Club
Purcell played his club hurling with his local Windgap club Inter-county
He found it difficult to nail down a place on the team, however, he did enjoy some Leinster and All-Ireland successes as a substitute. Purcell later joined the Kilkenny under-21 team, however, it was Wexford who dominated the early years of the provincial championship.
Purcell missed that game because of appendicitis, however, he was introduced as a substitute.
He enjoyed some success but he never won a senior county title. In 1971 Purcell won his first Leinster title, however, in spite of an outstanding display by Eddie Keher, Kilkenny lost to Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. In 1972 Purcell won a second Leinster title before helping Kilkenny to defeat Cork in the subsequent final to win his first All-Ireland medal. 1973 saw Purcell win another Leinster medal, however, Kilkenny were defeated by Limerick in the All-Ireland final. The Kilkenny team quickly regrouped to win back-to-back Leinster and All-Ireland titles in 1974 and 1975, with Purcell winning back-to-back All-Star awards also.
He played hurling with his local club Windgap and was a member of the Kilkenny senior inter-county team from 1971 until 1977. Purcell first came to prominence as a member of the Kilkenny minor hurling team in the early 1960s.
