Tony Wall

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Tony Wall
Personal information
Sport Hurling
Irish Name Antoine de Laval
Full name Anthony Wall
Place of birth Thurles , County Tipperary
Club information
Club Thurles Sarsfields
Position Centre-back
Inter-County
County Tipperary
Position Centre-back
Inter-County(ies)**
County Years Apps (scores)
Tipperary 1953-1967
Senior Inter-County Titles
Munster Titles 6
All-Ireland 5

* club appearances and scores
correct as of .
**Inter County team apps and scores correct
as of .

Tony Wall (born 1934) is a retired Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Thurles Sarsfields and was a member of the Tipperary senior inter-county team from 1953 until 1967.

Contents

[edit] Early & private life

Tony Wall was born in Thurles, County Tipperary in 1934. He was educated locally at the Christian Brothers school where his hurling skills were noted for the first time. He was a key member of the team when the school won two Harty Cup medals in 1950 and 1952.

Wall also had a very successful career as an Irish army officer, serving as Adjutantgeneral of the Army at the pinnacle of his career. He enjoys golf in retirement and is a member of Clontarf Golf Club in Dublin.

[edit] Playing career

Wall stood out as an exceptional hurlers and subsequently played for the Tipperary minors for three years between 1950 and 1952. He played at centre-back for the first two years of his minor career, picking up a Munster medal in 1950, but losing the All-Ireland Final to Kilkenny. The second year saw Tipperary losing the Munster semi-final to Cork, however, in 1952 Wall captained the side to Munster and All-Ireland victories.

Wall almost immediately became part of the senior set-up with Tipperary and played at left full-back in the 1954 senior championship when Tipp lost the Munster Final to Cork. Tipp went througha fallow period in the mid-1950s, however, Wallr etained his spot at half-back. When Pat Stakelum retired after the 1957 championship, Wall was the obvious choice to take over his position at centre-back.

This change coincided with a period of great success for Wall at county and club level. Thurles Sarsfields dominated Tipperary hurling for much of the next decade courtesy of a star-studded team which included Wall and Jimmy Doyle. Wall was captain of the Tipperary team that claimed All-Ireland victory in 1958. He was captain again in 1960 when they unfortunately lost to Wexford. Wall claimed other All-Ireland winners medals in 1961, 1962 (when he accepted the Liam MacCarthy Cup on behalf of his injured club-mate Jimmy Doyle). On top of all of this Wall won the inaugural Texaco Hurler of the Year award in 1958.


Wall published a book on hurling in 1965 and later made a brief return to Tipperary hurling when he took over as coach for the 1986 championship season.

[edit] Honours

Competition No. Years
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships 5 1958, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965
Munster Senior Hurling Championships 8 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967
National Hurling Leagues 7 1955, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1965
All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championships 1 1952
Railway Cups 5 1958, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1966
Tipperary Senior Hurling Championships 11 (1952) 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
Texaco Hurler of the Year 1 1958
Preceded by
Newly created award
Texaco Hurler of the Year
1958
Succeeded by
Christy Ring
(Cork)
Preceded by
Donie Nealon
Len Gaynor
Tipperary Senior Hurling Coach
1986
Succeeded by
Michael 'Babs' Keating

[edit] Teams