Galway football greats

ONCE again, Connacht & City Tribune readers and social media followers from near and far voted in their droves in choosing Galway’s Greatest Gaelic Football Stars XV 1960 to 2020 – and of all the selections across the four codes, this may be the most controversial one yet.

A shock omission from the Greatest Stars XV is the legendary Mattie McDonagh, the only Galway footballer to win four All-Ireland senior medals with the Tribesmen. In the Connacht Tribune’s Team of the Century (published in 1999), McDonagh and John ‘Tull’ Dunne were the midfield pairing but, on this occasion, readers have opted for a different partnership.

Receiving the most votes in midfield, Killannin’s Kevin Walsh featured in 64% of the teams submitted, leaving Pat Donnellan and McDonagh fighting it out for the No. 9. In the end, Donnellan had enough votes to spare over McDonagh to seize the second midfield berth.

McDonagh also received strong support in the centre-half forward position – dominated by Sean Purcell in the voting – but it is worth noting that McDonagh’s combined total still fell short of Donnellan’s combined vote (also nominated for corner forward) and Purcell’s tally.

Indeed, along with McDonagh and ‘Tull’ Dunne, six other players from the Team of the Century lost out, namely Tom ‘Pook’ Dillon, Tommy Joe Gilmore, Cyril Dunne, Seamus Leydon, Frank Stockwell and Brendan Nestor.

The eight new faces are Seamus McHugh, Tomás Mannion, Kevin Walsh, Pat Donnellan, Jarlath Fallon, Michael Meehan, Michael Donnellan and Padraic Joyce.

The most popular player in the voting was 1998 and 2001 superstar Michael Donnellan – who featured in 98% of the teams selected – with his team-mates Tomás Mannion and Padraic Joyce also featuring prominently with 92% and 87% of the votes respectively.

Of the 1999 Team of the Century, full-back Noel Tierney was the most popular, appearing in 92% of the selections with his former defensive colleagues, goalkeeper Johnny Geraghty, corner-back Enda Colleran and right half-back John Donnellan – father of Michael – also polling highly. In attack, Purcell and John Keenan were also automatic choices for many.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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