John Fogarty: The greatest All-Stars teams of the last 50 years

For the week that’s in it and who doesn’t like a row, here are our best PwC All-Stars teams from the 50 years of the scheme

Cork’s Brian Corcoran was a total hurler. Picture: Inpho/Tom Honan

Football

Stephen Cluxton (Dublin — 8 All-Irelands, 6 All-Stars): The alpha and the doyen of goalkeeping. Nobody else comes close and likely never will.

Páidí Ó Sé (Kerry — 8 All-Irelands, 5 All-Stars): Finished his playing days in the corner. His dashing attitude epitomised the Kerry way.

John O’Keeffe (Kerry — 7 All-Irelands, 5 All-Stars): Like Seamus Moynihan, he was a square peg in a round hole at full-back but the round hole soon learned.

Lee Keegan (Mayo — 0 All-Irelands, 4 All-Stars): In line to pick up a fifth accolade later this week and the most thoroughbred of all of the great Mayo defenders.

Tomás Ó Sé (Kerry — 5 All-Irelands, 5 All-Stars): Gritty as he was, few other players exhibited the mastering of the game’s skills under pressure as much as Ó Sé.

James McCarthy (Dublin — 8 All-Irelands, 4 All-Stars): Unfortunate not to have picked up a couple more All-Stars. An inspirational, classy footballer.

Martin O’Connell (Meath — 3 All-Irelands, 4 All-Stars): Jack McCaffrey has to be acknowledged but O’Connell’s iron fist in a velvet glove stood out in his era.

Jack O’Shea (Kerry — 7 All-Irelands, 6 All-Stars): Four times O’Shea claimed the Texaco footballer of the year. In a team of Rolls Royces, he is the Phantom model.

Brian Fenton (Dublin — 6 All-Irelands, 5 All-Stars): The idea of O’Shea and Fenton teaming up in lar na pairc is a delightful one. Others grind, he glides.

Ger Power (Kerry — 8 All-Irelands, 6 All-Stars): An electric footballer, his work ethic made him the player he was.

Ciarán Kilkenny (Dublin — 7 All-Irelands, 4 All-Stars): Another who could add to his tally of individual awards on Friday, there is no safer or cleverer pair of hands than Kilkenny’s.

Pat Spillane (Kerry — 8 All-Irelands, 9 All-Stars): A right boot to die for and always exuded confidence. He talks the talk because he sure as hell could walk it.

Mikey Sheehy (Kerry — 8 All-Irelands, 6 All-Stars): Still cherished after all these years for his genius. Marksman, sharpshooter, poacher all rolled into one.

Peter Canavan (Tyrone — 2 All-Irelands, 6 All-Stars): One of his awards should have gone to Brian McGuigan but Canavan’s inclusion is undoubted. A supreme sportsman.

Colm Cooper (Kerry — 5 All-Irelands, 8 All-Stars): Always seemed as if he had more time than he did. His understanding of the game and its elements were outstanding.

Hurling

Noel Skehan (Kilkenny — 9 All-Irelands, 7 All-Stars): Patience was a virtue for Skehan but when he made the No. 1 jersey his own he soon became No. 1 in the country.

Brian Corcoran (Cork — 3 All-Irelands, 3 All-Stars): How Cork missed him for those lost years but he more than compensated upon his return. A total hurler.

Brian Lohan (Clare — 2 All-Irelands, 4 All-Stars): The authority with which Lohan manned the edge of the square was fundamental to Clare being the team of the 1990s.

JJ Delaney (Kilkenny — 9 All-Irelands, 7 All-Stars): For the vast majority, Delaney would come out the best of his duels. Flawless.

Tommy Walsh (Kilkenny — 9 All-Irelands, 9 All Stars): Played with the abandon every young child hopes to when they learn to hurl. A joy to watch.

Pádraic Maher (Tipperary — 3 All-Irelands, 6 All-Stars): A force of nature, Maher already stands alongside the greats Thurles Sarsfields have produced.

