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Sligo county football team

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Sligo
File:Sligo GAA crest 2004.jpg
Sport:Football
Irish:'Sligeach
Nickname(s):The Yeats men
County board:Sligo GAA
Manager:Tony McEntee
Home venue(s):Markievicz Park, Sligo
Recent competitive record
Current All-Ireland status:Connacht (QF) forfeit
Last championship title:None
Current NFL Division:4 (third last)
Last league title:None
First colours

The Sligo county football team represents Sligo in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Sligo 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 Connacht Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.

Sligo's home ground is Markievicz Park, Sligo. The team's manager is Tony McEntee.

The team last won the Connacht Senior Championship in 2007, but has never won the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League.

According to Martin Breheny, Sligo routinely has a ranking within the bottom sixteen of county football teams.[1]

Crest and colours

Sligo's team colours are black and white. Sligo's jerseys have alternated between black and white over the years. In the 1990s, Sligo opted for predominantly white shirts with black shorts, with exceptions in 1995 and 1996 when they wore an all-black strip. In 2001, Sligo was fined by the GAA for not wearing its registered county colours and after a win over Kildare decided to make the all-black kit its first choice.

Sligo's crest features Benbulbin in the background, one of the iconic landmarks of County Sligo.

Kit evolution

History

Due to its much smaller population than both County Galway and County Mayo, the two dominant forces in the province of Connacht, and competition from professional League of Ireland soccer team Sligo Rovers in the county's capital town. The county football team has never been able release itself from the shackles inherent in the provincial championship format. It has won the Connacht Senior Football Championship (SFC) on only three occasions, with about 50 years between each win. These championships came in 1928, 1975 and 2007.

Sligo has never appeared in an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) final. The 1922 championship is the closest it has come, defeating Roscommon, Mayo and Galway to win the Connacht title, and beating Tipperary in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final that followed. However an objection from Galway on what is described as "a flimsy technicality" led to the Connacht decider being brought to a replay, which Sligo lost.[3] Sligo met the same fate in the inaugural National Football League campaign of 1926, beating Laois to reach the final, only for Laois to object on the grounds of a Sligo player's name being misspelled; Sligo lost the replay. This gives Sligo the unique position of having qualified for an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final and a National Football League final, without ever having contested either.

In 1954, Sligo reached the Connacht SFC final against Galway, only for an equalising goal in the final minute to be disallowed. In 1962, Sligo reached the Connacht SFC final against Roscommon, and led for much of the match only to be blighted by a sudden string of injuries, miss a 50 while two points ahead in the final minute, and then gift soon-to-be All-Ireland SFC finalists Roscommon a goal in what is regarded as "one of the great football tragedies in Connacht".[3] In 1965, Sligo reached the Connacht SFC final against Galway and gained a seven-point lead, only for one of its players to be "mysteriously sent to the full-forward spot", causing "the entire team [to lose] momentum" and the match.[3]

The county Vocational Schools team reached two All-Ireland finals in 1962 and 1963, losing both to Dublin City.

In 1975, Sligo won the Connacht SFC for the first time since 1928.[4]

Since the 2001 introduction to the All-Ireland SFC of a qualifier system for teams eliminated from its provincial championship, Sligo, despite historically having a poor record, has enjoyed some modest, though noteworthy, success. The new format together with a prolonged period of competing in Division 1 of the National Football League helped bring about an upward turn in the county's fortunes. In 2002, having narrowly lost the Connacht SFC final to Galway (the defending All-Ireland SFC champions), Sligo went on to defeat Tyrone at Croke Park, turning over a seven-point deficit in the process.[citation needed] A similar comeback against the eventual All-Ireland champions Armagh two weeks later led to a replay, but Sligo's run was halted when it had claims for a penalty in injury time of the second game turned down.

On 8 July 2007, Sligo claimed the Connacht SFC for the first time since 1975 with a one-point victory over Galway. Tommy Jordan, who had led Crossmolina Deel Rovers to the 2001 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship, took over as manager.[5] The following year the county was trashed by Mayo while trying to retain its Connacht title and ended up in the Tommy Murphy Cup, after a league campaign that had brought relegation to Division 4. Because Sligo had been relegated, the GAA forced the reigning Connacht champions to participate in the Tommy Murphy Cup instead of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers when it had exited the provincial championship; the county's exit to London in that competition after many players (including the county's most prominent, Eamonn O'Hara) declined to participate, was swiftly followed by Jordan's resignation.[6] O'Hara said he was embarrassed by the team's rapid decline into mediocrity.[7] On 27 June 2010, Sligo hosted Galway and led 1–8 to 0–2 at halftime but were shocked by an undeserved draw, ending 1–10 each. The replay saw Sligo defeat the Tribesmen by a scoreline of 1–14 to 0–16 to advance to the Connacht SFC final. Once there, after all their hard work and continued misfortune, Roscommon defeated Sligo by a scoreline of 0–14 to 0–13.

