This morning Kerry great Denis Joe Crowley was buried in his adopted Birdhill. The Rathmore legend was a big friend of Hogan Stand and we reprint a piece posted in June 1994.

Din Joe Crowley and that great goal against Meath in the 1970 All-Ireland

For GAA aficienado's with long memories Din Joe Crowley, the man with the curly red hair, will be remembered for one incident towards the end of the 1970 All-Ireland final. With Kerry and Meath neck and neck as the game drew to a close, Crowley picked up a ball near the halfway line and shoulders down, headed for goal before blasting a shot to the Meath net.

It was the score that secured Kerry's victory in what was the first ever 80 minute All-Ireland football decider. "I got a pass from John O'Keeffe and started off on a solo run and as I went towards the Meath goals a gap opened up in front of me. Jack Quinn was backing off and as I came near the goals he quickly came to tackle me and I pulled the ball down to my right foot and took a shot. I had been practicing a shot like that in training but I never scored a goal, the ball went into the net, it was just one of those things. We scored a point soon after and the title was ours: recalls DJ who works as the Sales and Marketing manager with Europak Corrugated cases in Limerick City.

Almost quarter of a century later Din Joe (who was born Denis Joseph) is frequently reminded of that memorable goal that was seen by millions watching the game on TV.

Altogether Crowley played in three All-Ireland finals, winning two of them in 1969 and 1970 and while the victory over Meath in '70 remains a sweet moment to look back on, Crowley prefers to reflect on the All-Ireland championship campaign of the previous year.

"I was playing some very good football in 1969. We defeated Mayo in the semi-final and we took on Offaly in the final and I ended up getting the Sports Start of the Week award. Everything went well for me that year. I was extremely fit and was on top of my form, although I know most people will remember me from the Meath game."

Now living in Birdhill, a village located between Limerick and Nenagh, inside the Tipperary border, Din Joe spends much of his spare time coaching the juvenile players in the local parish club - Newport GFC. It is something he enjoys, giving back into the game some of the experience he has gained from an eventful and colourful career.

Crowley played in one of the most talented Kerry teams of recent times, appearing alongside household names such as Johnny Culloty, Mick O'Connell and Mick O'Dwyer but only a short distance prevented him from wearing the red of Cork.

"I was brought up in Rathmore between Millstreet and Killarney, just inside the Kerry border so I could easily have been a Corkman instead," he explains.

DJ's progression into a county player was not done in the normal, step-by-step manner, as he did not represent the county at minor or under 21 level. He went to school in St. Brendan's in Killarney, showing little of the football talent that was later to mark him out from the crowd.

Playing for the local club, Rathmore, DJ was one of seven or eight players who were regularly selected for the East Kerry teams that represented the region in the senior county championship. He was, however, overlooked by the county selectors until he unexpectedly received a call up for a tournament game in 1966 when he was 21.

Two Kerry greats Din Joe Crowley and Pat Griffin keep a close eye on the Sam Maguire Cup in Kinsale Garda Station in 1969.

"The first time I pulled on a Kerry jersey was for a Whit Sunday tournament in '66. They played me at full forward which was never my favourite position. I played my first championship match the following year when I came in against Cork in the Munster final in the Athletic Grounds in Cork. I remember it was a very wet day and near the end of the game I caught the ball and sent a blistering shot towards the goals but Billy Morgan turned the ball around the post. I will always remember that incident because I was only ten or twelve yards out and Billy brought off a brilliant save, especially with the heavy ball."

Once again Crowley was selected at full forward, a position he was never happy in and feeling he was out of position he was unable to show his full potential. Din Joe usually played on the 40 or in midfield for Rathmore and East Kerry and it was in such positions he excelled.

Enjoying the freedom of midfield or the half forwards usually saw him playing his best football but it would take some time before getting a chance to play in such positions for the county.

