The abiding memory of this writer of Leslie Toal is a half-back, very stylish in character keeping forwards at bay, in total command of the situation like a captain of a ship on the high seas. By Sean Ross.

Leslie was born in 1943 in St. Oliver Plunkett Park, Dundalk. He went to De la Salle primary school where Brother Finbarr O'Keeffe from Co. Cork was a big influence on him. In 1956 he was part of a winning Ned Bailey team. He took part in the street leagues playing for the demesne. Peadar Brannigan and Tommy Dixon looked after the football street leagues while John Manning and Liam Matthews looked after the hurling at this time. At schools level Dundalk De la Salle got to a Leinster schools final. It was played in Drogheda where Brunswick C.B.S Dublin beat De la Salles by two points.
In 1960 Leslie played with the Clans in a minor final against O'Ragaillaighs in Ardee. He played in goals and Clans lost by two points. At 17 years he played in goals for the senior Clans team. His long kick was a great asset. In 1961 he played minor for Louth and Kildare beat them by one point in Croke Park. He was very lucky to play with the Louth junior team and they got to the All-Ireland final against Yorkshire in Leeds. So at 18 years he had won an All-Ireland medal.
In 1962 Leslie was called up for the Louth senior team. That year Louth faced Dublin in Navan and 35,000 people saw Dublin beat the Wee County. Leslie marked Kevin Heffernan, so at 19 he was indeed in the best of company.
In 1964 the Clans, with Leslie at full back, reached the county final which they lost after a reply to Newtown Blues. All this time Leslie continued to train and play with Louth.
In 1965 he was called up to play with Leinster. At this time Interprovincials were very important and were supported well by large attendances. Leinster were beaten by Ulster in 1965 and again in 1967 Leinster played Ulster with Leslie playing at full-back. He marked Sean O'Neill of Down.
In those years, Sean O'Neill (Down), Mattie McDonagh of Galway, Charlie Gallagher of Donegal and Mattie Kerrigan of Meath impressed Leslie.
In Louth football Blues and Cooley were dominant and big crowds went to both club and county matches. Leslie played for Louth seniors from 1962 until 1978.
One memory he has in a match against Meath in Croke Park where there were problems with togs and socks, so the players decided to buy the shorts and socks themselves. They turned out in red socks and red togs and beat National League Champions Meath in a glorious sunny day. The newspapers spoke about the red devils of Louth. From that era Benny Gaughran , Michael (Muckle) McKeown, Liam Leech and Terry Lennon stand out in Leslies mind as excellent Louth players.
During those years Leslie played hurling for Clans from 1966 until 1970. From 1971 Leslie played for Naomh Moninne until the end of the 1970's. He won two hurling championships with the Clans and three championships with Naomh Moninne. He also played represented the county at senior hurling level. He won five National League medals, two Leinster championships medals and one All-Ireland in 1973. Louth played Mayo in Athlone in the All-Ireland.
At this stage Leslie had married Helen Clarke from Dundalk. Leslie retired from county football in 1978 and from club football in 1984. He became the Clans manager in 1985 and was immediately successful. Clans beat Roche in the senior final in Dowdallshill with Steve Staunton scored the winning goal. Also in 1985 Leslie was asked by Pat Darcy to coach Dundalk C.B.S senior team. Dundalk got to the Leinster final and beat Portlaoise CBS. Summerhill College of Sligo beat Dundalk in the All-Ireland semi-final. Players on that team who were to play for Louth in the future included Stefan White, John Osborne, Patrick Butterfly and Gerry Curran. This was a breakthrough for a Louth school and Leslie caught the bug of colleges football.
In 1987 Leslie was again in charge of Clan Na Gael with Peter Fitzpatrick as captain when Clans beat Newtown Blues of Drogheda. In 1988 Clans were beaten by Blues in Castlebellingham. In 1993 with Peter Fitzpatrick as player/manager, Leslie joined Jim Ryan as a selector. Clans beat St. Marys Ardee in Drogheda in the senior final.
In 2000 Leinster Council decided that a combined team from Dundalk schools were to contest senior colleges football level. Leslie became the Dundalk schools manager and has been there until today. In 2002 in Drogheda, Dundalk colleges beat St.Pats of Navan in the Leinster final. Paul Malone of Ardee was the captain and Paddy Keenan of St. Pats Lordship played at centre field. Joe Sheridan of Meath played for St.Pats in Navan at full-forward. Again in 2010 Dundalk colleges beat St.Patricks of Navan, this time in Pairc Tailteann in the Leinster 'A' Colleges final.
That win means Leslie has now been involved as manager with three Lenister 'A' colleges wins. Leslie was nominated for four All Star Awards in the 1970's and he tells me he intends to stay on as manager of Dundalk Colleges for the time being.
His other passion is golf and he plays it every Thursday and Sunday. He has enjoyed his career and made great friends from different counties. He keeps fit by playing golf and entertaining his grandchildren.
He still referees matches at schools level and at club level on occasions.
So somebody with this level of commitment to GAA affairs deserves great credit. He is indeed a hero in every sense of the word.
At 67, he looks half his age. He has the enthusiasm of somebody half his age and is so full of life. Leslie is indeed a breath of fresh air. Tweet

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