John "Johnny" Egan (born ''John Francis Egan'': 26 September 1939 – 14 December 2015) was an Irish

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er who played as a left corner-back for the

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

senior football team. Born in Doon,

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

, Egan first arrived on the inter-county scene when he first linked up with the Offaly minor team. Named on the Offaly Football Team of the Century and regarded as one of his county's finest ever footballers, he made his senior debut during the 1957–58 league. Egan went on to play a key role for over a decade and had 99 League and Championship appearances and won two

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

medals on the field of play. He was an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

runner-up on two occasions in 1961 and 1969. He played in front of a record crowd of 90,556 against Down in 1961. He captained the team in 1969. At club level Egan began his career with Doon before later playing with

Ballycumber Ballycumber () is a village located where the R436 regional road crosses the River Brosna in County Offaly, Ireland. It is west of the town of Clara, on the western edge of Clara bog. According to the 2016 census, the population of Ballycumb ...

and, after moving to Dublin for work, Kickhams in Dublin. Throughout Egan's inter-county career, of his 99 appearances, 35 were championship appearances for Offaly. His retirement came during the conclusion of the 1970-71 league and Egan's last game for Offaly was in November 1970 when he lined out in his customary corner back position against Longford in the National Football League.

References

1939 births 2015 deaths Doon Gaelic footballers Ballymun Kickhams Gaelic footballers Offaly inter-county Gaelic footballers {{Offaly-gaelic-football-bio-stub