Brian Whelahan (Offaly — 2 All-Irelands, 4 All-Stars): An immaculate hurler whose reading of the game was extraordinary time and time again.

John Fenton (Cork — 2 All-Irelands, 5 All-Stars): A master of his craft and a stylist too when it wasn’t so conducive to be one.

Joe Canning (Galway — 1 All-Ireland, 5 All-Stars): Frank Cummins could be chosen here but he didn’t carry as much of a burden as Canning who led from an early age.

Jimmy Barry-Murphy (Cork — 5 All-Irelands, 5 All-Stars): An icon for very good reason given his dual exploits but it was with hurley in hand that JBM was a god.

Henry Shefflin (Kilkenny — 10 All-Irelands, 11 All-Stars): Do we really have to explain? The most decorated player and the greatest of his generation if not of all time.

DJ Carey (Kilkenny — 5 All-Irelands, 9 All-Stars): A hurler who lit up a game with one flick of the wrists. The sliotar and opponents seemed at times to bend to his will.

Eoin Kelly (Tipperary — 2 All-Irelands, 6 All-Stars): Poised and poetic, Kelly was prolific and revelled in the responsibility given to him as a teenager.

Eddie Keher (Kilkenny — 6 All-Irelands, 5 All-Stars): Would have won at least another three All-Stars had they been introduced before 1971.

Nicky English (Tipperary — 2 All-Irelands, 6 All-Stars): The most exciting hurler of the 1980s, so many of his performances were spellbinding.

Complaints to [e-mail]

Split season arrival exposes insecurities

Pat Spillane has joined a number of GAA personalities and observers who have questioned the first official split season, which begins next year.

“Next year, for six months, there’ll be no more inter-county football,” he told RTÉ on Sunday. “We’re taking our high-profile games, which are inter-county football and hurling, out of the shop window for six months. No opportunity to generate money, no opportunity to generate a high profile for the game, for Croke Park, and for the players. Croke Park, from July on, will only have Ed Sheeran kicking a ball around; it’s crazy.”

Twelve months ago, there weren’t as many like Spillane questioning the idea of finishing the championships in July.

Maybe it was because there was relief that championships had been played and the 2021 calendar was only confirmed before Christmas before it was jettisoned because of the Government’s actions.

However, these concerns seem late and speak of the insecurities that most of us would have had at some stage about the contraction of the inter-county season since the finals were moved from September, well, the football final has yet to be played earlier.

While it’s a natural feeling, it’s a myopic one that doesn’t take into consideration the club player or the fact the county player is one. It also shows no faith in the inter-county GAA product either. Condensing means intensifying and in doing so not only will the training to game ratio even up more, the attention it will command will increase.

Spillane reckons the solution is to alternate: “So, for example, for the first six months of the year you’d have club hurling and inter-county football; for the last six months you’d have club football and inter-county hurling.”

The noise you hear is deckchairs being rearranged on the Titanic. Is it saying too much to give the split season a chance before it has begun?

GAA need to rebuild season ticket trust

Our reporting of the changes to the GAA season ticket last week didn’t seem to go down too well with Croke Park. We are happy to clarify All-Ireland club finals admission is included in the initiative, although there was no indication of that in a renewal email issued to previous ticket holders and the information was lacking on the main website last week.

There was also fault found with our “negative tone” about the new All-Ireland final ticket qualification system for season ticket holders. From next year, holders will have the right to purchase a ticket should their team reach it providing they missed payment on a maximum of one previous championship game. That is a change from the past when supporters had to attend a minimum of 60% of their team’s league and championship fixtures to do so.

Apologies but when fans could afford to miss more championship games in the past and still be offered access to an All-Ireland final, no longer get access to all Allianz League games in their chosen code, don’t have a 5% discount on championship admission and have to pay 25% more for their season ticket — €150 as opposed to €120 — it’s difficult to be positive.

The GAA have a way to go to get their most loyal followers back on side after last year’s events when they changed the terms and conditions of the scheme.