Kerry manager Jack O’Connor has described the late Johnny Culloty as “like a father-figure” to him.

The five-time All-Ireland winner passed away on Monday at the age of 88, with Kerry GAA paying tribute to him as “a legendary figure in GAA circles”.

Culloty worked as a selector with O’Connor when the latter became Kerry U21 manager in 1998 and again when O’Connor was in charge for his first stint over the Kingdom during the All-Ireland senior championship triumphs of 2004 and 2006.

Speaking to the Kerryman this week, the current Kerry boss paid tribute to the legendary Killarney Legion clubman.

"Johnny was a like a father-figure to me, he was a great friend and he will be sadly missed,” O’Connor stated.

"We worked together with the under-21s in 1998 and 1999, winning the All-Ireland the first year, and he was a selector with me from 2004 when I took over the senior team. He was a great man, he had fantastic experience, and had a huge knowledge of the game.

"He made me very aware of the traditions of Kerry football, he always wanted Kerry to play football in the right way, with a bit of style, almost regardless of the results. He was a link back to Dr Eamonn O'Sullivan – he would have played under Dr Eamonn – and a lot of the stuff Dr Eamonn believed in Johnny would have passed that on to the next generation.

"Johnny was a very understated, unassuming man, but he was very intelligent and he was a great judge of a footballer. I used to say that Johnny was as good a judge of a footballer as Vincent O’Brien was of a racehorse."

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