TRIBUTES HAVE been paid to Louis Kilcoyne, the former FAI president and OCI vice-president who has died after a short illness.

FAI president Paddy McCaul described the news as “very sad”, while chief executive John Delaney said his “thoughts and prayers at this time are with his wife Theresa, his son Giles, daughter Jane and all other family members”.

Minister of State for Sport Michael Ring said Kilcoyne had “made a major contribution to sport in Ireland . . . through his involvement in soccer and in the Olympic Council of Ireland.

“Louis may be best remembered as the driving force behind one of the most remarkable soccer matches ever played in Dublin,” the Minister added when the then World Champions Brazil played a team of international players from the Republic and Northern Ireland (Shamrock Rovers XI) in 1973. “The match was remarkable . . . because the Rovers XI team represented the combined talent of the Republic and Northern Ireland soccer teams.”

Actual Rovers fans, of course, are far more likely to associate Kilcoyne, and his brothers Barton and Paddy, with the hugely controversial sale of the club’s Milltown home, Glenmalure Park, for housing in 1987.

Kilcoyne always insisted that the sale had been forced upon the brothers by their inability over 15 years to generate bigger crowds and commercial revenues even during what were successful times for the club. But supporters saw the deal, and subsequent move to Tolka Park, as a betrayal.

However, club historian Paul Doolan, a member of the supporters’ group that subsequently rescued Rovers, said he was saddened by the news. “I’m sorry to hear that Louis has passed away.”