13 years on from first All-Stars, players still returning for more

13 years on and three acquaintances are in the running for TG4 Ladies Football All-Star Awards at the Citywest Hotel tonight.

At the first such awards held by the Ladies Gaelic Football Association in 2003, the Young Player of the Year winners were Stephanie O’Reilly (Connacht), Rena Buckley (Munster), Aisling Doonan (Ulster) and Aisling Holton (Leinster), and 13 years later the last three are again in the running for bronze statuettes.

However, what’s more interesting is the fact Buckley (Cork), Holton (Kildare) and Doonan (Cavan) played together with University College Dublin, claiming O’Connor Cup medals in 2007. Buckley and Holton are nominated in midfield, while Doonan - who now works for the Ladies Gaelic Football Association - is among the nominees in attack.

Dual star Buckley - who last week missed out on a camogie All-Star - will be bidding to win her sixth All-Star to add to those won in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2015. Should Doonan pick up an All-Star, she will become just the third Cavan woman to do so. Holton, who is also in the running for the Intermediate Players’ Player of the Year award, will also become the third All-Star winner for Kildare should she win, following in the footsteps of Brianne Leahy and Noelle Earley.

Mayo’s Cora Staunton is in the running for an incredible 11th All-Star award, and should she win she’ll match that of Kerry’s Mary Jo Curran, while All-Ireland finalists Dublin have eight nominees and champions Cork have 11 players in the running.

In total there are 45 nominees looking to make the TG4 2016 All-Star team, however there are some surprise omissions with Dublin attacker Niamh McEvoy and Intermediate Players’ Player of the Year nominee Niamh O’Dea of Clare among those absent.

Last week’s camogie All-Stars weren’t without controversy either, with the surprise omission of Cork stalwart Gemma O’Connor and Limerick’s Niamh Mulcahy in the final 15.

2016 TG4 All-Star nominees:

Goalkeepers:

Martina O’Brien (Cork), Mary Hulgraine (Kildare), Noelle Gormley (Sligo);

Defenders:

Laurie Ryan (Clare), Marie Ambrose (Cork), Vera Foley (Cork), Róisín Phelan (Cork), Deirdre O’Reilly (Cork), Bríd Stack (Cork), Leah Caffrey (Dublin), Olwen Carey (Dublin), Sinead Finnegan (Dublin), Sinead Goldrick (Dublin), Deirdre Foley (Donegal), Ciara Hegarty (Donegal), Sarah Tierney (Mayo), Aoife McAnespie (Monaghan), Gráinne McNally (Monaghan), Jennifer Grant (Tipperary), Linda Wall (Waterford), Mairead Wall (Waterford);

Midfielders:

Rena Buckley (Cork), Briege Corkery (Cork), Louise Henchy (Clare), Aisling Holton (Kildare), Fiona McHale (Mayo), Sharon Courtney (Monaghan);

Forwards:

Aisling Doonan (Cavan) Orla Finn (Cork), Ciara O’Sullivan (Cork), Annie Walsh (Cork), Sinead Aherne (Dublin), Lyndsey Davey (Dublin), Noelle Healy (Dublin), Carla Rowe (Dublin), Niamh Hegarty (Donegal), Sarah Houlihan (Kerry), Róisín Byrne (Kildare), Niamh Kelly (Mayo), Cora Staunton (Mayo), Yvonne McMonagle (Donegal), Ciara McAnespie (Monaghan), Maria Delahunty (Waterford), Aileen Wall (Waterford), Leona Archibold (Westmeath).

Senior Players’ Player of the Year nominees:

Briege Corkery (Cork), Sinead Aherne (Dublin), Brid Stack (Cork);

Intermediate Players’ Player of the Year nominees:

Niamh O’Dea (Clare), Mary Hulgraine (Kildare), Aisling Holton (Kildare);

Junior Players’ Player of the Year

nominees: Mairéad Cooper (Antrim), Clare Timoney (Antrim), Mairéad Reynolds (Longford).