FEW teams of the late 1950s, early 1960s have survived intact for so long, and it was inevitable that this happy state of affairs would one day end. That it has ended with the passing of Breen Morgan came as a great shock to all.

While it is a sad duty to write about Breen Morgan the player, the sportsman - more than that - the sporting icon that he was, I feel privileged to do so.

Players from such clubs as Annaclone had to have something special going for them to get on the county panel. Breen had great skill, strength and scoring ability and once on the panel, there was no way he was ever going to be off it until he decided to hang up the boots.

During his playing career, Breen won every honour that was possible in those days. Apart from his two All-Ireland senior championships and two National Leagues, he won Railway Cup medals, McKenna Cups, Dr Lagan Cups, Wembley Tournaments, Gaelic Weekly Tournament medals and a special medal - the John F Kennedy medal - which he won in New York. There was also the O'Brendan Cup. Of course this list is incomplete for I'm sure there is a whole bundle of medals in his drawer that I have not mentioned.

It is one thing to win these trophies. It is something special to have made such a magnificent contribution to winning them as Breen did. Some of us had good days and bad days on the field, but I can honestly say I cannot remember Breen Morgan having a bad day. Like all great performers with his exceptional talents, he maintained a standard of play that I, and many of my teammates, were often in awe at.

He was a great man for memorable one-liners - especially as a put down for someone who thought they'd got him cornered. One of these related to an incident in the 1961 final when Down played Offaly. A short time into the second half an Offaly player, Tommy Green, was brought down in the small square, but there was no penalty.

Some years later, Breen and his friend Gerry McDermott were in Paddy McCormack's lounge and they were slagging Breen about the penalty and the referee. They even showed a clip of the incident from a video that showed that the referee should have awarded a penalty to Offaly. "Well, what do you think of that, Breen?" asked Paddy McCormack. As quick as a flash, Breen replied "If he'd been any good, he would have put it in the net."

After an incident in the 1961 Ulster Final when Down beat Armagh in a tight finish, many Armagh people argued that Eddie McKay had stepped a foot over the line with the ball. Some 23 years later, when some Armagh supporters reminded Breen of this incident, he quipped "In Down, it's not a goal till she's in the back of the net.

And he never missed a chance to praise Down players. When asked by a reporter what he thought about Mick O'Connell, Breen told him in his inimitable way: "He was nearly as good as Colm McAlarney."

While his prolific scoring feats are a matter of record, what is not so well documented is his team play and particularly his courage. Breen played for Down, not for himself, and this marks him out as a great sportsman as well as a great player.

Perhaps two of the greatest goals Breen scored were in the 1960 semi-final replay against Offaly when his second half goal gave Down a lead they did not relinquish. In the 1961 Final against Offaly his shot hit the net so quick that the Offaly goalkeeper, Willie Nolan, was later to admit that he never even saw the ball.

I hope that some road, street, pitch or stand or competition will be renamed after Breen Morgan. It is entirely fitting that such a gesture be made to Annaclone's greatest son, to one of Down's greatest footballers and to a sportsman and character whose memory should be carved in marble.

Goodbye my friend. May you rest in peace.