Padraic Joyce has retired

[Syferus]

We only beat him in the championship that one time, 2001 of all years.

A terror to all the other counties in Connacht - what higher praise is there to be given than that?

[thejuice]

Will never forget the 2001 final. It was a hard to watch for the first 50 minutes while we were still within a shout of it but after that you just had to sit back and watch Joyce go to work. He was finding acres of room and our defense could only watch as he ran through time after time.

At one point I'll never forget when we were on the rack already he could have finished his day off with a goal, as he came steaming in with only the keeper to stop him and he eased up and tapped it over. It was already won.

Great player.

[An Fhairche Abu]

I'm sure all Galway football followers will be thankful that we got the opportunity to witness so many great performances from PJ in the maroon and white down through the years; he certainly made a huge contribution in Croke Park for the All Ireland final wins of 98 and 01, the bigger the game, the better he played.
I'm delighted to have been at his both his inter-county championship debut in Castlebar and his swansong in Belfast this year as he is the best in the maroon in my lifetime anyway, will we see his likes again? You'd have to hope so although things are fairly bleak for Galway football at the minute.

Besides the fact that he was the best we had in Galway in terms of skill and leadership, I nearly have more admiration for PJ's devotion to the Galway cause than anything else. It's been plain to see that we have been miles away from contenting for any honours for many years, he was left playing with team mates who were far off the calibre of Donnellan, Walsh, de Paor, Mannion et al, yet he decided to keep ploughing ahead with Galway regardless. To stick with the county when your medals are already won is more than admirable, it's clear that the man just loves football and lived for playing it, best of luck to him in his future endeavours off the pitch.

Certainly the word legend is bandied about too loosely these days and all debates over his place in the GAA pantheon of greats will come down to personal opinion of course, but I think he is the best player Connacht has produced in the modern era, is there any comparable Connacht man who could claim to be his equal in terms of the skill, leadership, ability, calmness, intelligence, consistency and longevity he displayed on the pitch for 14 years as well as having the medals and awards to back it up? A few might be up there with him in one or two respects but not the lot.
It's a huge pity that he didn't have the same calibre of player around him in the latter part of his inter county career because he was left carrying that Galway team for a good number of years now, probably the lack of success in that part of his career will cause some people to not place him on as high a pedestal as the greatest of his contemporaries but I wouldn't subscribe to that notion, at his best he was the equal of any of the very best between the white lines, he is not just a Galway great but a Gaelic football great IMHO.

The best tribute I ever heard to Joyce came during the 2010 qualifier loss to Wexford in Salthill. Once again it was a one man show by PJ for most of the match and having just pulled ahead by a point going into injury time Galway were clinging on. He won the ball on his own 21, fended off several tacklers and soloed up the field as far as the Wexford 45 when he was finally caught up to and unceremoniously hauled down by a Wexford player. Galway would somehow contrive – by missing the free PJ won and conceding two injury time points – to lose yet another championship game by a point but at the time that he won the free, in the crowd we thought PJ had pulled another one out of the fire for Galway.
Anyway, myself and the crowd around me are up on our feet shouting for the great man after his run, when we sit back down an auld Galway buck that was well into his eighties sitting in the row behind us taps me on the shoulder and proclaims: "I seen Stockwell, I seen Purcell, I seen the lot of them, he's the best man we ever had!" - says it all really for me.

[Gold]

A joy to watch in his heyday.  Like all the greats he made the game look easy.  Hope he enjoys his retirement.  Deserved a better county swansong than a defeat to Antrim.

The swansong of all swansongs. No better swansong could a man wish for. We are the grim reapers.

Larry Reilly aint been seen since 09

[ziggy90]

Hope he has a fruitful retirement. One of the very best.

[sans pessimism]

Padraig Joyce retires................pheeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww!

[ross matt]

One of the best forwards in the game ever in my opinion. Clinical in taking his scores rather than wastefully spectacular. Powerful physique which enabled him to win his own ball. Brilliant brain which allowed him to make space for himself and others. He had a huge presence on the pitch also. The ball graduated to him and opposition feared him even when he didnt have the ball.

His career also had longetivity spanning the best and worst of times in Galway football yet his performance level was consistently high throughout. Most of all though he had ice in his vains. Always appeared detached from emotion and unaffected by nerves regardless of the occassion.

