John Egan RIP
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 3:44 am
So sad to learn tonight of the passing of John Egan a Doon and Offaly legend. May he rest in Peace.
"Esto Fidelis"
"Esto Fidelis"
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JOHN EGAN CAPTAIN OF OFFALY
John Egan’s record of consistent sterling service down the years, and the part he has played in his county’s premier achievements in the top grade, rank among the most noteworthy features of football history.
At an age when most players have left their best football behind them, the spring is still very much in Egan’s step. He continues to parade his repertoire of skills with an expertise that few defenders in the game can match.
Sound positional sense, alertness, immaculate fielding and lengthy kicking are the priceless assets that marked him out as a solid corner-stone on which Offaly’s final ticket was punched out. They are the assets, too, that have ensured that Egan has played his part in moulding this famed full-back line into a great barrier to Offaly’s goal.
John Egan, who is in his ’thirties, has been in Offaly’s side for some twelve years. He starred in their triumphs, and shared in their disappointments in those great but unlucky years in the early ’sixties. His football ability has also been recognised by Leinster, and he won his only Railway Cup medal as a member of that almost all-Offaly rearguard in the team that beat Munster for the 1961 title.
It is probably true to say that, as well as his own natural ability, John Egan’s current grand form is due in no small way to the wonderful support he is receiving from Paddy McCormack and Greg Hughes. Nevertheless, this still cannot take from the sparkle of the long-serving left-full, or from the role he has played so superbly in this latest march to the final.
It may be, too, that for all the great football e has produced down the years, we may see the Offaly giant in the no. 4 jersey scale even greater heights to-day. Whatever the future may hold for Offaly football, it seems reasonable to assume that this is the last chance for John Egan to get among the All-Ireland medals.
This fact is certain to prove a tremendous added incentive to this mighty bulwark of the Offaly defence . . . just the type of challenge that brings out that elusive little extra in any player. And now comes the added distinction of being the first to lead his county into history.
It’s a glittering double. And John Egan, who also wore the Ireland jersey in the now suspended representative games, is a footballer well equipped to meet this big challenge.