Johnny Clifford

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John Clifford (1934 – 19 October 2007) was an Irish hurler and hurling coach. After All-Ireland Championship victories as a player and manager during a five-decade association with the Cork senior hurling team, he is regarded as a "Cork legend."^[1]

After beginning his career at club level with Glen Rovers, Clifford joined the Cork minor team as a 15-year-old in 1950, captaining the team to the All-Ireland Minor Championship in 1951. He was almost immediately promoted to the Cork senior team and won his first All-Ireland Championship as non-playing substitute in 1953 before claiming a second winners' medal on the field of the play in 1954 after scoring the winning goal in the final. A severe head injury ended Clifford's inter-county career in 1956, by which time he had also won two Munster Championship medals. His club career ended in 1960; however, in spite of being brief he claimed a full set of available county championship medals including minor, junior, intermediate and three senior triumphs.

After his playing career, Clifford found success as both a club and inter-county coach and selector. His association as a mentor with the Glen Rovers senior team spanned three decades and culminated with the winning of All-Ireland Club Championship titles in 1973 and 1977. Clifford enjoyed three separate tenures as coach of the Cork senior team, while he also served as a selector in an association that lasted from the 1960s until the 1990s. During that time he was involved in two All-Ireland Championship-winning teams, while he also coached the Cork minor team to the All-Ireland Minor Championship in 1985.