Former inter-county referee and Galway hurler Jimmy Cooney dies at 68

The Sarsfields man won an All-Ireland medal and was later at the centre of the Clare-Offaly All-Ireland semi-final replay controversy in 1998.

RIP: Former Galway star hurler and referee Jimmy Cooney pictured in the crowd at a game in 2019. Picture: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

The death has occurred of former Galway hurler and inter-county referee Jimmy Cooney at the age of 68.

The Sarsfields man, brother of county star Joe, lined out for Galway in four championships from 1979 to ’82 and was left corner-back in the Tribesmen’s second ever All-Ireland senior hurling victory in 1980 when they beat Limerick in the final and also claimed a Railway Cup medal with a Galway-dominated Connacht side that year.

An All-Star in 1980 and ’81, Cooney started the following year’s final when Offaly beat Galway and his last senior inter-county game came against Kilkenny in the 1983 All-Ireland semi-final.

He won three senior county medals with Sarsfields and was a substitute when they won the All-Ireland crown in 1993.

Five years later, he was at the centre of the Clare-Offaly All-Ireland semi-final replay controversy when he whistled for full-time two minutes too early. Clare had been leading by three points at the time but Offaly supporters staged a sitdown protest on the pitch and a second replay was later ordered, which Offaly won before going on to win the Liam MacCarthy Cup.

The error was a shattering experience for him. Speaking to Vincent Hogan in the “Irish Independent” a month later, he said: “Michael Bodkin, the nearest linesman to me at the time, came walking in, shaking his head. Then Aodhan Mac Suibhne and one of my umpires arrived. All three of them were shaking their heads.

CONTROVERSY: 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 Clare and Offaly semi-final replay in 1998. Picture: David Maher/Sportsfile

“I took a second look at the watch and I knew exactly what was after happening me. I had played a 30 minute half, instead of 35. At that stage, I wished to God the whole world could open up and take me away altogether.''

The game, which took place 25 years ago this month, turned out to be Cooney’s last inter-county appointment. However, he returned to train match officials in Galway in 2008.