The passing of former Tyrone football star Jody Gormley after a brief illness has been met with widespread sadness across the GAA world.

Tributes have been flowing in for the 53-year-old who was diagnosed with liver cancer in September after suffering a stroke while on holiday earlier in the year. In spite of this, he continued to manage his club Trillick who reached the Tyrone SFC final, only to lose to eventual Ulster champions Errigal Ciarán by a point.

Gormley informed the Trillick players of his terminal illness afterwards and later said in a BBC interview that he had "no fear of dying. No fear of dying whatsoever. I've felt blessed my entire life."

He added: "The sadness is the people you're leaving behind. That I'll not get to see my son, he's training hard with Trillick, he's come back after a couple of years, that I'll not get to see him play and I'll not get to see my family grow up and mature. That's not scary but sad really."

Gormley lined out at midfield on the Tyrone team that lost the 1995 All-Ireland SFC final to Dublin in controversial circumstances. He also played for London, managed Antrim and Abbey CBS, and coached Down.

He is survived by his wife Deirdre and children Aíne, James and Niamh.

 

It is with profound sadness that I announce my brother Jody passed away peacefully this evening.

— Damian Gormley (@GormleyDamian) December 9, 2024

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