Tributes have poured in to the late Kerry footballer John Egan who dies at his Cork home at the weekend.

The 59-year-old former policeman had undergone heart surgery in recent times.

Regarded as a Kerry GAA legend, Egan won six All-Ireland senior football medals and every other honour in the game.

He was an integral part of the Mick O’Dwyer led team that dominated gaelic football in the 70s and 80s.
A striking corner-forward, Egan played in eight All-Ireland finals in all and was Kerry captain when they lost to Offaly in their bid for an historic five-in-a-row in 1982.

He scored 15-59 in 41 championship games for Kerry in an inter-county career that ended in 1984.
A Kerry GAA statement read: “It is with deep sadness that we heard of the death of one of Kerry's greatest servants John Egan.”

Fellow Kerryman and GAA commentator Micheal O Muircheartaigh paid his own tribute to the late Egan.

“He was a brilliant Kerry minor in 1970 who went on to have a fantastic senior career. I studied him closely and I regard him as being as good a forward as ever went into a Kerry dressing room down all the ages that I saw,” said Micheal.

“It’s a very sad day. John was a most likeable man. He played football at its most pure, he was never into fouling and he believed in skill only.

“He always got key scores and got them when they were needed and had great style and a brilliant football brain. He was very agile and also scored points off the side of the boot, and the follow through - he had every sort of skill.”

Egan’s son John is a professional soccer player with Sunderland and regarded as one of the brightest prospects in Irish football.