Inside Tipperary hurler Willie Connors' life off the pitch after family death
The Kiladangan native also had a successful stint in Gaelic football before deciding to concentrate on his hurling career.
Let's delve into his life both on and off the pitch. Tipperary Career
Willie enjoyed underage success with the Tipperary footballers before making it big with the senior hurlers. He won a Munster U/21 football title in 2015 before going on to line out with the county in the National Football League and Munster and All-Ireland Senior Football Championships.
He made his debut for the Tipperary senior hurlers in 2018, during a league clash with neighbours Limerick. He won his first and only All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship medal the following year as the Premier county beat Kilkenny in the Croke Park final decider. Age, Height and Where He's From
Willie was born in August 1996, making him 29 years of age.
He is from the village of Puckane and he plays his club hurling with his local team, Kiladangan. He helped to guided his club to a first County Tipperary senior hurling title in 2020.
They later added another county title in 2023. Day Job
Away from his busy sporting career the GAA star works as an Area Sales Manager at Tippo International Ltd. Death of his Uncle Willie
Willie Connors' uncle, also called Willie Connors, sadly passed away suddenly at home earlier this month.
His untimely passing comes just days before the Premier County's All-Ireland Hurling semi-final clash with Kilkenny in Croke Park.
Willie was predeceased by his parents Tom and Annie, brothers Bernard, John and Michael, sisters Kathleen and Ann, and his brother-in-law Patrick Seymour. He is mourned by his sister and brothers, Breda, Paddy, Tommy, Ollie, Tony, and his twin Ger, extended family, neighbours, and many friends. Injuries
Willie suffered a serious ankle injury as Tipperary lost to Kerry in the Superstores Munster Hurling Cup quarter-final.
The game was halted for 11 minutes in the second half as an ambulance removed him from Austin Stack Park in Tralee after he had scored a point. Tipperary confirmed that he had sustained a "double ankle fracture in today's game against Kerry. We wish Willie well in his recovery."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
2 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Paddy Bradley emerges as candidate for Antrim job
Former Derry star Paddy Bradley has emerged as a serious contender for the vacant Antrim job, RTÉ Sport understands. The Saffron County are on the lookout for a new boss after Andy McEntee's decision to step away after three years following their Tailteann Cup quarter-final loss to Wexford. If Bradley was appointed, he would be the second member of the family in the role with his father, Liam 'Baker' Bradley, guiding the county to their last Ulster final appearance in 2009 before giving eventual All-Ireland champions Kerry a serious scare in the qualifiers. The pair linked up for a second spell with the county in 2014, Paddy acting as a coach under his father. Bradley, previously a Donegal selector, has been building up his coaching experience in recent seasons. The Glenullin man, an All-Star in 2007, has managed the Derry Under-20s and has won three Oakleaf intermediate titles, two with his home club and one with Newbridge. Meanwhile, Louth are expected to announce Gavin Devlin as their new manager in the coming days. The two-time All-Ireland winner with Tyrone has previously been part of the Wee County set-up under Mickey Harte and has worked with their youth development in recent times. Peter Dooley, also involved under Harte and his successor Ger Brennan, is set to form part of the coaching ticket with other names yet to be added. Fergal Reel is due to remain with the county's U20s having guided them to a Leinster title last season. Brennan's exit from Louth, coinciding with Dessie Farrell's departure from Dublin, seemed to suggest the former was on his way back to his home county – but those reports are understood to be premature.
Irish Examiner
2 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Cork players and staff decide against homecoming event after All-Ireland heartbreak
Cork supporters will not get the chance to welcome home the beaten All-Ireland finalists on Monday, county board officials have confirmed. The Rebels were well beaten by Munster rivals Tipperary at Croke Park on Sunday, after a second-half collapse. Supporters would traditionally still get the chance to applaud their side's efforts at a homecoming but no such event is planned on this occasion. "At the request of the team and management," a statement from Cork GAA reads, "there is no event planned for the return of the Cork hurlers this evening. "They would again like to thank all the entire county for their unwavering support throughout the year." Tipperary fans, meanwhile, will welcome the champions home to Thurles this afternoon, with celebrations at Semple Stadium slated to get under way at around 4.30pm. The Premier County players are expected to arrive with the Liam MacCarthy cup at around 7.30pm with entertainment from the 2 Johnnies, Una Healy and others. Read More Anthony Daly's verdict: As Tipp cut loose, Cork went searching for safety
Sunday World
2 minutes ago
- Sunday World
Pat Spillane: One All-Ireland medal – that's underwhelming for the greatest player of all time
Pressure is on players and managers as we look forward to a cracking decider Two top class teams, some of the greatest players in the game, a huge and enthusiastic crowd and a cracking atmosphere. And with the new rules, what could possibly go wrong? Maybe our expectations are too high nowadays, but the second football semi-final flopped, and the first was also disappointing. Donegal and Meath was a non-event. From the word go, Donegal pulverised them. The Meath team basically didn't turn up. As for the Kerry-Tyrone game, it was a strange one. While it's always lovely when Kerry win, at best I would describe it as a very average contest. There are three stats which speak volumes. Between the two teams, six goal-scoring chances were blown. The two teams also kicked 16 wides and they landed nine balls into the goalies' hands. The shooting left a lot to be desired. In actual fact, the best match of the weekend was the Tailteann Cup final between Kildare and Limerick – an absolutely cracking contest from start to finish. And probably the second best match of the weekend was London and New York in the junior final. A quick rant on the Tailteann Cup. It was set up to help the weaker counties but this is year four and no Division 4 team has won it. And no Division 4 team will ever win it under the present format. The four winners have all either been operating in Division 2 or promoted to Division 2 the following season. Look at the four winners: