Death of Cavan Legend Mick Higgins

[tierworker blue]

Rumour has it that the Cavan Senior team did not attend the funeral (although a few of the players went themselves). Indeed, they played a challenge match today against Longford a few hours after the man went into the ground! Is there any other county in Ireland that has such a gutless, heartless, brainless, disrespectful bunch of w**kers running the county and the team. I mean a junior club team wouldn't do the like of that.

I lamented last year at a league match in Louth, during a minutes silence and the national anthem that Seanie "superstar" Johnstone couldn't even stand to attention, instead walked around stretching his quads and sucking and spitting water from a bottle. Compare the humility of Mick Higgins to the pathetic shower we have now (and I'm not talking about footballing ability).

Without respect to the past and the jersey then there is no hope for the future. I don't think I have ever felt so disgusted to be a Cavan fan.

Really?!! Serious lack of respect. Surely the current panel should have been on 'guard of honour' duty, not leggin' it to play a challenge match...I doubt it would happen anywhere else. Bad call by whoever was pulling the strings for this decision. Sad to say that I was'nt exactly surprised when you posted it though Myles...same craic, different day, eh?!

[mylestheslasher]

A decent obituary on RTE 6 o clock news, fair play to them - it could have easily been ignored. Even some vintage footage from the polo grounds was shown.

yeah i saw that, sad news but he had a good life by all accounts. RIP
anyone know if there are many players still alive from the 1947 final? i often drive by the site of the polo grounds (sadly gone now) and always think of my dad talking about that final.

he was the last from cavan,so unless you kerry boys have a few left,then no,sadly not.

Rumour has it that the Cavan Senior team did not attend the funeral (although a few of the players went themselves). Indeed, they played a challenge match today against Longford a few hours after the man went into the ground! Is there any other county in Ireland that has such a gutless, heartless, brainless, disrespectful bunch of w**kers running the county and the team. I mean a junior club team wouldn't do the like of that.

I lamented last year at a league match in Louth, during a minutes silence and the national anthem that Seanie "superstar" Johnstone couldn't even stand to attention, instead walked around stretching his quads and sucking and spitting water from a bottle. Compare the humility of Mick Higgins to the pathetic shower we have now (and I'm not talking about footballing ability).

Without respect to the past and the jersey then there is no hope for the future. I don't think I have ever felt so disgusted to be a Cavan fan.

Just read this (an hour later). That is mental.

myles that was me that posted that on HS.hardstation,funeral was at 12,half time of the challenge was at quarter past 3 and it takes close to 2 hours on a bus to get to longford.it's the most disrespectful thing i have heard of in the GAA.

Fair play Dougal, I never thought of it till I read it on HS and then to think some meaningless challenge with Longford came first is unreal. The Hastings cup game should also have been postponed until Sunday. There is not an ounce of sense or respect in that county set up and there is the brutal evidence to back that statement up - shame on them. Dougal - not an active member of the club anymore but if you attend the board meetings I suggest you propose that this disgraceful act is brought up at county board level.

btw - check out the hs cavan forum now. All references to the Cavan team not being present from you, sean o rinn and me have been deleted.

[anglocelt39]

I'd hold a bit of fire on the idea of a current team guard of honour having to be present. In the past few years Peter Donohoe, Tony Tighe and John Wilson have passed on. I'm not sure what the level of involvement from the current panel was in those burials and I'm not really sure what the situation is in other counties.

the timing of the challenge match for the seniors does seem a bit much mind.

[Any craic]

http://ulster.gaa.ie/// - I'd say this was the last interview with Mick, in July last year. His answer to how he would like to be remembered has been quoted in the press releases and was mentioned at his funeral by his son John.

[Dougal]

myles,i have been using it less and less these days,and i intend on never posting on it again.in all fairness anglo he was captain of cavan seniors and also managed them.i would be overly bothered if they didnt do a guard of honor,it's the fact that they were playing a match within an hour or two of his burial.

[DUBSFORSAM1]

When asked what he would like to be remembered for, Higgins replied:
"That I never hit any one, I played the game clean and I never was put off".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How many players would be able to honestly say this anymore or how many managers would approve of players who adopted this approach???

[Celt_Man]

Eugene McGee: Mick Higgins - A great Gael in every sense

I never knew Christy Ring, Mick Mackey or Paddy Kennedy and I had a mere acquaintance with Sean Purcell and Mick O'Connell. But I actually knew Mick Higgins quite well over the past 30 years or more, and considered myself blessed to have known him. In the pantheon of great Gaelic footballers he would be considered at least in the 25 best players of all time.

He was outstanding with Cavan, winning three All-Irelands; he was the first former player to train his own county to provincial titles four times; and he trained Longford (1968) and Donegal (1972) to their first provincial successes. He was also a leading inter-county referee.

But medals, facts or figures are not why the name Mick Higgins of Cavan reverberated with sadness through the GAA world last week when his death, at 87, was announced.

