OBITUARY:IRISH FOOTBALL lost one of its greatest characters and most influential coaches yesterday with the death of Noel O'Reilly.
The 60-year-old Dubliner, who took ill suddenly last weekend, was probably best known as a close associate of Brian Kerr's, having worked closely with the former Ireland manager during his time with St Patrick's Athletic and various Ireland sides.
O'Reilly was widely regarded as a key figure in the development of modern coaching techniques and structures here and in this context he continued his work with the FAI right up until last weekend.
He came to prominence with Belvedere, the hugely successful club on Dublin's northside where he helped shape the careers of many future stars as well as several of the League of Ireland's brightest young managers.
In 1982 Liam Tuohy, then manager of the Ireland Youths team, asked O'Reilly and Kerr onto his backroom staff, and the three worked together for four years before Jack Charlton's notorious appropriation of a half-time team talk prompted all three to depart.
O'Reilly joined Kerr again at Inchicore, where they guided St Patrick's Athletic to a league title in 1996.
The pair enjoyed enormous success with Ireland, taking a bronze medal at the 1997 World Youth Championships in Malaysia and winning both the under-17 and under-19 European titles in 1998.
O'Reilly also had success in his own right as a manager, as in 2001 when Ireland won the Olympic Youth title in Spain.
When Kerr took over the senior team it was inevitable O'Reilly would join him and while they failed to match earlier success, he continued to make a hugely positive impression on so many of those he met thanks to his generosity, good humour and humility.
Like his long-time collaborator, O'Reilly loved watching games of every level. When commenting a few years ago that local players would at least be known to the senior international management now he had been appointed, Kerr said of himself, "I don't think there's anyone in Ireland with a better feel for the game here," before adding with a smile, "Well, I suppose there's Noel O'Reilly."
Another former Ireland manager, Eoin Hand, was one of many to pay tribute last night: "He was a wonderful character, always giving, always trying to improve somebody else's life. That's not something you get with too many people these days."
Noel O'Reilly is survived by his partner, Rose; brothers, Shay and Kieran; and sisters, Monica and Deirdre.
- EMMET MALONE
