Paddy Mulligan: “We will never see the likes of Liam Tuohy again”

Former Republic of Ireland international Paddy Mulligan says the Irish football "will never see the likes of Liam Tuohy again," and certainly there will be very few who are remembered as having had such an enormous impact on the game here.

Having grown up close to the centre of Dublin, Tuohy joined Shamrock Rovers in 1951 and played for them until 1960 when he left for Newcastle United where, as an outside left, he scored nine goals in 42 appearances over a three year period. He then returned to Milltown where he spent another six seasons, gradually making the transition into management. Along the way, over a 10 year period between 1955 and '65, he featured irregularly for the national team but was awarded just eight caps despite scoring four international goals.

In '69 he took over at Dundalk and two years later became Republic of Ireland manager while retaining his role at Oriel Park. The highlight of his two years in charge was a 2-1 win over France in Dublin but he generally seen as having helped to transform the role and it said much about the FAI at the time that he was forced to depart for financial reasons despite his club job and a full-time position as a sales manager for HB Ice Cream.

By the time he went, he was back at Rovers and he later took over the Irish Youth team and, with Brian Kerr and the late Noel O'Reilly at his side, enjoyed great success with various Irish sides reaching three European Championships and, for the first time ever, an underage World Cup.

Having missed out on a second stint in the senior job as leading figures within the association decided it was time to have a manager based in England, he famously walked out of the job when the man appointed, Jack Charlton, took over his half-time team talk at a game in England and criticised the passing style of play he was encouraging.

Over the years that followed, he remained something of a hero to those who believed that Charlton’s approach wasted the talents of what was perhaps Ireland’s greatest ever generation of football talents.

Even amongst those who were won over, though, he remained an immensely popular figure and continued to work in the game until 2002 when he retired as director of football at Home Farm. Though he had suffered several years of seriously declining health since, his death on Saturday, aged 83, is said to have been unexpected.

“He was a fountain of knowledge,” says Mulligan, “and a lovely man. He has a magnificent place in the history of Irish football both as a player and a manager and it was a huge privilege for me to play for him then go on to have him as a pal.”

A father of six, he was predeceased by his wife Sheila. His funeral is expected to take place in Raheny on Wednesday morning.