch by linesman Aodan Mac Suibhne, left, and Croke Park security staff after the Guinness All-Ireland Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Semi-Final Replay match between Clare and Offaly at Croke Park in Dublin. Pic: David Maher/Sportsfile

LATE July/early August in Galway always only means one thing — the races. I found myself in Ballybrit on Tuesday, backing a few horses and drinking a few pints, but I was also up there for a Galway GAA event organised for Tuesday afternoon.

There is always a brilliant atmosphere around the city this week but there was a deep tinge of sadness amongst the Galway hurling community at the news of the sad passing of Jimmy Cooney. We often say the GAA is like a family but I think we feel that even more so as hurling people because our community is so small that nearly everybody had a connection somewhere.

It had been a few years since I last met Jimmy, God be good to him. I was at some golf outing in Galway when I ran into him. He was a total gentleman, as all the Cooneys are. He spoke about hurling, about life. The 1998 All-Ireland replayed semi-final was never mentioned once. Any time I ever met Jimmy after that game, it never came up. Why should it have? It was a genuine mistake. End of.

It’s a shame that Jimmy’s name will always be indelibly linked to blowing that 1998 replayed game in Croke Park up early, especially when the decision was deemed to have cost Clare an All-Ireland title. It’s just life that some people would blame Jimmy for costing us that title, but, honestly, I really don’t think any genuine Clare supporters ever held it against Jimmy.

I know for a fact that none of the players or management did. Yeah, it was a pity but that’s life. Life goes on. Unfortunately for Jimmy and his family, that great life is over now. So we should be remembering what Jimmy did, and the legacy he left, rather than a genuine mistake that, unfortunately, Jimmy had to carry to his final day.

From the few times he publicly spoke about that event, you always got the feeling that it was a real heavy burden on the man. The Cooneys would never want to let anyone down, to disappoint anyone. So you can just imagine how deep that hurt went to Jimmy’s core when he felt that he let a county down, through no real fault of his own. Jimmy did blow up early but his only mistake was that he thought it was a 30-minute half, as opposed to a 35-minute half.

When you see David Gough being booed by the Dublin supporters on Sunday, even though Dublin won, you realise just how difficult a job it is. Thank God there was no social media back in 1998. I’m sure Jimmy got some anonymous letters but he never needed to try and convince us how sorry he was. We knew straight away. You could see that in his face, and how pale he was.

The biggest regret, probably for Jimmy, and for us, was how the game wasn’t restarted. Part of that was down to these bouncers that appeared on the pitch — and who haven’t been seen in Croke Park since — to escort Jimmy off the field.

If Croke Park officialdom had taken a couple of minutes to assess the situation, maybe the match could have been restarted. But that needed to be done straight away. When it wasn’t, Jimmy, and everyone else, had nowhere to go.

2019: Former Galway star hurler and referee Jimmy Cooney during the Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 4 match between Kilkenny and Galway at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Well, the Offaly supporters had — onto the pitch — to stage their protest, which led to the second replay. But Jimmy could have been spared that hurt and regret if Croke Park had handled the affair better.

On the other hand, how could you restore order? I, personally, didn’t want to know about it. As far as I was concerned, the game was over. I swapped a jersey with one of the Offaly lads. When Brian Whelahan ran over to me and said the game wasn’t over, I didn’t entertain him for a second.

“What do you want me to do Brian?” I asked him. “Play for Offaly?” Of course, we were disappointed by what subsequently happened but I genuinely never held it against Jimmy. For years, Clarecastle and Sarsfields played a challenge game every year. We’d go up to them or they’d come down to us. We had some fair scotching matches with Galway clubs but there was never any hassle with Sarsfields. Relations were always good. If Jimmy was ever around, we spoke to him as if nothing had ever happened.

I always had good memories of Jimmy. The first time I was ever in Croke Park was the drawn 1981 All-Ireland semi-final between Galway and Limerick. The Clare minors were playing Galway beforehand but I was a budding young corner-back at the time and I remember watching Jimmy closely in that position. He was a tough, uncompromising player but Jimmy was fierce honest.

That was the kind of referee he was too — very fair. Jimmy would always talk to you on the field, always explaining his decision. He would call you by your first name too, which I always felt was a nice touch from referees.

I had nothing but respect for Jimmy. When he finished his playing career with Sarsfields, he went straight into refereeing, which is a great sign of a man, especially someone who was a decorated player. Jimmy would normally be here at the Galway Races, which makes his passing this week all the sadder and more poignant. But they remembered him here. All hurling people are thinking of Jimmy this week.

No matter what happened in the past, hurling people never forget one of their own.