Westmeath, Meath, Down and Kildare. Are they weak footballing counties? Absolutely not. They are underperforming counties. And I just don't think this competition is meant for them. You should not reward big counties with big populations who are underperforming. And that brings me to the junior championship. It just goes to show the progress and the coaching being done in places like New York. This was a New York team where they are only allowed homegrown players. Isn't it wonderful to see New York with homegrown players, with the result of brilliant coaching, winning a junior title. Kilkenny, too. OK, they didn't reach the final, London beat them in the semi-final. But I have to qualify that. Kilkenny are the only county in Ireland that do not enter a team in the National Football League. I watched them play on Friday night against London and there are some damn good footballers there. Yet despite not taking part in the league, they've a ticket into this junior championship. And every couple of years they win one match and they get an opportunity which many weaker counties don't get, of playing in a final in Croke Park. That's wrong. It's time for Kilkenny to get off their backside and enter a team in the National Football League. Right, that brings me to the All-Ireland final. With all due respect to last year's finalists, Armagh and Galway, this year, most definitely, will have the two best teams in the final. Armagh hobbled into the final last year. They wouldn't have got there only for Shane Ryan's mistake. Galway wouldn't have got there except Donegal's poor shooting let them down in the second half of their semi-final. This year, we have the cream of the crop. Let's start with Kerry. There's an old Latin phrase, ' veni, vidi, vici' , meaning 'I came, I saw, I conquered'. And that really was Kerry's performance in the semi-final. If there's such a thing as a six-point hammering, last Saturday's victory over Tyrone was it. It wasn't a 70-minute performance but was still their best against top-level opposition. Bear in mind that this is a Kerry team missing Paul Geaney and probably their best man-marker, Tom O'Sullivan. And having a midfield pairing that do a lot of the dirty work, break a lot of ball, but can be quite anonymous from play for long spells. Kerry know that performance won't win an All-Ireland. To be perfectly honest, as somebody who played in 12 semi-finals and 10 All-Ireland finals, whether it was psychological or not, I always felt it was great to win a semi-final. Because semi-finals are for winning, but ideally you leave a bit in reserve – the big performance is to come. Is that a worry for Donegal? Their best performance of the year came last Sunday. They were absolutely awesome. Jim McGuinness is some man when it comes to tactics. Photo: Dáire Brennan/Sportsfile You're looking at the Donegal team this year, Jimmy McGuinness's second year in charge, to see if there are differences. And yes, the two O'Donnells are a brilliant addition. Young Finnbarr Roarty and Ciarán Moore, too. But, at the same time, it is pretty much the same template and game plan. It's the same system of play. These players are so programmed, I'd say they could play it in their sleep. You have the hard running in transition. They're still the kings of the turnover. God forbid you cough up a turnover to Donegal – just think of the Roarty turnover where 17 seconds later Moore was scoring a goal. That's them at their best. The flick on from the long kick-out was working in 2012 and is still working today. And, of course, there is their forward movement. While they have probably even more shooters this time, the system is still the same. It's getting the ball close to the goal, getting the shooter near the posts, for low percentage one-point shots. And when they come around on that loop, they are the best in the business. This will be Jack O'Connor's eighth All-Ireland final. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile So, it'll be a long week of burning midnight oil for McGuinness and Jack O'Connor. They have a lot of big questions, they have a lot of searching and a lot of analysis to do. For McGuinness, what's his big challenge this week? To work out a way of stopping David Clifford. Easier said than done. In his quietest game this year, he scored five points. Only in Ireland would a fella score 1-9 in a national semi-final and not win Man of the Match. So, Donegal must find a way of curtailing him and also stop Kerry's kicking game. Kerry's heads-up kicking game is the best in the business. Jimmy needs to cut that off at source. He needs to crowd out that Kerry forward line. He needs to cut down space. How he'll do it will be intriguing because Jimmy is some man when it comes to tactics. He can come up with outside-the-box thinking and innovations. As for Jack, his main priority is to stop Donegal's running game. And to guard against those flick-ons at the kick-out. Pressing Shaun Patton's kick-out is vital. Can they do it? Well, for that 15 minutes against Ethan Rafferty, who is a good operator, they dismantled Armagh's kick-out. They need to do the same with Patton. And remember, while he was brilliant in the second half, there were flaws in Patton's kick-out in the first. Michael Murphy is Donegal's spiritual leader. Photo: Ray McManus/Sportsfile If Kerry have Clifford, Donegal have Michael Murphy, their key player. When he was on the field for that 45 minutes, he ran the show. He's the spiritual leader. He's the on-field general. A man-marker for Murphy is absolutely vital. The new rules have revitalised Gaelic football. One thing is for sure, next weekend in Croke Park you won't see any seagulls idling on one side of the field, they won't have that luxury. Next Sunday, we will have two teams with absolutely contrasting styles – Donegal's running game against Kerry's heads-up kicking approach. The new rules will mean it will be a great spectacle. I can guarantee you that. It's a huge game for both teams. And for both managers. Jack is in his eighth All-Ireland final. A very impressive record for a very underrated manager. He has four All-Irelands. But lose this, and it's four wins, four losses, which would grate for a winner like Jack. He needs a victory. And that brings me to Jim. Maybe he is one of the greatest managers in the game and a tactical genius. But here's the blunt truth. He has won one All-Ireland title as a manager. One. He has also lost one. So he needs a win to copper-fasten that reputation. The same can be said for some of those players. Murphy is one of the best footballers of all time. He has just one All-Ireland medal. David Clifford, the GOAT, has been playing with Kerry for seven years. One All-Ireland medal. For the greatest player of all time, that is an underwhelming return. So, that's the sort of pressure these great players and managers are under.
