Article June Week 3 2005
Tom Long the End of a Magnificent Career, Part 4
As we come to the final installment in the sporting life and time of Tom Long I would like once again to remind readers that these series of articles were prompted by the recent McNamee award winning interview Tom kindly agreed to for our Radio Kerry Terrace talk sports programme. It was due to this honest, open and frank interview that enabled us to record in a very small way his magnificent football career, for this I am very grateful. Not a man by any means to court any type of media publicity I was always amazed by the fact that to the best of my knowledge Tom’ achievements, (and others) on the playing fields were never once properly acknowledged and indeed I am only scratching the surface of his brilliant career. Nevertheless it’s fair to say that what we have written hear in The Kingdom goes some small way in rectifying this omission and I have been informed that copies of his interview here have landed in other provinces.
Last week we covered Tom’s first All Ireland medal as Kerry beat Galway in 1959 and what a year that was for him, Kerry swept all before them capturing all the trophies which was possible for a team to win in the one season. The Munster and All Ireland Championships, the National League. New York was defeated in Gaelic Park in the St. Brendan’s Cup Final, 2-11 to 1-8. Three great Kerry exiles lined out against their native county in that final, Jim Foley, Tom Moriarty, and Timmy Moynihan and that unknown? Down side were beaten in The Gaelic Weekly’s Cuchullan Trophy, 1-11 to 0-9. Little did Tom and his team mates realize that this Northern side would literally come back over the following two years to haunt them and write themselves in to the pages of Gaelic games history. (No talk then of pay, sponsorship, tiredness or not playing with your club.) It is also worth noting that the legendary Tadhg Lyne married Mary on the eve of the ‘59 final.
And the ultimate tribute to the Fossa based Ventry man as the late Joe Sherwood, (the man with the pipe), writer of a lovely column on the back page of the now defunked Evening Press penned the following tribute on that; 59 final, he was in no doubt that close to Sean Murphy for man of the match was Long, he recorded. “O Connell’s injury was a sore blow to Kerry and Evers up the then was as conspicuous as the Rock of Gibraltar to every sea man who has passed through the Mediterranean. Now I don’t pretend to know whose brainwave it was, but I reckon it turned out to be a master stroke putting Long “on” Evers. It was the turning point in the match and Long what an ebullition of energy he was, was indeed the well matching of Frank. Came the moment, came the man in Tom Long and Kerry started plating like Kerrymen”.
The emergence of Down as a major force is one of the fairytale stories of Gaelic football, it flew in the face of all known tradition. Prior to winning their first Ulster championship in 1959 Down were never heard of. “They beat us in April of 1960 in the semi final of the league in Croke Park, it was our first defeat in over twelve months and when we met them in the All Ireland final of that year worst was to follow. They were the first side to bring the professional look to the game, even the way they dressed was different and they were a great footballing side like the team of Kerry’s golden years, but they were spoilers and well tutored in the art of fouling and breaking the ball at mid-field. They had a wonderful half forward line as good as I have ever seen in football, probably the best in the history of the game, Sean o Neill, James McCartan and Paddy Doherty. Two goals in the second half from James McCartan and a penalty from Paddy Doherty and they beat us, 2-10 to 0-8”.
At this period of his football life Tom took a stand against the Kerry County board which to say the very least was ground breaking in it’s own right. “At that time Dr Eamon o Sullivan our trainer was not brought on any trips abroad, to Wembly, London or New York, some of us based in Dublin took a stand against this, unfortunately for me it coincided with my return to Kerry. I refused to train in the stadium with the team and trained on my own in St. Brendan’s College field for that All Ireland, eventually things were straighten out and the two men then in charge, great friends of mine Johnny Walsh and Gerald o Sullivan came together with me and and I returned to the Stadium”.
This in my opinion was probably the very first time in the GAA that a player took such a stand as this and imagines if it happened to day, TV, radio and the written press would go to town on it. Tom had, and rightly so great admiration for the legendary Kerry trainer and this was abundantly clear in a press interview following one wining final. “This was a triumph for our trainer Dr Eamon o Sullivan. He had us in wonderful form and we appeared to be much faster than Galway. I would like to thank him for his care and devotion to us in training and I think the major credit for the win must go to him”. A lovely tribute from a great footballer to his trainer.
1962 saw Tom collect his second All Ireland medal, he starred at full forward as Dublin were beaten in the semi-final 2-12 to 0-10, he was now at the height of his power and in the Munster final and All Ireland semi final final he bagged decisive goals. A goal in the final against Roscommon by Garry McMahon after just thirty two seconds sent Kerry on their way to a comfortable 1-12 to 1-4 victory with Long on fire at full forward.
The following two years saw the Ventry man on the losing side to an emerging Galway fifteen, a late goal from Pat Donnellan and three points from Seamus Leydon shocked The Kingdom, !-7 to 0-10 and the following year in the final which would prove to be Tom’s last, Galway hammered a very poor Kerry team 0-15 to 0-10. The Kerry selectors came in for plenty stick following this rout as they had changed the complete team around like a pack of cards, and the day was a disaster. Tom’s inter county career was at an end..
Now teaching and living in Killarney he joined Dr. Crokes helping them to four o Donoghue Cup wins and his goal scoring feats at this time will probably never be surpassed. In the 1965 o Donoghue Cup final final he bagged 3-3, and in the 1968 decider he scored 2-2. That same year I was fortunate to captain a great East Kerry side to county honors and in the final against Waterville Tom Long scored an astonishing 4-1 and all from play. To see him up close in training was unforgettable, he had great strength, superb balance, a brilliant fielder and wonderfully skillful on the ball, he could literally skip around his closest marker and possessed a bullet of a shot with both legs. We will never see his likes again, that for me is a certainty.
He also stared with his native West Kerry, won two championships with East Kerry, playing in four finals, he represented Munster for a number of years and in 1960 as a fore runner to the now All Stars Tom was picked for a star studded Ireland team to play the Combined Universities. Among his team mates were some of the all time legendary names of Gaelic games. Aidan Brady, Pat Rice, Frank Evers, Des Foley, Jim McKeever, Kevin Mussen and Cathel o Leary, he was picked in his favorite position at centre forward.
Now enjoying a quite retirement with his wife Brid in Fossa, Killarney as his family have spread their wings, he enjoys his daily walks in the near by Kenmare estate, he calls to that great GAA pub in Killarney Jimmy o Briens where his great knowledge of the game in so appreciated. Mick o Connell in his excellent book, “A Kerry Footballer” said of Long during that era. “Tom Long, Mick o Dwyer, Paudie Sheehy, and Seamus Murphy were consistently good throughout, and in fact I can think of no other four contemporaries of mine to have given greater service to the county”. So how good was Tom Long, Denis P o Sullivan of Kilgarvan that exemplary long serving Kerry GAA activist who knows his hurling and football better than most summed him up for me last week when he said. “Without a shadow of doubt he was one of the twenty best footballers this great county has ever produced”. And so say all of us, end of story, no argument.
Weeshie's Week 
