Patrick "Pat" Fox (born 8 July 1962) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

with his local club

Éire Óg Annacarty GAA Éire Óg Annacarty GAA club is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in the parish of Anacarty & Donohill, in west County Tipperary in Ireland. History The Éire Óg club's most notable player of the modern era is Pat Fox, All-Ireland medallis ...

and with the

Tipperary GAA The Tipperary County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Chontae Thiobraid Árann) or Tipperary GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in Cou ...

senior inter-county team in the 1980s and 1990s.

Playing career

Club

Fox played his club

with his local parish club Éire Óg and he enjoyed some success with the club.

Inter-county

Fox first came to prominence as a member of the Tipperary minor hurling team in the late 1970s. He had little success in this grade as

Cork GAA The Cork County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Luthchleas Gael Coiste Contae Chorcaí) or Cork GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Cork and the C ...

dominated the Munster Championship. Fox later joined the Tipp under-21 team, however, he missed the teams Munster final victory in 1979. In spite of this he later collected an All-Ireland as Tipp defeated

Galway GAA The Galway County Boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Chontae na Gaillimhe) or Galway GAA are one of the 32 county boards in Ireland; they are responsible for Gaelic games in County Galway, and f ...

. Fox won his first Munster under-21 medal in 1980 and, once again, this was subsequently converted into a second All-Ireland medal. In 1981 he added a second Munster under-21 medal to his collection before claiming a third consecutive All-Ireland under-21 medal. Fox subsequently joined the Tipperary senior hurling panel, however, the early 1980s was not a successful period for the team. In 1987, however, he won his first senior

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

title following a classic Munster final replay against

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

. His side were subsequently defeated by

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

in the All-Ireland semi-final. Fox won a

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

medal and a second Munster medal in 1988, however, Tipp were once again beaten by Galway in the All-Ireland final. 1989 saw Fox add a third Munster medal to his collection. Tipp later defeated Antrim in the championship decider on a score line of 4-24 to 3-9 and Fox won his first senior All-Ireland title. Tipp lost their Munster crown to Cork in 1990, however, they regained it in 1991 and Fox collected a fourth provincial title. He later won a second All-Ireland medal following a defeat of

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

in the final. Fox’s performance in the entire championship earned him the Hurler of the Year accolade. Tipp lost their provincial crown again in 1992, however, the team bounced back in 1993 and Fox won a fifth Munster title. His last appearance in a Tipp senior jersey was as a substitute in the 1996 Munster Hurling Final replay.

Famous quote

Fox became well known to the public at large due to radio sports commentator Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh's famous delivery during a particularly exciting hurling encounter: * "Pat Fox has it on his hurl and is motoring well now ... but here comes Joe Rabbitte hot on his tail ...... I've seen it all now, a Rabbitte chasing a Fox around

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

References

External links

GAA Info Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Pat 1961 births Living people Tipperary inter-county hurlers Éire Óg Annacarty hurlers Munster inter-provincial hurlers All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners