Bill Delaney

For the 19th-century baseball player, see Bill Delaney (baseball). For the actor, see Delaney Williams.
Bill Delaney
Personal information
Irish name Liam Ó Dubhshláine
Sport Gaelic football
Position -
Born 1914/1915[1]
Ireland
Died July 2000 (aged 85)[1]
Club(s)
Years Club
? -? Stradbally
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
?- ? Laois
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles 4

Bill Delaney (1914/1915 2000) was a famous Gaelic footballer for Laois. His death at the age of 85 in July 2000[1] brought great sadness to the entire county but rekindled memories of a glorious career in the GAA as a player, referee and administrator.

Career

From a famous footballing family he illuminated a glorious period for football at club, county and provincial level during the 1930s and 1940s and was regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time.

Bill played for Laois in the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship final of 1932 and when he made his senior debut at the age of 18 the following year he commenced an inter-county career that saw him play in 18 successive championships.

He won four Leinster Senior Football Championship titles with Laois during a glorious period that saw them go so close to a taking the elusive All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title.

Bill also won five Railway Cup medals and captained the side in 1929 when the team also included his three brothers Jack, Mick and Chris.

The big Stradbally man also refereed two All-Ireland Senior Football Championship finals and was a member of the powerful Central Council for a period that spanned four decades.

In recognition of his skills and long-running contribution to the sport, Delaney was awarded the 1994 All-Time All Star Award as no All Stars Awards were being issued at the time of his playing career.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Sadness at loss of true GAA legend". Independent.ie. 4 July 2000.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.