Michael Rory Linden is 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 who played for Down in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. He was part of the Down team that won the

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. Linden also won two

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the Irish province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in April. The final is ...

s and 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 ...

title with Down. In 1994 he also won an All Star award and was named

Texaco Footballer of the Year The Texaco Footballer of the Year was a Gaelic football award, created in 1958, that honoured the achievements of a footballer of outstanding excellence. The award was part of the Texaco Sportstars Awards, in which Irish sportspeople from all fi ...

. Linden usually played as a corner forward. He was renowned for his speed, "electrifying skills", turn of foot and accuracy in front of the posts with both feet. He "tore defences apart with his pace and scoring power" and "took the best back lines to the cleaners". Linden is among the top twenty all-time top Ulster scorers in Championship football. His understanding with Down play-maker Greg Blaney has been described as "near telepathic". In 2009 ''

The Irish News ''The Irish News'' is a Compact (newspaper), compact daily newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest-selling morning newspaper and is available throughout Ireland. It is broadly Irish nationalist in its viewp ...

'' named him as one of the all-time best 125 footballers from Ulster.

Personal life

Linden is from

Mayobridge Mayobridge () is a village within County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the small river Clanrye, which divides the townlands of Mayo and Bavan, east of Newry. It had a population of 1,069 as at 2011. Administratively, it is within the Newry a ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, is married and has three sons.

Playing career

Club

Linden played club football for

. He won the

Down Senior Football Championship The Down Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by top-tier Down GAA clubs. The Down County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1903. Kilcoo are the title holders (2024) de ...

on eight occasions, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and was twice beaten finalist twice in the

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship The Ulster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament organised by Ulster GAA. It is played between the Senior championship winners from each of the nine counties of Ulster. The competition was first held in 1968 an ...

Inter-county

Minor & Under 21

Senior

Linden made his Down

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

debut in Oct 1981. In 1983 he won the

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 ...

with the county. Down reached the 1986

final, but were beaten by Tyrone. In

he won his first Ulster Championship medal, with Down beating Donegal in the decider. Down defeated Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final, before beating

Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

in the All-Ireland final. The success was Down's first All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title since 1968. Linden won a second Ulster Championship medal with Down in

- overcoming Tyrone comfortably in the decider. Victories over

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

in the All-Ireland semi-final and

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in the final gave Linden another All-Ireland Senior medal. For his performances that year he received an All Star award and named

. Linden reached further Ulster finals with Down in 1996, 1999 and 2003. He retired from inter-county football in 2003.

Honours

Inter-county

* 2

1991, 1994 * 2

1991, 1994 * 1

Ulster Under-21 Football Championship The Ulster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Ulster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest in ...

1984 * 1 National Football League Division 1 1983 * 2 National Football League Division 2 1982, 1988 * 1 National Football League Division 3 1997

Club

* 7

1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 * 5 Down Senior Football League Division 1 1993, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004 * 1 Down Junior Football Championship 1981 * 1 Down Minor Football Championship 1980 * 1 Down Senior Football League Division 4 1980 * 1 Down Senior Football League Division 3 1981 * 1 Down Senior Football League Division 2 1990

Individual

* 1

All Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

1994 * 1

1994 * 1 Irish News Ulster All-Stars 1995 * In May 2020, the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'' named Linden as one of the "dozens of brilliant players" who narrowly missed selection for its "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years".

Athletics

In 2009 Linden joined Dunleer Athletics Club, at the behest of former Tyrone footballer Patsy Forbes. Later that year at the age of 46 and six years after retiring from inter-county football - Linden added to his All-Ireland medal haul. In the 2009 Irish Over-45 Championships in

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal (Ireland), Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midlands Reg ...

Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in honour of Philip II of Spain ...

he won two golds and a silver in the 45–50 category. He was first in both the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and finished runner-up in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

References

External links

Interview with Hogan Stand magazineOfficial Down GAA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linden, Mickey Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Down inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic football forwards Mayobridge Gaelic footballers People from Mayobridge Winners of two All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football) Sportspeople from Newry