For the 1967 National League campaign DJ was left off the Kerry panel, returning the following year. In the spring of '68, Crowley, who then worked as a Garda based in Kinsale, was selected for the Munster Garda team to play a Dublin selection in Croke Park. The game was to provide him with an important platform to relaunch his intercounty career.

"It was the first time I had ever been in Croke Park, never mind played in it. I did fairly well and the next day I got a half page write up in the Independent. The following day we played the army and I was marking a certain Dermot Earley. I was switched to midfield and I ended up getting a goal and three points and once again got a write up in the Irish Independent, so in a few days I received a fair bit of publicity."

A short while later Crowley travelled down to see Kerry play in a challenge. He takes it up from here. "Kerry were playing in the Whit Tournament and there was always a big crowd there because you could have a look at the team that was going to play in the championship. I was just sitting there when it came out over the tannoy that DJ Crowley was to go the Kerry dressing room. I was on my way down when this man approached me and introduced himself as Jackie Lyne. He has just become the Kerry trainer and he said he read the reports. you only dream of being called out of the crowd to play, but it happened to me that day."

DJ was to turn out to be the type of player Jackie Lyne liked and over the following four years he was to establish a regular place on the Kerry team. The Rathmore man recognised that he owes a huge debt to Jackie Lyne. It was Lyne who brought him back into the panel and who allowed him to play in his favourite half forward position.

In the 1968 Munster final Kerry defeated Cork 1-21 to 3-8 before taking on Longford in the All-Ireland semi-final (winning on a 2-13 to 2-11 scoreline). But in the final they came up against a Down team at their peak. "I was full forward marking Dan McCartan. I felt we were as good as them and matched them in most departments but Sean O'Neill got a fortunate goal and Johnny Murphy scored another one while we missed a couple of good chances. I had a shot at goal near the end but the ball slid off my foot and went over the bar, but if I had kept it down it would have been very difficult to stop. The luck was with Down that day and that is what you  need." It all came right for DJ and Kerry in '69 when they defeated Offaly 0-10 to 0-7 and in '70 when his late goal saw the Kingdom overcome Meath 2-19 to 0-18. The Rathmore star played in the Kerry colours until 1972 and along with two All-Ireland medals he was to win three senior county medals with East Kerry before finally hanging up his boots.

As a player, DJ Crowley was noted as an excellent fielder of a ball, a skill that has diminished in recent years as more and more teams have employed the short passing game. Yet often the former Kerry player hankers after a good long punt forward, like it was in the old days.

"The passing game can be very effective sometimes, but I don't think it is a good ideal to use it all the time, it is very important to kick the ball quickly into the forwards. Watching the Munster semi-final between Cork and Kerry last year, it was very frustrating to see so many Kerry moves petering out. The full forward Eoin Liston hardly got three decent balls all afternoon. One quick way to find out if a forward or a back is on his game is to deliver quick balls and see what happens. There is a lot to be said for it."

Comparing the All-Ireland winning Kerry sides of the 60s and 70s, DJ sees little difference in commitment and fitness levels.

"I feel we were every bit as fit as they were. Coming to a Munster final I travelled seven nights a week from Kinsale for training or a game, that was a trip of 180 miles. So between club and county I was involved with football nearly all the time. We probably didn't have the same level of team work as they had, especially as regards passing movements. We didn't have the same emphasis on passing the ball around."

Disappointed that Kerry have not won an All-Ireland since 1986, Crowley feels they need a good run in the championship to gain the vital confidence needed for success and he claims Kerry will have to improve considerably on their first round victory over Limerick if they are to dispose of Cork in the Munster semi-final.

Din Joe is married to Brid with six children, Tara, a staff nurse in Beaumont Hospital; Olga, a student of hotel management; Donagh, a student in UCG; Michael still in secondary school and a highly promising hurler and footballer; Diarmuid also in secondary school and Eamon, a national school child.

Although living in Tipperary, DJ has lost none of his passion for Kerry football and he will be a very happy man to see the Sam Maguire once more rest in the Kingdom.

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