Great sadness in Galway at the passing of 3-in-a-row full back Noel Tierney

Tributes have been paid to Galway GAA great Noel Tierney, who has sadly passed away at the age of 82. Noel was full-back on the famous Galway "Three-in-a-row" side of 1964, '65 & '66 and was admired all over the country for his high-fielding ability and swashbuckling style of play that epitomised Galway's greatest-ever team. The Milltown native was honoured by his club only last Sunday week at a special event in the local Community Centre at which current Footballer of the Year Paul Conroy made a surprise appearance to pay tribute to the man who had won the same accolade 60 years previously in 1964. Only four years after starring in the 1960  All-Ireland winning Minor team, Tierney won the Caltex Footballer of the Year Award in 1964 as a 22-year-old full-back who helped inspire his county to a famous All-Ireland final win over Kerry by 0-15 to 0-10. That Galway team would go on to achieve immortality by completing further All-Ireland successes in 1965 against Kerry and 1966 against Meath, and Tierney's influence was key as the Tribesmen did not concede a single goal in all three finals. He would go on to win five Connacht titles as well as his three All-Irelands, a National League and two Railway Cups, including 1969 when he captained the side. Bizarrely, his senior inter-county career ended after the 1968 All-Ireland semi-final defeat to eventual champions Down (2-10 to 2-8) as his focus switched to trying to win a Senior Championship with Milltown.

Having helped Milltown to win the 1961 County Junior Championship, Noel was part of the team that lost the 1967 County Senior Final to a star-studded Fr Griffins, but four years later Milltown won their first-ever Senior Championship title when they overcame St Grellan's Ballinasloe 0-5 to 0-4 in the final in Tuam Stadium.