Why the fighting spirit is ingrained in culture of Tipperary footballers

They’re an obstinate bunch, Tipperary football folk. Small in number but big in pretty much everything else — it took three pleas from the PA announcer in Croke Park to convince them to leave the stadium long after the players had retired to their dressing room.

Nobody was going to spoil the party. Their refusal to follow orders was so much in keeping with the recent history of football in the county.

Twelve years ago, Tipperary’s players stood alongside Andy Shortall and his selectors who quit following the county board’s decision not to intervene when the Mid Tipperary board staged a club hurling game involving two footballers three days before their qualifier against Fermanagh. The panel refused to line out and a walkover was given. It was hoped Shortall would return but Seamus McCarthy was appointed his successor and a Tommy Murphy Cup was annexed the following year.