Sligo football descended to a new depth on 26 May 2013 when London dumped the county out of the Connacht SFC proper, this time, in its first game. The scoreline was 1-12 to 0-14. This was London's first victory in the Connacht SFC since 1977. Lorcan Mulvey scored the vital London goal.[8][9][10]

Sligo did not participate in the 2020 championship, granting Galway a direct route to the 2020 Connacht final.[11] Paul Taylor walked away as manager days after the county withdrew from the 2020 Connacht SFC (and 2020 All-Ireland SFC) due to its inability to field a team.[12] Tony McEntee was announced as Taylor's successor.[13] McEntee had been a runner-up for the Antrim vacancy, which he lost to Enda McGinley.[14]

Sligo's next championship meeting against New York was moved from 2022 to 2023, while the meeting with London was moved from 2023 to 2024 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games.

Current squad

Team as per Sligo vs Galway in the Connacht SFC semi-final, 3 June 2018

No. Player Position Club
1 Aidan Devaney Goalkeeper Calry/St Joseph's
2 Charlie Harrison Right Corner Back St John's
3 Eoin McHugh Full Back Naomh Molaise Gaels GAA
4 Ross Donovan Left Corner Back Eastern Harps
5 Neil Ewing Right Half Back Drumcliffe/Rosses Point
6 Adrian McIntyre Centre Back Tubbercurry
7 Ger O'Kelly Lynch Left Half Back St Mary's
8 Niall Murphy Midfield Coolera/Strandhill
9 Kevin McDonnell (c) Midfield Castleconnor
10 Patrick O'Connor Right Half Forward St Farnan's
11 Liam Gaughan Centre Forward Tourlestrane
12 Cathal Henry Left Half Forward Tourlestrane
13 Kyle Cawley Right Corner Forward St Mary's
14 Pat Hughes Full Forward Geevagh
15 Adrian Marren Left Corner Forward Curry
No. Player Position Club
16 Éamonn Kilgannon Substitute St Farnan's
17 Mikey Gordon Substitute Easkey
18 Cian Breheny Substitute St Mary's
19 Seán Carribine Substitute Castleconnor
20 Eddie McGuinness Substitute Tubbercurry
21 Finnian Cawley Substitute St Farnan's
22 Luke Nicholson Substitute St Mary's
23 Keelan Cawley Substitute Coolera/Strandhill
24 Darragh Cummins Substitute Calry/St Joseph's
25 Peter Laffey Substitute Coolera/Strandhill
26 Nathan Rooney Substitute St Mary's

Current management team

As of December 2020:[15]

Managerial history

Manager Co. Dates Honours
Cyril Haran    1983–1985
Tom Conaghan    1990s?
P. J. Carroll 19??–1996
Mickey Moran    1996–2000
Peter Ford    2000–2003
James Kearins 2003–2004
Dom Corrigan 2004–2006
Tommy Breheny    2006–2007 2007 Connacht Senior Football Championship[16]
Tommy Jordan    2007–2008
Kevin Walsh    2008–2013
Pat Flanagan     2013–2014
Niall Carew   2014–2017
Cathal Corey    2017–2018
Paul Taylor    2018–2020
Tony McEntee    2020–

Players

Notable players

Main article: List of Sligo footballers

All Stars: 4

Four Sligo players have won All-Stars: Mickey Kearins of St Pat's (1971),[17] Barnes Murphy of St Mary's (1974),[18] Eamonn O'Hara of Tourlestrane (2002), and Charlie Harrison of St John's (2010).

Honours

Connacht Senior Football Championship: 3 – 1928, 1975, 2007

Connacht Junior Football Championship: 11 – 1926, 1928, 1935, 1956, 1973, 1998, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014

Connacht Minor Football Championship: 2 – 1949, 1968.

All-Ireland Junior Football Championship: 2 – 1935, 2010

FBD Insurance League: 1 – 2004

References

  1. ^ "Connolly and Marren reminders that limit of what players can achieve influenced as much by geography as talent". Irish Independent. 7 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Sligo GAA unveil new jersey". www.midwestradio.ie. Midwest Radio. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Sweeney, Eamonn (8 July 2007). "About time Lady Luck gave Sligo the time of day". Sunday Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  4. ^ "Summer of '75 - Sligo reign in Connacht". RTÉ Sport. 14 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Jordan takes on Sligo". The Mayo News. 13 November 2007.
  6. ^ "A Brief Rundown Of Pointless GAA Competitions That No Longer Exist: Tommy Murphy Cup". Balls.ie. 25 August 2016.
  7. ^ "O'Hara 'embarrassed' by Sligo's fall from grace". Hogan Stand. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  8. ^ "London shock Sligo to secure first Connacht SFC victory since 1977". The Score. 26 May 2013. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  9. ^ "London dump Sligo out of Connacht". RTÉ Sport. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  10. ^ "London end 36-year wait for Connacht championship glory". The Irish Times. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  11. ^ "Galway's championship campaign moves straight to final after Sligo withdraw". Galway Advertiser. 5 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Sligo looking for a new manager after Paul Taylor walks away". RTÉ Sport. 12 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Sligo confirm Tony McEntee as next manager of senior footballers". RTÉ Sport. 26 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Former Armagh All-Ireland winner Tony McEntee appointed as new Sligo manager". BBC Sport. 26 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Durcan to coach Sligo's goalkeepers". Hogan Stand. 14 December 2020.
  16. ^ "Breheny named Sligo Person of the Year". The Sligo Champion. 5 November 2007.
  17. ^ http://homepage.eircom.net/~bunsligeach/kearins.htm
  18. ^ http://www.hoganstand.com/Sligo/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=26256
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