Legendary McCabe 'breathed fire' for club and county

Cavanman's Diary

It’s always fascinating to think of the links in football history between different generations. Long-serving players start off as youngsters going up against older stars on the way down; as the years go on, the roles are reversed.

Andy McCabe was one such stalwart. One of the great Cavan defenders, his passing recently severs a link with the great Crosserlough and Cavan teams of the 1960s and early 1970s.

He first came to prominence in 1963 when captaining the Crosserlough minors to a 2-11 to 2-2 county final victory over Maghera. The report in this newspaper stated: “The winners were strongly served at midfield where Brendan Donoghue and Frank McKiernan gave them a big pull in this sector. They also had the outstanding player on the field in centre half-back and captain Andy McCabe.”

The following year, still a teenager, he was handed the captaincy of Crosserlough and led the club to its first Senior League title, which indicates his leadership abilities; to captain a senior team at such a young age is almost unheard of.

In 1966, en route to championship glory, Crosserlough defeated county champions Cavan Gaels in a first-round replay in which McCabe marked the great Jim McDonnell and turned in a Man of the Match performance.

Jim had played with Cavan players such as Simon Deignan, who himself had lined out with players like Big Tom O’Reilly, who made his bow in 1933. Andy was still playing for his club as late as 1982 and some of those he played with lined out into the 2000s. Thus, through a few great men like these, the history of football in the county can be traced down the generations.

While an All-Ireland senior medal eluded him, Andy McCabe enjoyed a stellar career, winning seven Senior Championship medals in succession with Crosserlough from 1966 to 1972, captaining the team in the first year of that run. For all of those successes, he wore the number six jersey.

With Cavan, his greatest days came in 1967 and 1969 when he lined out on the winning side in Ulster final victories over Down. He had a fearsome reputation as a player; those who played with him and watched him say he was strong, whole-hearted and knew no fear and was the sort of player you wanted with you in the trenches when the going got tough.

In 1965, McCabe lined out in the half-back line as the Cavan U21s made the Ulster final. Flanking him were two storied players, Pat Tinnelly and Brendan Murtagh, from Kingscourt, where he later made his home. Also on board on that star-studded team were future Ulster senior medallists Hugh Newman, Declan Coyle, Brendan Donohoe, Oliver Brady and Micheál Greenan.

The following year, the Cavan senior team conceded five goals in the Ulster semi-final against Donegal, the first time the county had ever shipped five in the championship. The outlook in the county was gloomy but the defence was reconstructed for the next season, with the young Crosserlough captain drafted in to shore things up.

He was still eligible for the junior team, having not played Senior Championship for the county, and captained them to the Ulster final against Derry. By then, though, he had already nailed down his place with the seniors in the league and McKenna Cup as well as on the tournament circuit; before the first round against Antrim, The Anglo-Celt, speculating on the make-up of the starting 15, noted: “Andy McCabe has now permanently taken up the right full-back position.”

Wins over Antrim and Tyrone set up an Ulster final against Down in Clones, where Cavan were awesome. A couple of years ago, I interviewed Mourne legend Colm McAlarney, then starting out on a stellar inter-county career.

McAlarney was playing in his first Ulster final and recalled how fired up Cavan were too.

“We were beaten, deservedly so, that day,” he remembered.

“We had huge respect for that Cavan team. It’s funny, though, how you think you’re right and you’re not and it’s too late when you find that out in the white heat of a Championship match.

“In those days, Cavan were coming, breathing fire, and unless you were ready to run through brick walls, you were going to be on the receiving end and we certainly were in ’67.”

McCabe epitomised that attitude; aggressive, powerful and defiant, his teammates have often noted how he put the fear of God into the opposition’s attack.

Ray Carolan, centre-back that season, remembered one moment, which summed up Cavan’s approach.

“James McCartan was coming through with the ball,” he said, “and Peter Pritchard came across and hit him a shoulder and before he straightened up, Andy McCabe came across and hit him from the other side.”

Carolan could sense they would not be beaten and they weren’t.

It was a different era. Vincent Pilkington from Cootehill had travelled to the game and, full of youthful exuberance, he had an eye on his watch and moments before the final whistle sounded, made a break for it.

“When the game was over, I had timed it to a tee and I crossed the wire. And the great Andy McCabe, the Cavan corner-back, says to me ‘Get off, son, the game’s not over yet’,” Pilkington recalled.

But Cavan ran out handsome winners by 2-12 to 0-8 to stun the favourites. In the All-Ireland semi-final, they were very unlucky to lose to Cork by a point.

In 1969, Cavan again scaled the heights in Ulster, again dethroning Down, this time the defending provincial and All-Ireland champions, with a stunning display in Casement Park, Belfast.

Ever committed, he later cut short his honeymoon to line out in the All-Ireland semi-final replay against Offaly in Croke Park but, unfortunately, Cavan came up short.

By now, Andy was regarded as one of the best defenders in the game and was honoured with selection for Ulster on many occasions, winning Railway Cup medals as a starter in 1970 and 1971; in the latter year, he also travelled to play in San Francisco with the Carroll’s All-Stars.

He played in his last Senior Championship final at the age of 34 in 1980, Crosserlough losing by a point to Kingscourt Stars, the club his sons would later represent with distinction. He was described in the pre-match pen pics as “still a formidable defender”.

In all, McCabe finished up with a marvellous haul of medals – seven Senior Championships, six Senior Leagues, two Ulster Senior Championships, two Railway Cups and a Dr McKenna Cup along with countless tournament accolades. He was popular and universally respected and will be sadly missed by family, friends and former teammates.

Ar Dheis Dé go raibh a anam.