I presume he will play on with his club. He could play well in to his forties due to his economy of movement. It was probably time for him to leave the county scene in order to allow Mulholland build for the future. I dont think we'll see his like again.

[GalwayBayBoy]

I presume he will play on with his club.

Word is he may pack it in with the club as well matt.

On the news he said he might take some time off but intends to get into coaching after that and hopes to get the Galway job some day.

[INDIANA]

best of luck to him. One of the all-time greats and I dont' say that lightly

Could play till he's 50 with his footballing brain

[ross matt]

I presume he will play on with his club.

Word is he may pack it in with the club as well matt.

On the news he said he might take some time off but intends to get into coaching after that and hopes to get the Galway job some day.

Really GBB? I imagine he'd make a good manager alright.

[seafoid]

Mayo were better than Galway from 95-97 although there wasn't much in it and there were some fabulous matches over the period. Then Galway stepped up a gear in 98 with the addition of a few players including Joyce  to the team and even though the latter was only 21 or so they went on to win an all Ireland.

There was something about the confidence of the young lads like Donnellan and Joyce. Even if they played for a county that had won nathin for so long there was a North Galway mortas cine in operation deep in the headspace - a connection back to the last team to do the biz, the Jarlaths stuff , etc and once they got to Croke Park and hit the groove there was nobody going to stop them.

But now the signal is dormant again.     

[heffo]

Top class player - one of the modern greats.

[Lar Naparka]

A sad day for all Galway GAA fans but time stands till for no man. An unbelievable servant. Will be back later with some of my own memories of the man but HS have gathered a selection of reaction online.

Irish rugby captain Brian O'Driscoll has led the Twitter tributes to Galway legend Padraic Joyce who called time on his illustrious intercounty career last night.

O'Driscoll and a large number of Joyce's gaelic football colleagues have joined the chorus of praise for his achievements during his 14 years in the maroon and white jersey.

Here's a taste of what's being said about the great man from Killererin ...

Brian O'Driscoll (@BrianODriscoll)

A huge congrats to Págraic Joyce on a brilliant county football career. 14 years is no joke at that level!

Steven McDonnell (@Killeavy13)

Padraig Joyce calls it a day. What a player. One of the best I ever played alongside. He was pure class. #TopForward #Legend

Emmet Bolton (@EmmetBolton)

What a player Padraig Joyce was, the main man for Galway for the last 14 years, all the best to him in his retirement!

Joe Sheridan (@Squarecut84)

Best of luck to #padraigjoyce on his retirement 3rd best left foot in recent history after @colmcooper13 & #ciaranmcdonald #top3

Aidan O'Shea (@AIDOXI)

Just seen the gr8 PJ has retired. Some player one i looked upto growing up...& then managed to share the same pitch as him. #ClassAct

Paddy Bradley (@PaddyB14)

PJ retires.One of the all time greats.As sweet a left foot to ever grace a field #legend

Donie Shine (@donie_89)

All the best to Padraig Joyce on his retirement. What a player! #padraigjoyce

Conor Mortimer (@Conmort)

Padraig Joyce was always one my favourite players . Seen him play club and county for years and was always unreal to watch #topclass #joycer

Colm O'Neill (@crossbar13)

Padraig Joyce retires from inter county football. What a player.. #weaponofaleftleg #letalinfrontofgoal #oneofthebest

Colm Begley (@Begz_17)

All the best to Padraig Joyce in his retirement, exceptional player and leader who will be greatly missed by Galway. #padraigjoyce

Alan Costello (@AlanCos1)

the best compliment we could pay to the grea t#PJ on is retirement is to get him trending #genius

Anthony Masterson (@antomasterson1)

Best of luck to paraic Joyce in his retirement!! On the plus side we won't have to face him in the league this year #legend #oldschool

Colm Parkinson (@Woolberto)

All the best to Padraic Joyce in his retirement - played with him and against him... what a player

Behind Ciaran McDonald?? I presume he is taking the piss.

