GAELIC FOOTBALL:CORK'S ULTIMATE dominance of both league and championship football is once again reflected in the nominations for the 2010 Opel/Gaelic Players Association team of the year – although they're actually two short of their All Star nominations.
Of the 45 players nominated, Cork are best represented with nine, four more than beaten All-Ireland finalists Down, with beaten All-Ireland semi-finalists Kildare and Dublin getting six and five nominations respectively. There are 13 counties represented in total, in this case one more than made the All Star nominations list.
The football team of the year will be announced at the GPA awards ceremony on November 5th, and it will be interesting to see how Cork’s representation on that compares with the All Stars; only four Cork players made it onto the 2010 All Star team, the surprise there not so much being the number but rather the positions, as none of the Cork forwards made it. Daniel Goulding and Donncha O’Connor are among the GPA nominations for the forward positions and chances are at least one of them will make it this time.
The three nominations for the GPA footballer of the year were also announced: Bernard Brogan of Dublin, Benny Coulter of Down and John Doyle of Kildare. Brogan was already honoured with the All Star footballer of the year, but the GPA honour is worth an Opel vehicle to the value of €25,000, and the same for the GPA hurler of the year.
The GPA team of the year differs from the All Stars in that the final selection is made by the fellow members of the GPA, rather than the media. The nominations, however, are made by a GPA selection committee, headed by chairman Martin McHugh.
“These type of awards are entirely subjective and don’t always attract everyone’s approval but the overriding objective is to get the best 15 players for the 15 individual positions,” said the former Donegal All-Ireland winner. “Those of us on the committee believe that the overall aim can be achieved from the 45 players whom we have chosen for the nominations.”
The nominations are made on a position basis, with three players for each position reflecting their dominant role in that position throughout the season. The 13 counties represented are Dublin, Down, Cork, Sligo, Roscommon, Kildare, Tyrone, Louth, Kerry, Limerick, Monaghan, Meath and Armagh.
Meanwhile, the Leinster Council are the latest province to announce the dates and venues for next year’s senior football and hurling championships. Provincial football champions Meath will open their campaign with a quarter-final against either Kildare or Wicklow, to be played at Croke Park on June 5th.
That game will form part of a double-header with Dublin’s quarter-final meeting against either Laois or Longford.
GPA FOOTBALL TEAM OF THE YEAR 2010 – Nominees: 1, Stephen Cluxton (Dublin); Brendan McVeigh (Down); Alan Quirke (Cork). 2, Charlie Harrison (Sligo); Seánie McDermott (Roscommon); Peter Kelly (Kildare). 3, Justin McMahon (Tyrone); Rory O’Carroll (Dublin); Michael Shields (Cork). 4, John O’Brien (Louth); Eoin Cadogan; (Cork); Philly McMahon (Dublin). 5, Kevin McKernan (Down); Tomás Ó Sé ( Kerry); Stephen Lavin (Limerick). 6, Graham Canty (Cork); Conor Gormley (Tyrone); Emmet Bolton (Kildare). 7, Paudie Kissane (Cork); Philip Jordan (Tyrone); Damien Freeman (Monaghan). 8/9, Paddy Keenan (Louth); John Galvin (Limerick); Aidan Walsh (Cork); Michael Darragh Macauley (Dublin); Daryl Flynn (Kildare); Dick Clerkin (Monaghan). 10, Patrick Kelly (Cork); Daniel Hughes (Down); Alan Costello (Sligo). 11, Martin Clarke; (Down); Joe Sheridan (Meath); Eamon Callaghan (Kildare). 12, John Doyle (Kildare); Cathal Cregg (Roscommon); Graham Reilly (Meath). 13, Daniel Goulding (Cork); David Kelly (Sligo); Colm Cooper (Kerry). 14, Donie Shine (Roscommon); Benny Coulter (Down); Steven McDonnell (Armagh). 15, Donncha O’Connor (Cork); Bernard Brogan (Dublin); James Kavanagh (Kildare).
Player of the Year – Nominees: B Brogan (Dublin); B Coulter (Down); J Doyle (Kildare).