This was not a mere GAA star, this was a sporting icon of his time to match contemporaries such as Ring and Mackey, Jackie Kyle in rugby and Jackie Carey in soccer -- national figures who transcended the bounds of their own sport and captured the hearts of all Irish sports people.

It is almost impossible to appreciate nowadays the sporting environment into which Mick Higgins was thrust shortly after his parents decided to return from America when Mick was 10 years old.

And what a fortuitous time the Higgins family arrived back to in Breffni land. In their first year back, 1933, Cavan caused a sensation by beating a super Kerry team in the All-Ireland semi-final by 1-5 to 0-5, thereby preventing Kerry from achieving their first of only two attempts at winning five All-Irelands in a row.

ambition

Cavan went on to win their first All-Ireland title, beating Galway in the final, and won again, beating Kildare, in 1935. This set the hearts of children and young men on fire with ambition for further glory.

And how Cavan responded! In the space of 20 years, 1933-1952, Cavan played in a staggering 12 All-Ireland finals, including three replays, and won the title five times. In addition, they were beaten in five other semi-finals to match a 20-year span in GAA history that has never been matched by any county other than Kerry or Dublin.

Mick Higgins played in six of those finals, starting at the age of 20 in 1943 - including a return to his native city for the 1947 final in the Polo Grounds, New York - and finishing by collecting the Sam Maguire Cup after the defeat of Meath in a replay in 1952 when he scored 0-7 of Cavan's total of 0-9.

It is in this era of incredible success Mick Higgins' sporting talent was honed and he emerged from it as possibly the biggest star of the many great players who formed those teams. He invariably played at centre half-forward, or as Cavan people always referred to that position 'centre three-quarters', at a time when that No 11 position was rigidly applied to that specific area.

Higgins was regarded then and since as being well ahead of his time in his peripheral vision, his ability to distribute passes to other forwards to telling effect, and in latter years, in perfecting the art of free-taking.

There have been other players technically as good as Mick Higgins but he had a special charisma attached to him which led to him becoming arguably the most critical component in the Cavan team for 10 glorious years.

There were many iconic figures in Cavan in those times, whose names still are remembered, such as the great leader John Joe O'Reilly, the first man to collect the Sam Maguire twice in succession; Phil 'The Gunner' Brady, who made lads like Francie Bellew look like friendly kittens; Peter Donoghue, one of the greatest of all free-takers and Tony Tighe, Higgins' alter ego, with whom he had a telepathic understanding in attacking play.

Higgins and Tighe had the same sort of understanding that Sean Purcell and Frankie Stockwell had a decade or more later with Galway.

It was inevitable that Mick's football brain would not lie dormant following his rather sudden retirement in 1953, and he went on to train Cavan to four Ulster titles.

He was inveigled to train Longford and the county reached their first Leinster final in '65, beat the great Galway team in the League final in '66 and won their one and only Leinster title in '68 beating Dublin, Offaly and Meath -- then All-Ireland champions -- along the way. No wonder Mick Higgins is revered in Longford!

In 1972, when Donegal were struggling to make a breakthrough, Mick came to their aid and got them to their first Ulster title, along with Brian McEniff. But there was hardly a county in Ulster where he did not provide expertise and instil confidence, at that time often lacking in Ulster, and he never looked for a penny in return.

Mick was also an outstanding referee, at times when games were genuinely tough, as opposed to the 'shapers' who think so at present. There was a legendary 'Battle of Ballinascreen' in the late 1950s when Derry played Down in the Ulster semi-final, a game that really lived up to the label.

Even though Mick was training Cavan, who were awaiting the winners in the final, such was their respect for him that both counties were happy to have him.

In one particular bust-up a famous Down forward, who was not an innocent bystander, was seen lying on the ground as if injured. Mick went over to him and said: "It's okay, you can get up now, I'm not sending you off". Class!

The most modest superstar I ever met, Mick granted himself only one small boast which was that he never hit a cowardly blow and never got sent off. That distinction defined his whole life and ensured that he was the most loved players of them all among Cavan people. One wonders how many of the 'greats' of the present time will be able to carry that badge of honour to their grave as Mick Higgins did.


http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/eugene-mcgee-mick-higgins--a-great-gael-in-every-sense-2041992.html

[Denn Forever]

Mick was also an outstanding referee, at times when games were genuinely tough, as opposed to the 'shapers' who think so at present. There was a legendary 'Battle of Ballinascreen' in the late 1950s when Derry played Down in the Ulster semi-final, a game that really lived up to the label.

Even though Mick was training Cavan, who were awaiting the winners in the final, such was their respect for him that both counties were happy to have him.

In one particular bust-up a famous Down forward, who was not an innocent bystander, was seen lying on the ground as if injured. Mick went over to him and said: "It's okay, you can get up now, I'm not sending you off". Class!

Class.

[cavanmaniac]

It was Dan McCartan I believe.

