Offaly County Football Team
The Offaly county football team represents Offaly in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Offaly GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association.
The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Leinster Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.
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| Sport: | Football | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish: | Uíbh Fhailí | ||
| Nickname(s): | The Faithful County | ||
| County board: | Offaly GAA | ||
| Captain: | Niall Darby | ||
| Home venue(s): | O'Connor Park, Tullamore | ||
| Recent competitive record | |||
| Current All-Ireland status: | Leinster (PR) in 2022 | ||
| Last championship title: | 1982 | ||
| Current NFL Division: | 2 (7th in 2022; relegated to Division 3) | ||
| Last league title: | 1998 | ||
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Offaly's home ground is O'Connor Park, Tullamore. Currently there is no team manager following the death of Liam Kearns.
The team last won the Leinster Senior Championship in 1997, the All-Ireland Senior Championship in 1982 and the National League in 1998.
History
Perhaps the most famous moment in football history came in the 1982 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final when Offaly played Kerry. The match was a repeat of the previous year's final; however, not only that but a win for Kerry would give them an unprecedented fifth consecutive All-Ireland SFC title. Kerry were winning by two points with two minutes to go when Séamus Darby came on as a substitute and scored one of the most famous goals of all time in football. Kerry fumbled the counterattack which allowed Offaly to win by one single point with a score of 1–15 to 0–17.
The Offaly vocational schools' team have made it to six All-Ireland finals but lost all six, including the first final when they were beaten by the Cork City team in 1961.
Support
Professional golfer Shane Lowry said in 2021: "But any time I get the chance to go to O'Connor Park and watch Offaly play, I do and I am the first to give out if they lose and I am sitting in the stand."
Current panel
Team as per Offaly vs Longford in the NFL Division 3 Round 5, 5 March 2023
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Current management team
- Manager: Vacant
- Selectors: Martin Murphy, John Rouse
- Coach: Alan Flynn
- Backroom: Brendan Egan, Paul Fitzgerald
- Strength and conditioning coach: Keith Carr
Managerial history
Offaly have a history of appointing "foreign" managers, doing so on several occasions since taking Eugene McGee from Longford in late 1976. Emmet McDonnell became the tenth foreigner to manage the team when he was appointed in 2012. Only Tommy Lyons was a successful appointment though; Lyons led Offaly to the 1997 Leinster SFC (a first in 15 years) and then to a first National Football League Division 1 title the following year. According to Colm Keys, writing in the Irish Independent after the Offaly County Board sacked Stephen Wallace in May 2018: "In the quest for perfection, Offaly have repeatedly left themselves in a right old mess when it has come to choosing and retaining managers... No county has experienced such managerial upheaval as Offaly since the turn of the century".
| * | Interim manager |
| Dates | Name | Origin | Honours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Tom Scully | Aharney? Tullamore? | 1969 Leinster Senior Football Championship |
| 1970 | Alo Kelly | ? | — |
| 1970–197? | Alo Kelly and Tom Gilhooley | ? | — |
| 1976–1984 | Eugene McGee | 1980 Leinster Senior Football Championship, 1981 Leinster Senior Football Championship, 1982 Leinster Senior Football Championship, 1982 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship | |
| 1984–1986 | John Courtney | — | |
| 1986–1987 | Greg Hughes | ? | — |
| 1988–1989 | Michael McBrierty | — | |
| 1989–1990 | Jody Gunning | ? | — |
| 1990–1992 | Brendan Hackett | — | |
| 1992–1993 | Pat Fitzgerald | ? | — |
| 1994–1994 | Eugene Mulligan, Eamon Mulhall and Kevin Gavin | ? | — |
| 1996–1999[additional citation(s) needed] | Tommy Lyons | 1997 Leinster Senior Football Championship, 1997–98 National Football League | |
| 1999–2002 | Pádraig Nolan | — | |
| 2002–2003 | Paul O'Kelly | Edenderry | — |
| 2003–2004 | Gerry Fahy | — | |
| 2004–2006 | Kevin Kilmurray | Daingean | — |
| 2006–2008 | Pat Roe | — | |
| 2008–2009 | Richie Connor | Walsh Island | — |
| 2009 | Tom Coffey, Vinny Claffey and Phil O'Reilly | ? | — |
| 2009–2011 | Tom Cribbin | — | |
| 2011–2012 | Gerry Cooney | Meath? Or Tullamore? | — |
| 2012 | Tom Coffey* (2) | ? | — |
| 2012–2014 | Emmet McDonnell | — | |
| 2014–2017 | Pat Flanagan | Clara? | 2015 NFL Division 4 |
| 2017–2018 | Stephen Wallace | — | |
| 2018 | Paul Rouse* | ? | — |
| 2018–2022 | John Maughan | — | |
| 2022–2023 | Liam Kearns | — |
Players
Records
- Tony McTague is the team's top scorer in National Football League history, finishing his career with 9–360 (387) in that competition.
