FORMER Manchester United scout and Dublin native Joe Corcoran has passed away through illness, aged 73.
Corcoran was widely known as the club’s chief talent spotter in Ireland and was responsible for bringing the likes of Kevin Moran, Gerry Daly, John O’Shea and Robbie Brady to Old Trafford.
A highly respected figure in Irish football, he spent an incredible 41 seasons on the United books, before retiring after finishing his career working for An Post.
FAI CEO John Delaney, a personal friend of Corcoran, hailed the ‘tremendous’ work of his compatriot upon hearing of his death.
“It was very sad to hear of Joe’s passing today,” said Delaney. “He was a big friend of my father and myself over many years.
“He did tremendous work as a scout for Manchester United and was hugely influential in getting them to open the Aviva Stadium against the Airtricity League XI in 2010.
“He’ll be a huge loss to schoolboy football in Ireland and the game as a whole. Our thoughts are with his family and friends and we will honour Joe at the Georgia game.”
A long standing chairman of the DDSL, Corcoran was vice-chairman of the Irish Soccer Scouts Association and was also a former chairman of the SFAI and the FAI Youths committee.
DDSL Honorary Secretary Fray Ray paid also tribute to his league’s former chairman.
“Joe was a legend of schoolboy football and I believe the only role he never took in football was as referee. He began with the Bolton Athletic club in Ringsend and served on the committee of the DDSL for many years,” said Ray.
“His involvement with Manchester United dates back to the 1960s after Billy Behan stepped down and as far as I can recall he would have attended every Kennedy Cup since the competition began. He’ll be sadly missed.”
