An angry confrontation with Croke Park staff meant Cork legend Teddy McCarthy could not enjoy his moment of history yesterday.
The only man to win All-Ireland hurling and football titles in the same year, McCarthy should have have taken the acclaim of the crowd at headquarters yesterday with the 1990 Cork jubilee team, just a fortnight after doing the same with his hurling counterparts.
Instead team manager Billy Morgan stood in for the four-time All-Ireland winner after he was refused entry by security staff at the Hogan Stand’s premium level entrance, who told him to ‘cool down’ and come back in an hour
TRUE??? cork team 1990 honoured today but Teddy McCarthy wasn't there; Teddy wasn't allowed into Croke Park by a steward & he went away
— Damien Tiernan (@damienwlr) September 20, 2015
Speaking exclusively to SportsJOE, McCarthy today admitted his temper got the better of him and instead of cooling off he headed back to Cork, despite a phonecall from former GAA President Seán Kelly urging him to return.
‘There was no explanation so then I got irked, I got annoyed, so I went away then. I went back down the road towards Cork and stopped along the way to watch the game.
‘Seán Kelly and a few more rang me to tell me to come back in, everything had been sorted, but I was past the point of no return at that stage. It was quarter-to-twelve in the morning and they were treating me like I was some bowzy in a nightclub.’
McCarthy said he arrived in plenty of time for the pre-match lunch, with his ticket and wearing the same suit as the other 29 members of the 1990 Cork side who claimed Sam Maguire. However, after being sent to three different entrances, he admits to losing his temper.
‘They sent me in three different directions and finally sent me back to the first guy. I asked ‘Who’s in charge here?’ and there was obviously something in my tone of voice. Things got a bit heated and they told me to come back in an hour.
‘We each had a word and then the head of security came down to talk to me through the glass. I grabbed the ticket off him and yer man got irked by that.
‘I won’t lose any sleep over it but it was a bit annoying. I had a ticket and a luncheon ticket, what did they want me to do?’
McCarthy remains the only man in the history of the association to win All-Ireland hurling and football titles in the same year, 1990. In total, as part of the great Cork football team that put an end to Kerry’s domination in the 1980s, he won six Munster football titles and two Sam Maguires, back-to-back in 1989-90.
He was named Texaco footballer of the year in 1989 following his starring role alongside Shay Fahy in midfield.
He was honoured before this year’s hurling final as a midfielder on the Cork team that defeated Galway in 1990, adding to the medal he won as a substitute in 1986.
He would have been the first to be honoured on two jubilee teams in the one year but he today accepted his part in the confrontation that denied him his moment of history.
‘Let’s be honest, I got irked. I was very annoyed. I asked, “Who’s running the zoo here?”
‘I was there two weeks ago for the hurling final and I had no trouble getting in.’
When contacted by SportsJOE the GAA declined to comment on the incident.
