Tributes continue to pour in after news broke this afternoon of the sudden passing of revered Gaelic Football coach John Morrison.
Mr Morrison - a member of the Armagh Harps GAA club in the Ulster city - developed a sterling reputation for visionary coaching methods during the nineties and noughties, with his finest moment coming in 2006, as he assisted manager Mickey Moran in steering a Mayo side to an All-Ireland final against Kerry.
As well as taking up coaching positions with his native Armagh, Derry, Donegal, Leitrim and Cavan, Morrison held the reigns as Antrim Senior Football manager before resigning from the post in 1997.
In recent years, he turned his attention to the ladies game and held posts as manager of both Armagh and Monaghan, as well as being brought in by Ulster Rugby and Leicester Tigers in consultancy capacities.
Many of the games biggest names have taken to Twitter, to pay homage to a man described who Antrim great, Kevin Madden, described as being "ahead of his time with a big heart of gold".
Shocked & saddened to hear about the passing of John Morrison. Made my Antrim debut under the big man in 1996. Mad as a brush but as a coach he had ideas ahead of his time and a big heart of gold. Ar dheis de go raibh anam pic.twitter.com/tWSLgdzAGT
— Kevin Madden - Break for Ball (@breakforball) February 12, 2019
Sad to hear of the passing of John Morrison. Really opened my eyes to "coaching" at a young age. I'll never forget practicing the high catch with John, using balloons, at the solid age of 11 #RIP
— John Heslin (@jheslin14) February 12, 2019
Sad news flittered through @Armagh_GAA this morning with the passing of John Morrison, words couldin do this man justice on how he helped me as a player coming through Armagh Development Squads & in life after football he's help me so much in my career as a Gaa Coach. #ripjohn pic.twitter.com/qpIkKMgqAi
— ciaran mckeever (@cmckeever6) February 12, 2019
John Morrison May you Rest In Peace .You came to Mayo as a stranger & left a legacy of much more than just football.This week 13 years ago we had a Valentines dinner & a card for each player from “SAMantha” telling us we were ment to be.Before you time RIP John in every way
— David Brady (@D9BMayo) February 12, 2019
Morrison was also an influential figure in GAA sportswriting, with many Ulster Gaels familiar with his distinct brand of match reporting, often seen in the pages of the Ulster Gazette newspaper.
Notable names from the industry north of the border have also shared their morose at the passing.
Nobody that ever played for John Morrison will ever forget him. What a great legacy. Enjoyed all-too infrequent chats with him, he was always full of opinion but open-minded too. Very sad news
— Cahair O'Kane (@CahairOKane1) February 12, 2019
RIP John Morrison. One of the unique ones. An energy giver. Met him six months ago and asked about his illness. "It's brilliant, just another challenge for me to win at!" he said #Beefer
— Declan Bogue (@DeclanBogue) February 12, 2019
So sorry to hear the news of the death of John Morrison. A lover of all sports and a gentleman. I always enjoyed the many chats over the years.Gone too soon. RIP.
— Adrian Logan (@OurLogie) February 12, 2019
Gutted to hear about John Morrison. Just last week he was telling me why every GAA club should be installing a playpark. As per usual he signed off the phone with an awful joke. A great mind and a great man.
— Niall McCoy (@McCoyNiall) February 12, 2019
John Morrison once told a group of players at a training session to go over to a skip at the side of the pitch and throw their negative thoughts into it. Way ahead of his time. Lovely man and a great #GAA man. RIP.
— Jerome Quinn (@JeromeQuinn) February 12, 2019
One of the abiding memories of Morrison will be his famous confrontation with then Dublin manager Paul Caffrey ahead of the All-Ireland semi-final between the Dubs and Mayo in 2006. The incident was famously dubbed 'Hillgate' after Mayo prepared at Dublin's traditional warm-up end in front of Hill 16.
