Cavan great to be Honoured

Cavan’s 1952 All Ireland winning captain Mick Higgins will be honoured at Sunday’s Ulster Finals in Clones.

The 86-year-old will take his place on the pitch alongside all of Ulster’s All Ireland winning captains or a representative, as part of the 125 Anniversary celebrations.

Mick, who lives in Virginia, is the oldest living captain from Ulster to have lifted the Sam Maguire cup. The Cavan great won three All Ireland medals, including one from the famous Polo Grounds final in 1947 when the Breffni Blues beat Kerry in New York.

In fact, Cavan played in nine All Ireland Finals between 1933-52, with Higgins sealing victory in the ’52 decider after an exhibition of free-taking in a replay against Meath. He scored seven of Cavan’s nine points in the 0-9 to 0-5 triumph.

“It was a wet day but I kicked a long point after four minutes and I knew it was my lucky day”, recalls Mick in an interview specially prepared for the Ulster Council video website.

Higgins also reveals that he had been suffering from flu in the lead-up to the game but recovered to lead Cavan to glory. Modest Mick maintains that being the All Ireland winning captain did not ‘excite’ him as Cavan had plenty of successful captains before him and he was the captain because the honour always fell to the oldest player on the team.

And, when asked what he would like to be remembered for, Higgins replied: “That I never hit any one, I played the game clean and I never was put off”.