Patrick Gerard Spillane (born 1 December 1955), better known as Pat Spillane, is an Irish former Gaelic football pundit and player. His league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned seventeen years from 1974 to 1991. Spillane is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the game.
Born in Templenoe, County Kerry, Spillane was born into a strong Gaelic football family. His father, Tom, and his uncle, Jerome, both played with Kerry and won All-Ireland medals in the junior grade. His maternal uncles, Jackie, Dinny, Mickey, and Teddy Lyne, all won All-Ireland medals at various grades with Kerry throughout the 1940s and 1950s.
Spillane played competitive Gaelic football as a boarder at St Brendan's College. Here, he won back-to-back Corn Uí Mhuirí medals, however, an All-Ireland medal remained elusive. Spillane first appeared for the Templenoe club at underage levels, before winning a county novice championship medal in 1973. With the amalgamated Kenmare District team, he won two county senior championship medals in 1974 and 1987. While studying at Thomond College, Spillane won an All-Ireland medal in the club championship in 1978. He also won one Munster medal and a county senior championship medal in Limerick.
Spillane made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen when he was picked on the Kerry minor team. He enjoyed two championship seasons with the minor team, however, he was a Munster runner-up on both occasions. Spillane subsequently joined the Kerry under-21 team, winning back-to-back All-Ireland medals in 1975 and 1976. By this stage, he had also joined the Kerry senior team, making his debut during the 1973–74 league. Over the course of the next seventeen years, Spillane won eight All-Ireland medals, beginning with a lone triumph in 1975, a record-equalling four championships in a row from 1978 to 1981 and three championships in a row from 1984 to 1986. He also won twelve Munster medals, two National Football League medals and was named Footballer of the Year in 1978 and 1986. He played his last game for Kerry in August 1991. Spillane was joined on the Kerry team by his two brothers, Mick and Tom, and together won a total of 19 All-Ireland medals – a record for a set of brothers.
After being chosen on the Munster inter-provincial team for the first time in 1976, Spillane was an automatic choice on the starting fifteen for the following six years. During that time, he won four Railway Cup medals.
In retirement from playing, Spillane combined his teaching career with a new position as a sports broadcaster. His media career began with RTÉ in 1992, where he started as a co-commentator before progressing to the role of studio analyst with the flagship programme The Sunday Game. He also enjoyed a four-year tenure as host of the evening highlights edition of the programme. Spillane also writes a weekly column for the Sunday World. On 9 July 2022, he announced that the 2022 All-Ireland Football final would be his last appearance as a pundit on The Sunday Game.
Even during his playing days, Spillane came to be recognised as one of the greatest players of all time. After fighting his way back from a potentially career-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury, he was named in the right wing-forward position on the Football Team of the Century in 1984. Spillane was one of only two players from the modern era to be named on that team. He switched to the left-wing forward position when he was named on the Football Team of the Millennium in 1999. Spillane's collection of nine All-Stars is a record for a Gaelic footballer, while his tally of eight All-Ireland medals is also a record which he shares with several other players.
Born in Templenoe, County Kerry, Spillane arrived into a family steeped in Gaelic football history. His father, Tom Snr (1923–1964), played Gaelic football with Kerry and won a Munster title in 1948. A number of maternal uncles (his mother was bred by the Lyne Family of Killarney's Legion) also had the distinction of representing their county in football. His mother's name was Maura.
When Spillane was an eight-year-old, his father died, leaving his mother to take over the running of the family pub while simultaneously raising a family of four children. Spillane was educated at the local national school and later attended St Brendan's College in Killarney, where one of his best friends was future Kerry teammate Páidí Ó Sé. At St Brendan's, his football skills were developed. He played senior football with Brendan's but lost both an All-Ireland Colleges' semi-final and a final.
Spillane subsequently attended Thomond College in Limerick, where he studied to be a P.E. teacher. He was later joined by his brother Mick at Thomond and they both played on the college football team. In the late 1980s, Spillane took over the running of the family pub in Templenoe. He worked as a P.E. and geography teacher at St. Gobán's College in Bantry, County Cork, where he became vice-principal and, subsequently, principal of the school in 2011. He also led the school's under-16 boys team to two 'Munsters' in a row in 2005–06 and 2006–07; both finals were played on Kerry soil against Limerick opposition. As a result of the Croke Park Agreement, he retired as principal in 2012 to secure his right to a pension, but expressed regret at feeling forced to do so. He subsequently chaired CEDRA, the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, an organisation tasked with creating jobs in rural parts of the country until 2025.
Spillane lives in Templenoe with his wife Rosarii, and three children, Cara (born 1990), Shóna born (1992), and Pat Jnr (born 1997). He still helps to train his local teams. Pat Jnr has played for the Sligo county team since 2022.
Spillane took over his mother's bar, renaming it Pat Spillane's Bar, and he ran it before leasing it. Spillane's footballer brother Tom Jnr bought the pub from Pat in the late 2010s, with the intention of running it alongside his sons Killian and Adrian (also Kerry footballers).
Spillane played his club football with the local club in Templenoe. He won a county novice championship with the club in 1973, before collecting a county junior championship winners' medal in 1975.
Spillane also played club football with Thomond College during his time there in the late 1970s. In 1977, he was captain of the side that defeated Croom to take the Limerick senior championship title. Thomond later represented the county in the provincial club series and even reached the final. A 0–12 to 1–3 defeat of the famous Nemo Rangers club gave Spillane a Munster club winners' medal. He later led his team out in Croke Park for the All-Ireland final against St. John's of Antrim. The Limerick club had no Limerick native on the team, however, victory was secured thanks to goals by Spillane and Sligo's Mick Kilcoyne. The 2–14 to 1–3 victory gave Spillane an All-Ireland club winners' medal.
By the early 1970s, Spillane had joined the Kerry minor football team, however, he had no success in this grade as Cork dominated the provincial championship. He quickly progressed onto the Kerry under-21 team where he captured a Munster title in 1975, following a nine-point trouncing of Waterford. Spillane's side later qualified for the All-Ireland final with Dublin providing the opposition. A 1–15 to 0–10 score line gave Kerry the victory and gave Spillane an All-Ireland winners' medal.
In 1976, Spillane made it two Munster under-21 titles in a row, as Kerry retained their provincial crown at the expense of Cork. He later lined out in a second All-Ireland final. Kildare provided the opposition on that occasion, however, they were no match for Kerry. Spillane collected a second All-Ireland winners' medal following a 0–14 to 1–3 victory.
Spillane made his senior inter-county debut as a substitute in a National Football League game against Galway in March 1974. He lined out in the drawn National League final that year; however, he did not start the replay which Kerry won. Spillane retained his place as a substitute for Kerry's unsuccessful Munster Championship campaign.