Tributes to legendary Mayo football personality on his passing
Fond tributes are being paid Vinny Walsh, formerly of Ferran Terrace, Ballina, whose death has taken place.
A legendary figure in the annals of association football in Ballina and Mayo, he died peacefully at the Moyridge Nursing Home, Ballina.
His beloved, Ballina Town, has paid a lovely tribute to him on its Facebook page.
It stated: "Vinny Walsh, a man so synonymous with Ballina Town FC that his nickname was 'The Town', has passed to his eternal reward.
"He will be missed not alone by family and friends, but by a great many fans of the beautiful game in Ballina and beyond.
"One of the finest players to don the famous blue jersey, Vinny was a member of the only Town team to date to win the Connacht Junior Cup in 1977.
"He was a hero to a crew of young local lads in the '60s and '70s."
“When others would be talking about heroes on TV, Vinny was their hero,” said former Ballina Town FC player and chairman Tommy Cooke.
"Tommy's brother John was one of those young lads who idolised Vinny Walsh, and out of it grew a love for football that earned him a scholarship to the USA.
“There will be an awful lot of sad people both inside and outside the club in the next few days,” Tommy said.
He was out of circulation for a long time but he will leave a void for those who knew him. He was regarded awful highly as a soccer player, and he loved the quizzes too.
Vinny was a cobbler by trade and had magic in his feet. Normally a midfielder of great ability, he had to be drafted in to right-back on the day they won the Connacht Junior Cup because of injury to the regular full-back, the tribute continued.
“He had a stormer!” recalls Gerry Knight, another former player and chairman of Ballina Town.
“He was a very versatile, committed, skilful player, and he wouldn't pull out of a tackle. He was one of the club's top players and he did a lot of coaching, and he was a committee member in the very early days too.”
Club President Gerry Kenny, who also played alongside Vinny, concurs with the assessment of Vinny's playing ability
“He was an exceptionally good midfielder. He would play anywhere but he was a great midfielder. A lot of clubs would have liked to get him, but he was a one-club man.”
He wasn't known as 'The Town' for nothing.
“When it came coaching,” Gerry Knight adds, “skill was the main thing for Vinny – first touch, second touch. We graduated to that. You had to respect him.”
Current chairman Mark Beattie remembers Vinny as his first coach in the club when he started off with the Under 12s.
"I was so lucky to come into the club and learn how to play the Ballina way from two Town legends, Vinny Walsh and Kieran Troy. Vinny had a great way of explaining the game to us. It’s something I’ll never forget," says Mark.
Tommy Cooke sums up Vinny's legacy perfectly: “For my age crew he would have been a legend.”
Vinny Walsh also represented his county on a number of occasions
May his gentle soul rest in peace.
Predeceased by his parents Leo and Mai, brother Sean and sister-in-law Irene, Vinny will be sadly missed by brothers Christophor, Liam (Lee) and Aidan, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends, and all associated with Ballina Town FC, to whom sympathy is tendered.
Interment took place in Leigue Cemetery, Ballina, earlier today folowing Requiem Mass for the reopse of his soul.
PHOTO CAPTION: Vinny Walsh is in the back row, third in from right. In the back row with him, from left, are Eddie O'Dowd, Tommy Helly (RIP), Gerry Knight, Micheal Courell, Joe Foody, Geoff Crystal and Gerry Leonard. In the front row, from left, are Roe Finnegan, Gerry Kenny, Donal Flynn, Noel Thornton, Mickey O'Hora and Bobby Reynolds.