William Joyce (1949 – 12 March 2025) was an Irish

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

player and manager. At club level, he played with Killererin and at inter-county level with the Galway senior football team. Joyce later served as manager at club and county levels.

Playing career

At club level, Joyce played with Killererin. After playing very little Gaelic football at juvenile and underage levels, he progressed to the club's adult team and won a Galway JFC title in 1968. Joyce later claimed Galway SFC medals in 1976 and 1978, with both of those victories being converted into Connacht Club SFC title. At inter-county level, Joyce was overlooked for

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

's minor team. He won a Connacht JFC medal in 1969, before later lining out with the under-21 team. Joyce made his senior team debut in a

Gael Linn Gael Linn () is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation focused on the promotion of the Irish language and the arts. The organisation's funding includes government and lottery sources. History Gael Linn was founded in May 1953, followin ...

tournament match in 1969. He was a mainstay of the team for the next 15 years and won eight Connacht SFC medals, as well as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

ing the team on two occasions. Joyce was one of a number of Galway players who lost three All-Ireland finals in four seasons -

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

. He won a

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

medal in 1981, before lining out in a fourth All-Ireland final defeat in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

Management career

Joyce's inter-county career had only ended when he became involved in inter-county management. He managed Galway's junior team to the All-Ireland JFC title in 1985, following a 4-17 to 0-04 defeat of

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

in the final. He served as Galway's senior team manager for three years, during which time they won the Connacht SFC title in 1987. Joyce also served as manager at club level and guided Killererin to the Galway SFC title in 2004.

Death

Joyce died in Galway on 12 March 2025, at the age of 75.

Honours

Player

;Killererin * Connacht Senior Club Football Championship:

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

Galway Senior Football Championship The Galway Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It ...

: 1976, 1978 * Galway Junior Football Championship: 1968 ;Galway *

Connacht Senior Football Championship The Connacht Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Connacht Championship and shortened to Connacht SFC, is an annual Gaelic football competition for the senior county teams of Connacht GAA. All of the county teams of Connacht particip ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, 1

973 Year 973 ( CMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – The Byzantine army, led by General Melias ( Domestic of the Schools in the East), continues the op ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

: 1980–81 * Connacht Junior Football Championship: 1969

Management

;Killererin *

: 2004 ;Galway *

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

All-Ireland Junior Football Championship The All-Ireland Junior Football Championship is a Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA competition It has historically consisted of two entirely different formats before and after 2021, but has retained the same name. Since 2022, the competition ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

* Connacht Junior Football Championship:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Billy 1949 births 2025 deaths Killererin Gaelic footballers Galway inter-county Gaelic footballers Connacht inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Gaelic football managers