"Get up McCartan, sure I wasn't going to send you off anyway."

I actually recall just now a great one Mick told me about Peter Donoghue, who was giving a referee a seriously hard time of it in some match or other within earshot of Higgins, getting on his back about the decisions not going Cavan's way.

"Listen here, Donoghue," said the ref sternly, "who's refereeing this match, me or you?"
"Neither of us!" says Donoghue, turning and walking off.

I love that one. 

[mylestheslasher]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/cavan-defend-timing-of-games-2043487.html

Cavan defend timing of games

By Cliona Foley


Tuesday February 02 2010

CAVAN County Board have defended their decision to go ahead with two inter-county games last weekend within hours of the funeral of local legend Mick Higgins.

The board delayed the two games involving the Cavan senior and U-21 football teams against Longford, but their decision to go ahead with them so close to the burial of the county's most beloved footballer has attracted some criticism locally.

Cavan PRO Declan Woods stressed yesterday that the board had kept the Higgins family informed at all times of the match arrangements and that they had received their approval.

The Cavan U-21s played in the Hastings Cup final at Longford Slashers on Saturday at 3.30, where the county seniors played Longford in a challenge match at the same time.

Woods said that the seniors were due to play in Dromard at 12.30 and the U-21 game was originally fixed for 2.0 but that both were moved to the later time and same venue to facilitate Higgins' funeral (at noon in Virginia) and also as a mark of respect to him.

"Both boards felt that because of the huge contribution that Mick Higgins made to us that it was only right and proper that no game should be played until he was laid to rest," Woods said.

"There was a huge presence from both boards at his funeral on Saturday and representatives of both counties were involved in the guard of honour at his removal on Friday night," he added.

Woods said he was aware that some disquiet had been registered on an internet message board but said he felt that those who were critical were not aware of the efforts of the board to move the pre-arranged matches and to ensure that their arrangements were sensitive to the Higgins family and met with their approval.

- Cliona Foley

Declan needs to consider this...

- When Packie Phair died a good few years back (he was the last survivor of the 35 winning team) there is no way what so ever Killeshandra or Cornafean would have played a jnr league match on the same day, absolutley no way. Both clubs would have been in attendance at a guard of honour and players would have been a big part of that. Declan, from Killeshandra, should know that.
- The Cavan team should have been compelled, in the same way that they are compelled to attend training, to be in attendance of the funeral and show some bit of respect to the men who wore blue in the past.

At this point I don't think I could give a flying f**k how this team gets on. Tommy Carr should be sacked, he is the manager and he should know that the people of Cavan demand respect for legends like Mick Higgins. If he can't even instill that in the players then he should crawl back where he came from. I'd expect nothing else from the county board anyway.

I went to Aughrim in the torrential rain along with maybe 20 other Cavan fans last year to watch them lie down and let the mightly Wicklow hammer them in the qualifiers - I don't think I could bring myself to watch them today if they were playing outside the window here.

[Homer]

To be fair I know last year when Simon Delaney passed, there was a text sent around to the county panel letting the lads know the funeral arrangements and that a guard of honour was to be given and between u21s and senior players, around 50 turned up.

For Mick's funeral there was no such communication but I have no doubt the players would have participated if asked.

[mylestheslasher]

To be fair I know last year when Simon Delaney passed, there was a text sent around to the county panel letting the lads know the funeral arrangements and that a guard of honour was to be given and between u21s and senior players, around 50 turned up.

For Mick's funeral there was no such communication but I have no doubt the players would have participated if asked.

I agree Homer. At the end of the day the players were told to be at a match when the funeral was on, they could hardly say that they couldn't go to the match because of the funeral. Between Carr and the county board this should not have happened.

[boojangles]

Tommy Carr being a Tipperrary man probably doesn't give a damn about past Cavan greats,and why should he.He has a job to do and expenses(ahem) to justify. Its not up to him to organise and make sure the Senior panel were in attendance at Micks funeral.
The blame lies fully with the County Board.
More bad press for Cavan GAA.

[mylestheslasher]

Tommy Carr being a Tipperrary man probably doesn't give a damn about past Cavan greats,and why should he.He has a job to do and expenses(ahem) to justify. Its not up to him to organise and make sure the Senior panel were in attendance at Micks funeral.
The blame lies fully with the County Board.
More bad press for Cavan GAA.

I agree to a point Boojangles. The county board have the majority of blame as usual but Carr is responsible for getting these lads to have some pride and maybe also to mend some bridges with the supporters. There was a great opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people who pay his wages (make no mistake, he is getting his rewards) and he should have known it. I put myself in his shoes and I can tell you this would not have happened cos I would have told the co board the team were not attending a match on Saturday.

[T Fearon]

Maybe Tommy was like the rest of us who are not Cavan natives, and while we grieve for the passing of a GAA legend, we do however recognise that he was born in America, with only tenuous Cavan links through his mother.

The late Mick Higgins was the GAA equivalent of John Aldridge