Mick O'Dwyer

Michael O'Dwyer (9 June 1936 – 3 April 2025) was an Irish Gaelic football manager and player. He most famously managed the senior Kerry county team between 1974 and 1989, during which time he became the county's longest-serving manager, and its most successful at winning major titles. O'Dwyer is regarded as one of the greatest managers in the history of the game. He is one of only three men to manage five different counties. Martin Breheny has described him as "the ultimate symbol of the outside manager". Born in Waterville, County Kerry, O'Dwyer was introduced to Gaelic football by the local national school teacher who organised games between schools in the area. He enjoyed divisional championship success during a thirty-year club career with Waterville. O'Dwyer also won three Kerry County Football Championship medals with South Kerry. O'Dwyer made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen with the Kerry minor team. An All-Ireland MFC runner-up in this grade, O'Dwyer subsequently made his senior debut during the 1956–57 league. He went on to play a key role for Kerry in attack during a very successful era and won four All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) medals, eleven Munster SFC medals and seven National Football League medals. He was an All-Ireland SFC runner-up on five occasions. As a member of the Munster inter-provincial team, O'Dwyer won one Railway Cup medal in 1972. Throughout his inter-county career he made 48 championship appearances. O'Dwyer retired from inter-county football following the 1974 championship. O'Dwyer was appointed manager of the Kerry senior team prior to the start of the 1974–75 National League. He led Kerry through a period of unprecedented provincial and national dominance, winning twenty-two major honours. These include eight All-Ireland SFC titles, including a then record-equalling four-in-a-row between 1978 and 1981, and a three-in-a-row between 1984 and 1986, eleven Munster SFc titles in twelve seasons and three National League titles, including two league–championship doubles. O'Dwyer simultaneously took charge of the Kerry under-21 team, winning three successive All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship titles. His tenure in charge of the Munster team saw the province claim six Railway Cups. After ending his fifteen-year managerial tenure with Kerry, O'Dwyer moved to Leinster, where he took charge of Kildare between 1990 and 1994. After making Kildare a competitive footballing force, he was reappointed for a second tenure in 1996. O'Dwyer ended a 42-year provincial famine by securing two Leinster SFC titles, while Kildare also made their first All-Ireland SFC final appearance for seventy years in 1998. In 2002, O'Dwyer moved to Laois, where he helped end a 57-year wait for a Leinster SFC title. O'Dwyer remained in Leinster after his Laois tenure, embarking on a five-year stint as Wicklow manager in 2006. Wicklow secured the 2007 Tommy Murphy Cup, and O'Dwyer brought them to the last 12 in 2009 for the first time ever. O'Dwyer ended his managerial career with a less successful one-year stint in charge of Clare.