Legends pay fond tribute to inspirational ‘Silver Fox’ Clifford

JOHNNY Clifford’s legacy to Cork hurling may very well be divided between his starring role in the 1954 All-Ireland final victory over Wexford and his inspired management of the team which surprised Galway in the final of 1986.

But at a more general level, the man who was known to his friends as ‘the Silver Fox’ was widely respected for his shrewdness and particularly his understanding of the game.

“There’s no doubt about that, he was very knowledgeable. He’d cover things you’d never even think about,’’ said Glen Rovers stalwart Liam Ó Tuama. “Johnny was a man who was always cool, he never showed pressure of any kind.’’

Having won county minor hurling medals in 1950, 1951 and 1952 (as well as football in the second and third years), he won his first Cork senior hurling championship medal in 1953. Twelve months later he was a member of the Glen Rovers/St Nicholas teams which won the double.

And, 1954 was the year he scored the winning goal in the All-Ireland final win over Wexford, when he was aged 20. Associated with the successful Glen Rovers teams of 1958 and 1959, he won another medal in 1960.

At inter-county level, he was a selector with the team which won the second of the three in a row in 1977 — coming in as the club nominee (joining Christy Ring) after they had won the county title the year before. In 1985, he coached the successful Cork minor hurling team before taking over the management of the senior team later that year.

Former great Tom Cashman, who captained the team which went on to beat Galway in the All-Ireland final, has no doubt that Clifford had a “massive influence” in the winning of the title.

Jimmy Barry-Murphy, who also featured on that 1986 team managed by Clifford, paid tribute to his former coach last night.

“I was very sorry to hear of Johnny’s death. He hadn’t been well for a few months, so it wasn’t a huge shock, but it’s still a very sad occasion for all of us associated with him for many years on Cork teams.

“Johnny was an outstanding coach and had a huge influence on my career as a player — and when I moved into inter-county management as well. He taught me a huge amount about how to deal with players and to handle them with as much honesty as I could, because that was the way he operated himself.”

Johnny Clifford was exceptionally kind and cooperative in his dealings with the media and he was extremely popular. And, as Ó Tuama points out, he was a man who had a deep knowledge of hurling which he always put to good use (Westmeath, for instance, availing of his services for one year after he had finished his duties with Cork).