Shrewd off the pitch too, Mick O'Dwyer knew the art of the deal 

The Kerry manager was a players' coach who was a head of his time in making sire they were looked after.

Mick O'Dwyer didn't regret engaging in commercial deals but wished he'd secured more money from washing machine company Bendix..

“Wheeling and Dealing” is the name of a chapter in Owen McCrohan’s absorbing authorised biography of Mick O’Dwyer.

Published in 1990, a year after he had left the Kerry manager’s role, the man’s commercial savviness is obvious a few flicks into the book where no fewer than seven businesses, from AIB to Bank of Ireland to the Kerry Group, are listed as sponsors.

O’Dwyer knew his worth and that of his players. “I saw a day when nobody would give us even a pair of boot laces,” he is quoted in the biography. “Suddenly, business people with money to spend wanted to use the Kerry team and cash in on our success. I made sure that whatever financial benefits accrued would filter down to the players. That was the bottom line. We didn’t abuse our position and we didn’t hurt anybody.” 

At a time when the GAA’s amateurism was strenuously guarded, O’Dwyer’s embracing of sponsors for the team’s foreign trips were frowned upon in Croke Park and among his own county board.

In 1982, O’Dwyer had struck a deal with German multinational sportswear company Adidas although it was not Kerry’s official kit and broke GAA rules. Insisting his players wear it for that year’s Munster final against Cork, he said: “I would rather lose an All-Ireland than go along with that crap.” The same kit, albeit without the Adidas trefoil logo, was donned again in the All-Ireland semi-final against Armagh. Adidas jerseys, made in Ireland, were worn for the final against Offaly despite threats of forfeit from GAA HQ.

In 1985, O’Dwyer planned an exclusive team photograph with the proceeds going to the squad. To ensure that was the case, official pre-match snaps taken before the All-Ireland semi-final games against Monaghan were sabotaged by the players. “We had intended having our own photograph taken later and this would have been marketed by the county board,” said O’Dwyer.

The day of the final against Dublin, two Sunday newspapers carried full page advertisements for Bendix washing machines featuring Kerry players. Naked commercialism in more ways than one (Pat Spillane was photographed wearing only a towel), it outraged the GAA hierarchy.

“I couldn’t understand what all the hullabaloo was about,” recalled O’Dwyer, who added, “After we had finished training on the Tuesday night before the All-Ireland final, I was informed that a new sponsorship deal had been negotiated and that our co-operation would guarantee us a team holiday.

“Looking back now, I admit we could have done it differently and if I had been party to the deal, we would have got more money out of it (£5,000 was the reported deal). The whole thing was badly handled and we sold ourselves short. The real winners were Bendix.” 

O’Dwyer gave the GAA a snapshot of what was to come down the line. “Before going to Australia in ’81, we raised so much money in a few months that, I believe, we frightened the life out of the lads in Croke Park. After that, they didn’t know what to expect from us. Realistically, all we did was show the GAA how easy it was to get money.” 

For former GAA PRO Danny Lynch growing up, O’Dwyer was “the best half-back in the country” and Gerald McKenna’s decision as county chairman to convince him to become Kerry manager “changed everything”.

“But he was always a bit unorthodox,” smiles Lynch who joined Croke Park in 1988 just as O’Dwyer’s glorious era in Kerry was coming to an end. “As they say about Trump, he had an eye for the deal. He built up a business from nothing as well. A very successful hotelier and garage owner. He was unique in many ways off the field as well as on it.” 

Dingle man Lynch recalls a story of an All-Stars trip in New York where O’Dwyer tried to collar him and the late Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh into making an appearance at an Irish bar.

“Ó Muircheartaigh and myself had been over in The Bronx after having dinner with an uncle of mine and we were tired. We had just arrived back in the hotel foyer about 1am and who was there only Dwyer. ‘Oh, the two right men in the right place,’ he said. Ó Muircheartaigh and myself glanced at each other and we knew Dwyer was hatching something.

EARN YOUR STRIPES: Mick O'Dwyer in adidas gear at Kerry training.  

“He wanted us to go with him to a pub and of course Dwyer and Ó Muircheartaigh didn’t drink. We tried to make our excuses but Dwyer said, ‘For feck’s sake, come on. A Kerryman owns the place and he’s promised me a fax machine and a typewriter if I bring a few fellas out with me.’ 

“We managed to get to the lift and when the doors closed Ó Muircheartaigh said, ‘That was a close one, Dan. You’d have paid for the taxi out, I’d have paid for the taxi back and we’d have loaded up the gear for him as well.’” 

That O’Dwyer was never appointed manager of the International Rules team was a source of great disappointment to him. Kevin Heffernan’s appointment in 1984 was considered a snub as were subsequent others.

In 2004, he was asked to assist Pete McGrath with a mind to succeeding him but declined. “I was contacted two days ago, the first time in 33 years as a manager anybody has mentioned an involvement with an international team. I'm not regarded highly by people in Croke Park. I thought this would have been my opportunity at last.” Lynch disputes that claim. “He used to blame Croke Park but the reality was the appointment of the International Rules manager from the very beginning was the gift of the GAA president of the day. It had nothing to do with officials or committees in Croke Park.” But try telling O’Dwyer that. The renegade.