Babs Keating at 80 — Nicky English on how Tipperary icon changed their lives

'He was revolutionary for us in the 80s,' says English about a manager who lost just three of 18 Munster games in eight seasons. 

BREAKTHROUGH BABS: Babs Keating, Tipperary hurling manager, in 1989 Picture credit; Ray McManus/SPORTSFILE

On his 80th birthday, Michael “Babs” Keating has been hailed by Nicky English as the figure that revolutionised Tipperary hurling in the late 1980s.

English won his two All-Ireland and five Munster medals under Keating, the first of the provincial titles coming in 1987 when a 16-year famine was ended in that epic extra-time replay against Cork in Fitzgerald Stadium.