John Joseph Landers (23 April 1907 – 27 August 2001) 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 ...

er,

Gaelic games Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...

administrator and republican activist. His

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

and

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

career at senior level for the Kerry county team spanned twelve years from 1927 to 1938. Landers has been described as "one of erry' greatest football legends". Raised in

Tralee Tralee ( ; , ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the River Lee') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, Landers was one of six children born to the former Catherine Roche and Garrett Landers. He was educated locally and first played competitive

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

and Gaelic football with the combined

district team with whom he won a combined total of five county senior championship medals in both codes between 1925 and 1927. With the newly created Rock Street club he won a further three county hurling championship medals, while with the

Austin Stacks Austin Stacks is a hurling and Gaelic football club based in Tralee in County Kerry, Ireland. Founded in 1917, the club has more All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medals and GAA All-Stars than any other Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA ...

club Landers won five more county football championship medals. Landers made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty when he was selected for the Kerry senior team. He made his debut during the 1927 championship. Over the course of the next eleven years, Landers won five

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

medals, beginning with a record-equalling four championships in-a-row from 1929 to 1932 and a final lone triumph in 1937. He also won ten

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

medals and four

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 ...

medals. He played his last game for Kerry in October 1938. Landers's brothers,

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

and Tim, also enjoyed All-Ireland success with Kerry. After being chosen on the

inter-provincial team for the first time in 1928, Landers was an automatic choice on the starting fifteen until 1935. During that time he won one

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship () or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster GAA teams are co ...

medal. Even during his playing days Landers became involved in the administrative affairs of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

. He served two years as joint-secretary of the Kerry County Board. Landers also served as a selector with the Kerry senior team. In retirement from playing Landers came to be regarded as one of Kerry's greatest players of all time. In 1985 he and his brother Tim were presented with the GAA All-Time All Star Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landers, John Joe 1907 births 2001 deaths Austin Stacks Gaelic footballers Austin Stacks hurlers Dual players Kerry inter-county Gaelic footballers Munster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Gaelic football selectors 20th-century Irish sportsmen