The GAA world lost a true legend last week when it was announced that Michael Lyster had sadly passed away at the age of 71.

The longtime presenter of The Sunday Game, the broadcaster was a staple in living rooms throughout the country for over three decades. He was class personified throughout that period, both on and off the screen.

Michael Lyster clearly made a huge impact on those who worked with him down through the years, including Kerry’s Pat Spillane.

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Spillane recalls Michael Lyster intervention after Derry comments

Pat Spillane worked alongside Michael Lyster for well over 20 years, with the pair having been a key part of The Sunday Game throughout that period.

However, it turns out that the relationship was almost brought to a premature end.

Writing in the Irish Independent, Spillane recalled how Lyster intervened to stop him losing his job over comments he made about Derry after a game against Tyrone in the early 90s. When he then described their actions as ‘criminal’ in a halfhearted apology soon after, the presenter stepped in to stop the Kerry man from being fired.

I described the behaviour of the Derry players in the game as like that of thugs…

The following week, I was brought to Dublin on the Sunday, even though it was a hurling weekend, to issue an apology to the Derry players on television. Sadly, my apology backfired. It wasn’t unequivocal…

My career as a pundit was over.

But thanks to his persuasive powers, Michael Lyster managed to get around the late (RTÉ Sports Head) Tim O’Connor and got me back into The Sunday Game after a couple of months of suffering. I was pardoned, and not for the first time.

The pair would go on to have a long and fruitful working relationship over the years that followed.

The Sunday Game has never quite been able to recapture the magic that it lose when that old guard moved on. The tributes paid to Michael Lyster over the last week or so have only reminded of us how tough of an act he was to follow.

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