Cuala manager Austin O'Malley has paid a huge tribute to Michael Fitzsimons for his contribution to the club's first ever Dublin senior football title.
Fitzsimons scored 0-2 and won man-of-the-match, showing his enduring class as Cuala held on for a 0-14 to 1-10 win over Kilmacud Crokes.
The southsiders flew into an early lead, 0-7 to 0-2 at half-time with Fitzsimons, Cal Doran and Con O'Callaghan central to much of their attacking play.
Aided by the breeze, Kilmacud got to the pitch of it in the second half with a brilliant Luke Ward goal levelling the game up with six minutes to go.
It became a double-whammy for Cuala moments later when Con O'Callaghan was red carded for an off-the-ball incident with Devon Burns, but a late Eoin Kennedy score helped them over the line.
O'Malley, who played inter-county for Mayo and Wicklow, and won a Dublin title with UCD, described Fitzsimons afterwards as a 'very special guy.'
"Michael is a very special guy. He's got a really unique mindset.
"I've often said, if there was a piece of software (like him), you could make millions on it if you could sell it," O'Malley told Sean Hussey of FM104.
"He's a unique character in terms of his diligence, his desire, his absolute unbending dedication to growth and development within himself and helping others, it's fascinating to watch it.
"To see his leadership, and to see him grow as a leader over the years, bringing that back into the club and driving things on and really inspiring people around him..."
O'Malley says there's a running joke in the group that if someone is missing from the dressing room, they're probably being coached one-to-one by the nine-time All-Ireland winner.
"There's many an evening 'I'm literally trying to pull him off the pitch because he's the guy that's waiting around doing extra kicking, and extra one-on-ones.
"We have a joke in the group at the moment that if we're missing out of the dressing room, they're probably outside doing one-on-ones with Fitzy, because he just wants to improve and develop.
"He has been outstanding this year," added O'Malley.
"His fingerprints are all over this victory and this campaign, as is everybody else's, but he is unique."
Congrats to Cuala on their deserved Dublin Senior Football success today which was inspired by 35 year-old Michael Fitzsimons.
Spoke with their coach Austin O’Malley after the game in Parnell about Mick Fitz and his mentality @FM104 pic.twitter.com/R8BWOWHL9a
— Seán Hussey (@SeanHussey00) October 20, 2024
Fitzsimons' former Dublin team-mate Kevin McManamon said it was the 'perfect description' of the three-time All-Star, describing him as 'one of the greatest ever Irish athletes.'
"What a perfect description of one of the greatest ever Irish athletes. Proud to know him, have played with and worked with him for so long. The Cuala team are blessed to have him," McManamon wrote on X.