- Cillian O'Connor of Mayo became the highest scoring player in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, surpassing the record of Kerry's Colm Cooper, a feat O'Connor achieved against Kerry during a defeat in Killarney in 2019. He had done this by scoring in all of his previous 51 previous championship matches prior to the record breaking match, except for one game against London in 2013 when he had been black carded, a rate of scoring in the competition only previously seen from Offaly's Matt Connor.
Most appearances
- The following are among those to have made the highest number of appearances for the senior team:
| # | Name | Career | Apps |
|---|---|---|---|
| ? | Niall McNamee | 2003– | 148 |
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 |
All Stars
Offaly has 30 All Stars, as of 1997. 19 different players have won, as of 1997. Martin Furlong won four All Stars, while Matt Connor won three. No one else won more than two.
1971: Eugene Mulligan, Nicholas Clavin, Willie Bryan, Tony McTague
1972: Martin Furlong, Mick Ryan, Paddy McCormack, Willie Bryan2nd, Johnny Cooney, Kevin Kilmurray, Tony McTague2nd
1973: Mick Ryan2nd, Johnny Cooney2nd, Kevin Kilmurray2nd
1978: Tomás O'Connor
1979: Seán Lowry
1980: Matt Connor
1981: Martin Furlong2nd, Richie Connor, Brendan Lowry
1982: Martin Furlong3rd, Mick Fitzgerald, Liam O'Connor, Seán Lowry2nd, Liam Currams, Pádraig Dunne, Matt Connor2nd
1983: Martin Furlong4th, Matt Connor3rd
1997: Cathal Daly
Colours and crest
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2021) |
Kit evolution
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2021) |
Team sponsorship
The food company Carroll's of Tullamore has sponsored Offaly since the GAA first permitted shirt sponsorship deals in 1991. It is thus the sport's longest running shirt sponsor.
Professional golfer Shane Lowry and Offaly announced a five-year partnership in April 2021.
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 1991– | Carroll's of Tullamore |
Honours
National
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
- National Football League
- National Football League Division 4
Winners (1): 2015
- All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship
- Winners (1): 1988
Runners-up (2): 1968, 1986
- All-Ireland Under-20 Football Championship
- Winners (1): 2021
- All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
- Winners (1): 1964
- Runners-up (1): 1989
Provincial
- Leinster Senior Football Championship
- Winners (10): 1960, 1961, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1997
- Runners-up (9): 1907, 1945, 1954, 1962, 1967, 1970, 1979, 1983, 2006
- O'Byrne Cup
- Leinster Junior Football Championship
- Winners (4): 1935, 1972, 1998, 2001
- Leinster Under-21 Football Championship
- Winners (8): 1968, 1971, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1986, 1988, 1995
- Runners-up (7): 1964, 1965, 1970, 1972, 1978, 2007, 2017
- Leinster Under-20 Football Championship
- Winners (1): 2021
- Leinster Minor Football Championship
- Winners (6): 1947, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1989
- Runners-up (13): 1948, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1966, 1976, 1985, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2020
References
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