Joe McQuillan

Joe McQuillan is a Gaelic football referee from County Cavan. He is from the Kill Shamrocks club.

Notable matches

McQuillan has refereed two All-Ireland finals: the 2011 decider between Dublin and Kerry and the 2013 decider between Dublin and Mayo.[1][2] He was the third Cavanman to referee an All-Ireland final, following Fintan Tierney of Butlersbridge (1972) and Brian Crowe of Cavan Gaels (2006).[3]

McQuillan was in charge during the game that produced the infamous "spitgate" incident in the 2013 National Football League - when Donegal's reigning national footballer of the year Karl Lacey, who was injured that day, was hit by some spit from the mouth of a Tyrone fan.[4] McQuillan later refereed the highly anticipated opening Ulster Championship clash between All-Ireland holders Donegal and Tyrone, winners in 2003, 2005 and 2008.[4][5]

Among the other important football matches he has refereed are the 2011 Ulster final, two Leinster finals, a Munster final and club and U21 All-Ireland finals.[6]

Controversy

After the 2011 All-Ireland decider, losing Kerry manager Jack O'Connor complained: "If you say anything about referees, you're portrayed as a whinger [...] it was much harder for our fellas to get frees [...] Declan [O'Sullivan] and Darran [O'Sullivan] at times got a lot of abuse [...] found it hard to get frees."[6] In 2012, he refereed the All-Ireland semi-final in which Mayo defeated Dublin, knocking the Jacks off their perch and paving the way for their own defeat to Donegal in the final.[7]

After the 2013 All-Ireland decider, the Mayo team, which lost by a point, complained that he blew the final whistle too early.[8][9] The mix-up, which led Cillian O'Connor to kick a point with the last play of the game, and therefore lose his team the match, rather than attempt a goal which would have won the game - tormented O'Connor many months afterwards.[10]

Whilst performing his duties as a linesman at the Cavan county final 2014, McQuillan seems to want to assume his preferred position of center stage. The result of McQuillan's "significant influence" being ref Oliver Og O Reilly's decision to change his mind, with the result the dismissal of Kingscourt Stars center back Padraig Faulkner in the 11th minute of the game between strong favorites Cavan Gaels and their traditional rivals Kingscourt Stars.

References

  1. ↑ "McQuillan to referee football final". RTÉ Sport. 30 August 2011. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  2. ↑ "Joe McQuillan to referee All-Ireland final between Dublin and Mayo". RTÉ Sport. 10 September 2013. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  3. ↑ "No show like a Joe show as McQuillan gets All Ireland". The Anglo-Celt. 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 McNulty, Chris (16 May 2013). "McQuillan to take charge in Ballybofey". Donegal News. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  5. ↑ Fogarty, John (11 May 2013). "McQuillan to handle Donegal-Tyrone tie". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 McNulty, Chris (7 July 2012). "McQuillan to ref' Ulster final". Donegal News. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  7. ↑ Boyle, Donnchadh (16 August 2012). "Joe McQuillan to ref Dublin semi-final clash with Mayo". Irish Independent. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  8. ↑ Foley, Cliona (24 September 2013). "Joe McQuillan: I told Mayo's players three times . . . 'there's 30 seconds left'". Irish Independent. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  9. ↑ "McQuillan: I said "30 seconds left"". 24 September 2013. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  10. ↑ "I should have gone for goal in All-Ireland -- O'Connor". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). 27 November 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.