Offaly county football team

Offaly
Sport:	Football
Irish:	Uíbh Fhailí
Nickname(s):	The Faithful County
County board:	Offaly GAA
Manager:	John Maughan
Captain:	Niall Darby
Home venue(s):	O'Connor Park, Tullamore
Recent competitive record
Current All-Ireland status:	Leinster (QF) in 2020
Last championship title:	1982
Current NFL Division:	3 (6th in 2020)
Last league title:	1998
First colours	Second colours

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.

Offaly's home ground is O'Connor Park, Tullamore. The team's manager is John Maughan.

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 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.^[1] 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.

Brendan Hackett managed the team from 1990 until 1992.^[2]

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."^[3]

Current squad[]

Team as per Offaly vs Kildare in the Leinster SFC quarter-final, 8 November 2020

No.	Player	Position	Club
1	Paddy Dunican	Goalkeeper	Shamrocks
2	Declan Hogan	Right Corner Back	Rhode
3	Eoin Rigney	Full Back	Rhode
4	Niall Darby (c)	Left Corner Back	Rhode
5	Eoin Carroll	Right Half Back
6	Johnny Moloney	Centre Back	Tullamore
7	Joseph O'Connor	Left Half Back	St Rynagh's
8	Aaron Leavy	Midfield	Tullamore
9	Jordan Hayes	Midfield	Edenderry
10	Peter Cunningham	Right Half Forward	Bracknagh
11	Ruairi McNamee	Centre Forward	Rhode
12	Anton Sullivan	Left Half Forward	Rhode
13	Bernard Allen	Right Corner Forward	Tubber
14	Niall McNamee	Full Forward	Rhode
15	Cian Farrell	Left Corner Forward	Edenderry

No.	Player	Position	Club
16	Ian Duffy	Goalkeeper	Walsh Island
17	Conor McNamee	Substitute	Rhode
18	Colm Doyle	Substitute	Clara
19	Cathal Mangan	Substitute
20	Rory Egan	Substitute	Edenderry
21	Bill Carroll	Substitute
22	Jack Quinn	Substitute
23	Cathal Donoghue	Substitute	Kilcormac/Killoughey
24	Carl Stewart	Substitute	Clara
25	Mark Abbott	Substitute	Edenderry
26	Jack Bryant	Substitute	Shamrocks
	Cian Johnson	Panel	Ferbane
	Shane Horan	Panel	Kilmacud Crokes
	Shane Nally	Panel	Ferbane
	Cian Donohue	Panel	St Brigid's

Current management team[]

Manager: John Maughan

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.^[4]
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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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^[7]
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

All Stars[]

1971: Eugene Mulligan, Nicholas Clavin, Willie Bryan, Tony McTague
1972: Martin Furlong, Mick Ryan, Paddy McCormack, Willie Bryan, Johnny Cooney, Kevin Kilmurray, Tony McTague
1973: Mick Ryan, Johnny Cooney, Kevin Kilmurray
1978: Tomás O'Connor
1979: Seán Lowry
1980: Matt Connor
1981: Martin Furlong, Richie Connor, Brendan Lowry
1982: Martin Furlong, , Liam O'Connor, Seán Lowry, Liam Currams, Pádraig Dunne, Matt Connor
1983: Martin Furlong, Matt Connor
1997:

Colours and crest[]

Kit evolution[]

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.^[8]

Professional golfer Shane Lowry and Offaly announced a five-year partnership in April 2021.^[9]^[10]

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
1991–		Carroll's of Tullamore

Honours[]

All-Ireland Senior Football Championships: 3
- 1971, 1972, 1982
All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championships: 1
- 1988
All-Ireland Under-20 Football Championships: 1
- 2021
All-Ireland Minor Football Championships: 1
- 1964
All-Ireland Junior Football Championships: None
National Football Leagues: 1
- 1998

National Football League Division 4 2015

Leinster Senior Football Championships: 10
- 1960, 1961, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1997
Leinster Under-21 Football Championships: 8
- 1968, 1971, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1986, 1988, 1995
Leinster Under-20 Football Championships: 1
- 2021
Leinster Minor Football Championships: 6
- 1947, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1989
Leinster Junior Football Championships: 4
- 1935, 1972, 1998, 2001
O'Byrne Cups: 6
- 1954, 1961, 1981, 1993, 1997, 1998

References[]

^ Breheny, Martin (17 September 2010). "1982: Kerry stunned as Darby derails the Drive for Five". Irish Independent.
^ O'Riordan, Ian (9 September 2009). "Hackett is surprise choice for Westmeath". The Irish Times.
^ "Lowry inspired by JP McManus to help beloved Faithful". RTÉ. 30 April 2021.
^ "Banner hero David Tubridy already has more history in his sights after becoming highest league scorer of all time". Irish Independent. 1 June 2021.
^ "Cillian O'Connor makes GAA history". The Mayo News. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
^ "O'Connor set to overhaul Cooper at top of the charts". RTÉ. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
^ "'We're on to something' - Maughan feeling Offaly vibes". RTÉ. 1 June 2021. The Tipp game was his 148th appearance in either league or championship football.
^ "Our Story". Carroll's of Tullamore.
^ "Offaly GAA set to expand as Shane Lowry becomes sponsor". RTÉ. 29 April 2021.
^ "Shane Lowry: Open champion partners with Offaly GAA to offer support to home county". BBC. 29 April 2021.

[1] Breheny, Martin (17 September 2010). "1982: Kerry stunned as Darby derails the Drive for Five". Irish Independent.

[2] O'Riordan, Ian (9 September 2009). "Hackett is surprise choice for Westmeath". The Irish Times.

[3] "Lowry inspired by JP McManus to help beloved Faithful". RTÉ. 30 April 2021.

[4] "Banner hero David Tubridy already has more history in his sights after becoming highest league scorer of all time". Irish Independent. 1 June 2021.

[mn-5] "Cillian O'Connor makes GAA history". The Mayo News. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2020.

[6] "O'Connor set to overhaul Cooper at top of the charts". RTÉ. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2020.

[7] "'We're on to something' - Maughan feeling Offaly vibes". RTÉ. 1 June 2021. The Tipp game was his 148th appearance in either league or championship football.

[8] "Our Story". Carroll's of Tullamore.

[9] "Offaly GAA set to expand as Shane Lowry becomes sponsor". RTÉ. 29 April 2021.

[10] "Shane Lowry: Open champion partners with Offaly GAA to offer support to home county". BBC. 29 April 2021.

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