Tom Spillane
| File:Tom Spillane, ex Kerry Star, Dermot Clifford, Fossa Gaa Chair, David Clifford, Munster Minor Footballer of the Year & Merry Talbot, Sec. Fossa Gaa.jpg Tom Spillane (first from left) with Fossa chairman Dermot Clifford, former GAA president Seán Kelly, David Clifford and Fossa secretary Merry Talbot, in 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 1962 (age 63–64) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Auctioneer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Gaelic football | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Half-back | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tom Spillane (born 1962) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Templenoe and the Kerry county team[1] in the 1980s.
Early life
[edit | edit source]Maura[2] Spillane gave birth to Tom in Templenoe, near Kenmare, County Kerry in 1962. He was — along with his brothers Pat and Mick — destined to become a key member of the successful Kerry Gaelic football teams of the 1980s.
Playing career
[edit | edit source]Spillane won an All-Ireland Minor Football Championship (MFC) medal in 1980 before first breaking into the county panel in 1981. He played with Kerry for the next eleven seasons, winning four All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) medals, five Munster SFC medals, one Kerry SFC and three All Stars.
Himself and Ger Lynch — assigned to mark Tommy Conroy and Barney Rock during the 1984 All-Ireland SFC final — began their efforts during the national anthem, which they sang with aplomb.[3] Spillane, quoted in the book Princes of Pigskin, said of this tactic later: "There was no belting but the plot was to sing the National Anthem as loud as we could into their ears to put the fear of God into them. Neither of us were great singers but they must have thought we were wired to the moon".[3]
Together with his brothers Mick and Pat, the Spillanes hold a record 19 All-Ireland SFC medals between them.[2] However, he won a mere four All-Ireland medals besides Mick's seven and Pat's eight.[citation needed]
Personal life
[edit | edit source]Tom Spillane works as an auctioneer and runs his business from Killarney. He specialises in dealing with property in the Killarney and Kenmare areas.[citation needed]
Spillane's brother Pat took over their mother's bar, renaming it Pat Spillane's Bar, and ran it before leasing it.[2] Tom Spillane bought the pub from Pat Spillane in the late 2010s, with the intention of running it alongside his sons Killian and Adrian (also Kerry footballers).[2]
References
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- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). The headline in the printed edition read: "From twin tower to supersub target man, Walsh is key to Kingdom dream".