Mick Holden RIP

[stephenite]

Terrible news

[Shamrock Shore]

A true Dubs' warrior and one of my favs at the time.

RIP

[An Lark]

In 1983 I saw most of the Dublin games (except the All-Ireland final) as the Kildare minors went on a good run too. (Back then the minors preceed the senior games.)

Mick Holden and PJ Buckley were my favouruite players.

He was a class act.

So sorry to hear that news.

[orangeman]

A day later it's still hard to take in that Mick has died  -

[Model Hammer]

It was a big shock when I heard this in the car yesterday. Really sad news. I've very vivid memories of himself and Pat Canavan repelling everythnig that Galway could throw at them in '83, even though they were two men down. Heroic stuff. And of course the incident with Barney is the stuff of legend. What a terrible loss.

I have a vague memory too of him being the victim of a vicious assault playing hurling for Cuala. I just remember the picture of his face in the paper and his description of how he was trying to calm down a bit of a melee and then feeling as if he'd been "hit by a train".

[Sean3]

A terrible shock. I didn't think he was that old but the '83 final is almost 25 yrs ago now. This is taken from an interview Tom Humphries did with Heffo back in 2004



Bobby Doyle recalls a Leinster championship game against Laois where he enjoyed a fine first half. At half-time Heffernan made a point of asking was Doyle on the field. When was he going to do something.

Spitting fire, Doyle went out and destroyed Laois for the second half. Coming off the field, still furious, he made a beeline for Heffernan intending to ask if he'd noticed that.

He found Heffernan smiling.

"Well Bobby. That worked!" And then there was Mick Holden.

"How could you not love a rogue like Holden!" Heffernan exclaims when you raise the name with him. "He got away with things because he played the way he did."

They remember the dishevelment of Holden as he would arrive. Legendary, he had 22 sets of lights to come through between Dun Laoghaire and Parnell Park. This wasn't counting a stop at McDonalds in O'Connell Street where he would buy two quarter-pounders with cheese. One for the remainder of the journey. One to eat before training.

The Nissan hut in Parnell Park would smell of Holden's fag, brandished in one hand and his burger clasped in the other. The air would be thick with Holden's stories from the night before. And 29 other players would be glancing nervously towards the door, waiting for Heffernan. They knew Holden was a hurler on his holidays in football.

They knew he could walk away happily at any time.

Heffernan cut him enough slack to keep him interested. He did his job and was never found wanting.

[heffo]

Terrible news, another young man taken too early, would I be right in saying he's the first of that Dublin team from the 70's and 80's to pass on.

I'm pretty sure that's right - can't think of anyone else passing..

[red hander]

Saddened to hear a hero from my youth has passed away... I always had more admiration for dual stars like Mick, Liam Currams and Teddy McCarthy.  Jaysus, 52 is awful young.  RIP