I'd say say Big Joe was being totally serious.
Few, if any, possessed Mac's ability to spray pin point passes about. Martin McHugh rated him as the best distributor of the ball that he had ever come across and I'd say his opinion was shared by many.
However, I'd rate Joyce as the more complete player of the two. Mac could have his bad-hair days where his shooting let him down and, unlike PJ, was not a proficient goal-scorer.
Pee had just about everything, including a good knowledge of the dark arts. He could draw a free better than anyone else I know but that didn't take from his overall class.
He'd be a shoo-in if I were picking my team of all time greats.

[mouview]

I'm sure all Galway football followers will be thankful that we got the opportunity to witness so many great performances from PJ in the maroon and white down through the years; he certainly made a huge contribution in Croke Park for the All Ireland final wins of 98 and 01, the bigger the game, the better he played.
I'm delighted to have been at his both his inter-county championship debut in Castlebar and his swansong in Belfast this year as he is the best in the maroon in my lifetime anyway, will we see his likes again? You'd have to hope so although things are fairly bleak for Galway football at the minute.

Besides the fact that he was the best we had in Galway in terms of skill and leadership, I nearly have more admiration for PJ's devotion to the Galway cause than anything else. It's been plain to see that we have been miles away from contenting for any honours for many years, he was left playing with team mates who were far off the calibre of Donnellan, Walsh, de Paor, Mannion et al, yet he decided to keep ploughing ahead with Galway regardless. To stick with the county when your medals are already won is more than admirable, it's clear that the man just loves football and lived for playing it, best of luck to him in his future endeavours off the pitch.

Certainly the word legend is bandied about too loosely these days and all debates over his place in the GAA pantheon of greats will come down to personal opinion of course, but I think he is the best player Connacht has produced in the modern era, is there any comparable Connacht man who could claim to be his equal in terms of the skill, leadership, ability, calmness, intelligence, consistency and longevity he displayed on the pitch for 14 years as well as having the medals and awards to back it up? A few might be up there with him in one or two respects but not the lot.
It's a huge pity that he didn't have the same calibre of player around him in the latter part of his inter county career because he was left carrying that Galway team for a good number of years now, probably the lack of success in that part of his career will cause some people to not place him on as high a pedestal as the greatest of his contemporaries but I wouldn't subscribe to that notion, at his best he was the equal of any of the very best between the white lines, he is not just a Galway great but a Gaelic football great IMHO.

The best tribute I ever heard to Joyce came during the 2010 qualifier loss to Wexford in Salthill. Once again it was a one man show by PJ for most of the match and having just pulled ahead by a point going into injury time Galway were clinging on. He won the ball on his own 21, fended off several tacklers and soloed up the field as far as the Wexford 45 when he was finally caught up to and unceremoniously hauled down by a Wexford player. Galway would somehow contrive – by missing the free PJ won and conceding two injury time points – to lose yet another championship game by a point but at the time that he won the free, in the crowd we thought PJ had pulled another one out of the fire for Galway.
Anyway, myself and the crowd around me are up on our feet shouting for the great man after his run, when we sit back down an auld Galway buck that was well into his eighties sitting in the row behind us taps me on the shoulder and proclaims: "I seen Stockwell, I seen Purcell, I seen the lot of them, he's the best man we ever had!" - says it all really for me.

A fine tribute ABU, and all accurate. It's debatable if he was the best forward ever from Connacht. So many matches stand out but

a) the drawn final of 2000 when he moved out to CHF and turned the tide in Galway's favour (Oh God we should have won that game, why didn't Savo look up and pass inside?)

b) the final of '01 - some said he could have been replaced at half-time   

c) the county semi-final of '99 (I think), opponents Salthill had several defenders of county class. They tried one man on him, then another, then two, then three, then they simply gave up. He pulled them apart with the ease of one from another galaxy. Surely the finest club footballer we have seen in Galway in our time.

A shame that Michael Meehan wasn't born 5 years earlier, imagine the forward unit we'd have had in that era?

[galwayman]

Some excellent posts/tributes here for PJ.
I have seen the majority of PJs performances for the maroon and white at minor,u-21,senior league or championship.
An absolute class act. And I agree with AFA that his dedication to the cause in lean times was outstanding.

I was at that county semi final between Killererin and Salthill in Tuam Stadium in '99. I don't think I have ever seen an individual display like it. Twelve points from play and frees. An absolute masterclass.

He was simply a class act.