Paddy Russell is a
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 ...
referee from
County Tipperary
County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...
. He refereed two
All-Ireland SFC finals.
Career
Russell began refereeing in 1976, motivated by fellow Tipperary native
John Moloney. He made his inter-county debut in 1981.
The
1990 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was when he sent off
Colm O'Neill, though O'Neill's team Cork won
The Double.
Russell also refereed the
1995 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final
The 1995 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 108th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1995 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.
It was ...
between
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 ...
and
Tyrone. He had a
moustache
A moustache (; mustache, ) is a growth of facial hair grown above the upper lip and under the human nose, nose. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history.
Etymology
The word "moustache" is French language, French, and i ...
. He memorably sent off
Charlie Redmond
Charles Redmond (born 1963/1964) is a Dublin-born former Gaelic footballer who played at senior level for the Dublin county football team, Dublin county team and current manager of Trinity Gaels GAA, Trinity Gaels seniors.
His notoriety within t ...
. But Redmond refused to leave the field. Russell got him by the collar and dragged him off. The GAA had to bring in
red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
and
yellow card
Yellow card may refer to:
* Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas
* Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band
* Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative co ...
s because of this.
Russell was also a linesman for the
1996 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final
The 1996 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 109th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1996 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland. It wen ...
.
A
2006 National League game, also between Dublin and Tyrone and overseen by Russell, was dubbed the "
Battle of Omagh". Russell sent off four players and gave away 14 yellow cards. Russell was lead away at the end. Russell was frightened and might have quit refereeing because of the antics.
In a 2008
Munster SFC semi-final, Russell was at the centre of the action yet again because Kerry player
Paul Galvin knocked the notebook out of Russell's hand when the man was trying to send Galvin off. Galvin later wrote in his book: "Paddy Russell struck me as a decent man. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. It was an impulsive thing to do. At least Paddy handled himself with some dignity afterwards. He issued a report which was fair and then kept his counsel".
As well as the two All-Ireland SFC finals, Russell oversaw a National League final and club finals.
He bowed out of the inter-county scene after 26 years of refereeing in 2008. By that time, he was the longest serving referee on the inter-county circuit.
He said he wanted to go and see his son (he is the father of two sons) playing for Tipperary instead of missing him play while he was off refereeing.
The career of Russell is covered in the book ''Final Whistle: The Paddy Russell Story'', co-written with Jackie Cahill and published in 2008.
Further reading
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Paddy
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final referees
Gaelic football referees