CARTHAGE “Catch” Buckley, the man who refereed the infamous ‘Battle of Aughrim’ between Wicklow and Laois, has revealed the death threat received in the fallout from the game.
Speaking to Newstalk’s Off The Ball programme, Buckley, read out an anonymous letter sent to him after the Leinster SFC game in which three Laois and one Wicklow player were sent off.
The letter read:
"You rotten so and so [sic]! You robbed us out of the Leinster final. If you put off the three lads for using the fist, what broke Gerry Browne's nose. And your so and so [sic] linesman!
"Don't forget we are watching you. It may not be now but don't travel too far on your own from home. You are going to get what they are getting in the North...the bullet!
And we mean every bit of it. You may never get the chance of taking the whistle in your hand again. I think you were treated with a bit of alright in Laois. We are not letting you away with it. No way. We don't mind what happens to us so long as we get you. Besides it will never be known who did it. It may go a while but we will get you and your car."
Buckley also rubbished the myth that he was smuggled out of Aughrim in the boot of a car to avoid furious Laois supporters.
He added that Wicklow deserve credit for winning that game against a "marvelous" Division 1 league-winning Laois side.
He also backed up the four red cards he gave in that match, describing them as "clear-cut incidents".
However, former Laois player Willie Brennan, who was the first man to be sent off said that any claim that Laois players struck their opponents were a "lie".
Laois travel to Aughrim again this Sunday for an SFC first round tie with Wicklow.
To listen to the fascinating Off The Ball feature on the storied game of 28 years ago, visit http://www.newstalk.ie/off-the-ball-remember-the-battle-of-aughrim
