Tipp hurling legend Pat Fox told stories from his career on 'The 2 Johnnies' podcast recently

Pat Fox was the latest Tipperary GAA legend to appear on The 2 Johnnies Podcast last week, with the two-time All-Ireland winner sharing some highlights from his career and no end of brilliant stories from his very successful career in the blue and gold.

The special guest on episode 294 of the popular podcast, Fox regaled the Johnnies about so many happenings around the All-Ireland winning teams of 1989 and 1991, including the aftermath of winning the 1987 Munster final which ended “The Famine” for Tipperary at the time.

Played down in Killarney against Cork, Fox recounted the celebrations after the game and how he and a few well-known teammates spent their time in the hours and days after the match.

“I have great memories of coming out of Killarney after that weekend,” said Fox with a big smile.

“Donie O’Connell had a lovely Datsun Bluebird with a sunroof and we hanging out the doors! It was brilliant.

“I remember it well. It was probably the session of all sessions. We made a slow trip back to Tipperary. We must have stopped at every pub in Ireland on the way back. I don’t think I can remember getting back to Tipp!”

The rivalry between Tipperary and Galway in the late 80s was one of the most bitter hurling rivalries in hurling history, and when asked who was the man who picked him up in those games, Fox responded as quick as lightning, singling out a teak tough defender who gave him special attention during those contests!

"I knew every time I played them who I was going to be marking. Ollie Kilkenny was always my opposition and I swear he was the most gruesome player I ever had to mark.

“If the ball was within six inches of you you were getting a belt across the head. He was absolutely lethal, although he’s actually a very good friend of mine now, but at the time I hated his guts,” said a laughing Fox.

Then asked what the routine of a hurler on the Tipperary team at that time in the 80s and 90s, Fox dismissed that it was training and then off to the pub to enjoy themselves and highlighted that the setup was well ahead of its time and was professional in many facets.

“Liam Hennessy came on board with us and he was a very good trainer and a sports doctor in Blackrock Clinic. He put a lot of professionalism into our game. 

“We started to warm down properly, stretch, and we started to do everything that is done nowadays.

The breakthrough All-Ireland win in 1989 expectedly came in over the course of the 30-minute interview, and despite bridging a gap of 18 years to win that title with Tipperary, Fox said he got very little enjoyment from the win because it came at the cost of a very good Antrim team who were “great hurling people”.

“They (Antrim) were a fine team and were probably a better team the year after. But it was very hard to beat them in the final and it was one match where I never really enjoyed a bit of it. It was a pity to have to beat a team like Antrim.

A mainstay with the blue and gold of Tipperary for a massive 16 years which spanned from 1980 to 1996, Fox continued to play for his club Éire Óg Annacarty on and off over the next decade and didn’t finish playing for the West club until he was 45 years old.

When asked if his game changed as he got older, Fox was not shy in admitting that tactics had to change as the legs began to slow down over the latter stages of his playing days.

“I used to be a saint when I was a young fella but towards the end of my career, I was gone the complete opposite!” Fox admitted.

"We played Sean Treacys one day and there was a bit of a row towards the end of the match anyway, and Fr Jack O’Neill - who was the curate in Tipperary Town - said to me ‘You need to give up hurling’.’”

"The row was too much and in fairness, he probably had plenty of reason to say that to me!” he said.

The full interview with ‘The 2 Johnnies’ is available online now and is well worth a listen for Tipperary fans of the vintage of the 1980s and 1990s, as Fox was in terrific form going over some hilarious stories from that time.