Corkery announces retirement from football

Former Cork forward Colin Corkery has called time on his Nemo Rangers club career, 15 months after announcing his inter-county retirement.

It comes after Nemo's 1-14 to 0-7 Cork county final defeat of Muskerry last Sunday, in which the 34-year-old made an appearance as a second-half substitute.

It was a fifth Cork SFC winners medal for Corkery, whose razor-sharp right boot and weight problems have earned him renown in equal measure at GAA grounds throughout the country.

Corkery, who joined Aussie Rules club Carlton for a brief spell in the early 1990s, told the Evening Echo: "I made my mind up for the last four or five weeks that this (the Cork final) would be it.

"The injuries were taking a lot of the fun out of it and the last year has been particularly difficult.

"I had problems with my back, knees and I also had tissue damage under one foot, so it was frustrating.

"But once I had made up my mind, I really enjoyed the last five weeks and it was nice to be a part of last Sunday."

An All-Star winner in 1993, Corkery won three All-Ireland club titles with Nemo - in 1989, 1994 and 2003 - in a 16-year spell with the club.

He skippered Nemo to a 0-14 to 1-9 final victory over Crossmolina in the '03 final, kicking six points in an inspirational display.

A former captain of the Rebels, Corkery helped Cork to four Munster SFC titles and gained an All-Ireland Under-21 medal in 1989, but never lifted the Sam Maguire Cup.

RTE GAA commentator Micheal O'Muircheartaigh famously said of the hulking full-forward: "Lazarus was a great man but he couldn't kick points like Colin Corkery."