Tributes to 'great leader'

Death of Enda Colleran: Any team that wins three All-Ireland titles together will cherish a special bond, and when one of that team passes, the sadness runs deep.

The sudden death of Enda Colleran on Wednesday night is a loss first to his family, but then to the Galway football team that for three years in succession - 1964 to 1966 - were crowned All-Ireland champions. Yesterday several of that team praised Colleran's immense service to Galway football. John Bosco McDermott, who played in the other corner-back position during that illustrious era, described the remarkable influence of Colleran both on and off the field.

"The first thing you would have to say about his football is the reliability. You could always depend on Enda. I would have played in the other corner, and everything he did for you, you would have wanted to do for him.

"And the thing is, the corner-back position was a lot different then . . . it was more static then, in that players might move across the line but would really concentrate on their own area. He covered that area so well. And he inspired people around him with his own displays."

McDermott shared many of Colleran's honours and was himself named on the All Star team of 1965. He recalls a captain team-mates would naturally look up to.

"Enda had all the traits of a great leader. He had total respect for the players around him, and got that same respect in return. And he got on so well with all his colleagues on and off the field. He was always so loyal, and we all stayed in touch outside of football and had a great friendship. And he'll be sadly missed.

"And I remember him as well as a man of great humour. I would have roomed with him quite a few times and we lived in the same area. He always looked on the bright side of things. As well as that he had a great belief in sport - that it shouldn't be just annexed from life, but should be more integral to it. Sport meant a lot to him and even if he'd never enjoyed any success he would have got a lot out of sport."

For Bertie Coleman, who was part of the management in that 1960s set-up along with John Dunne and Frankie Stockwell, there are similar memories: "He was so well liked by everyone, so well respected, and held in great regard by every one of his team-mates. And I can tell you he was the heart and soul of any party.

"Of course he was an outstanding footballer. And he made a massive contribution to Galway football in general. Most of all he was a great example to the youth.

"He'll also be remembered as a great analyst of the game long after he retired from football."

Nor had Coleman any doubts about Colleran's ability as a defender: "He would have started at right-half-back as a minor, but once he came onto the senior team he was playing at right-corner-back. And he made that position his own. I'd say he won every possible accolade in the game, including that position on the Team of the Millennium."

Another former Galway star, Jack Mahon, said Colleran's hallmarks were "his courage and his consistency", while Galway manager John O'Mahony said he'd been "looked up to by generations of Galway footballers, in particular by members of the current team".

GAA president Seán Kelly described his passing as a "massive and grievous loss to a great sporting family" and offered condolences on behalf of everyone in the GAA to his family.

An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said he was "deeply saddened and shocked on the learning of the sudden death of such an outstanding player".

"I remember particularly his role in Galway's famous three-in-a-row All-Ireland team," added Ahern. "He was also a good coach, selector, manager and analyst of the game. And I have some great memories of Enda playing. My sympathies go to his wife, Anne, and family."

There were similar words from leading personalities in and outside of Gaelic football.