Tony Wall
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Irish Name | Antoine de Laval | ||
| Date of Birth | 1934 | ||
| Place of birth | Thurles, County Tipperary | ||
| Club information | |||
| Club | Thurles Sarsfields | ||
| Position | [[Gaelic football and Hurling positions#|]] | ||
| Club(s)* | |||
| Club | Years | Apps (scores) | |
| Inter County | |||
| County | Tipperary | ||
| Position | Half-forward | ||
| Inter County(ies)** | |||
| County | Years | Apps (scores) | |
| Tipperary | 1954-1967 | ||
| Inter County Titles | |||
| Munster Titles | 8 | ||
| All-Ireland | 5 | ||
|
* club appearances and scores |
|||
Tony Wall (born 1934) is a former Irish sportsperson who played hurling for Tipperary in the in the 1950s and 1960s.
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, when he helped the school to win two Harty Cup medals in 1950 and 1952. 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 also had a very successful career as an Irish army officer. His absence when on a peace-keeping mission in Cyprus has often been cited as a factor in Tipperary's shock defeat to Limerick in the 1966 Munster Championship. Wall returned in 1967 and played his last championship game in the All-Ireland Hurling Final defeat against Kilkenny.
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 | 10 | 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) |
