Tony Hadden RIP
Tony Hadden during the Down 1960/61 Jubilee team presentation at at Croke Park. Photo by Sportsfile
Down GAA has paid tribute to Tony Hadden, who died last week.
Hadden won two All-Ireland SFC medals, four Ulster titles, and two National League medals during a glittering career with Down.
"Tony Hadden gave great service to his County not just on the field of play, from 1954 to 1963," the Down GAA statement said.
"In 1977, he was part of the team management that guided Down to a first All-Ireland Minor success with victory over Meath.
"In 1981, Tony acted as a selector with Joe Lennon as team manager when Down won the Ulster Championship with a memorable win over Armagh."
Hadden was an influential figure in a highly regarded Down outfit at the start of the 1960s. "In 1960, Tony was joined on the right of the Down attack by Seán Ó Neill and together they formed a partnership that would strike fear into opposing defences, Tony had the ability to roam, to create space and to move out to midfield, when his team needed, all the time playing his part and in doing so making history," the statement added.
"Tony Hadden was the master of the fisted point and as often said 'he could fist the ball as far as another man could kick it' and many times a fisted point, from out the field, was welcomed by a Down team under pressure.
"We, in Down GAA, were privileged to have Tony Hadden in our midst, he was a man who spanned the generations and had a great affinity with people of all ages, he was widely respected throughout the game, always a gentleman, who never forgot his roots, he was a proud Newry Man, a proud Shamrocks man and a proud Down man."
