Five skills that made Brian Fenton the midfield master
LEGEND: Brian Fenton with Sam Maguire. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
AFTER 57 games, the streak had to end. Brian Fenton had been a constant until the start of the 2024 championship. Suspension ruled him out of the Leinster SFC quarter-final against Meath.
Even in a routine win, Dublin missed him. Dessie Farrell’s side cruised to a 16-point victory despite the fact they were wiped on long kickouts. They won just two out of the six that went beyond the 65-metre line. Meath’s return was 6/9.
Before that fixture in Croke Park, Fenton had played in every single league and championship match under Farrell. He was ruled out after a harsh red card in extra-time of the league final against Derry. In the stretch before that contentious clash, he missed a total of 35 minutes across 56 games.
His retirement is an enormous blow. When Fenton played well, Dublin didn’t lose. He leaves as a seven-time All-Ireland winner, six-time All-Star and two-time Footballer of the Year (FOTY). He was also unlucky to miss out on the individual accolade twice, in 2016 and 2023.
Famously, Fenton hadn’t lost a Championship tie before the 2021 All-Ireland defeat against Mayo. The record was a perfect 43 wins. To beat the greatest team of all time, the top priority was to tackle the centre. A player who embodied their awesome heart and head.
That day Matthew Ruane bettered him and a great side came tumbling down. This wasn’t breaking even with a straight equaliser. For the first time ever, Fenton was outplayed.
The 31-year-old became used to absolute attention every time he took to the field. In 2024, Donnacha McHugh and John Maher earned positive reviews for their man-marking performances.
The Raheny native who didn’t make it as a minor and only had one season at U21 had become the fulcrum of the unit. His legacy cannot be captured in a highlights reel of big moments, the real power of Fenton was his ability to pave the way for those moments.
To completely take control of a game through pure fundamentals and bend it to his will. For an entire career, it was midfield masterclass. There are crucial elements required to rule centerfield. He exhibited every single one.
It was his first possession in his ever All-Ireland final. Diarmuid Connolly looked across at a train coming down the middle of Croke Park. Fenton caught the pass, sent Donnchadh Walsh skidding across the greasy surface and curled over a terrific opening point.
He haunted Kerry in such situations. His last All-Ireland final came in 2023. He had 29 possessions and didn’t turn the ball over once. With six minutes left, he collected a ball in his own half and burst forward. After a quick one-two he let loose with a shot from range and kicked Dublin into a one-point lead.
Over the last five years, he was the county’s fourth top scorer from play. He was also their fourth top assister.
He was their go-to target. According to leading GAA analysis provider Fenton was their long kickout target 59 times since 2019, as many targets as the second and third player combined.
In the 2020 All-Ireland final, Robbie McDaid’s black card gave Mayo a numerical advantage at the start of the second half. Cluxton looked to Fenton for three of his first four kickouts, three of which came after a mark or free, allowing for a full-court press. Fenton won two and lost one break. For David Clarke’s first kickout after the end of the black card, Dublin pressed hard and Fenton’s paw pushed it their way.
At the end of the 2018 championship, Sure, the GAA’s statistic partner at the time, produced a host of figures from the year. Among them was a remarkable Fenton fact. In seven championship games, he had conceded a single free.
That is why it stung when he was sent off earlier this year. Fenton reacted to a heavy tackle by Eunan Mulholland and shoved the Derry sub to the ground. He has a particular issue with the closed-fist tackle and said afterwards it is something often missed by referees.
“I was proud to be a player that had never been sent off, in many ways,” he would later explain. “I have got a couple of yellows before, but I could probably count them on one hand. It has just never been part of my game.” It was a rare reaction by a master of taking punishment and powering on.
In the 2018 All-Ireland final, he suffered a black eye after a heavy hit during the throw-in. He finished with two points from play and was later named FOTY for the first time.
His sensational displays down the straight on the way to Dublin’s 2023 triumph included an immense semi-final performance against Monaghan. Offensively he was a giant, with a memorable point into the Hill a particular highlight. With the sides level late on, he slid towards the endline on his knees, bounced up and kicked a corker over the blackspot without taking a single play.
What he did at the other end was as important. Fenton dropped back as a mobile sweeper throughout the contest. His block on Conor McManus at the top of the D was sublime. He didn’t celebrate it. He demands that level and is disappointed when it doesn’t work out.
Cast your mind back to the 2021 defeat to Mayo. That famous Diarmuid O’Connor moment when he stopped Rob Hennelly’s kick from crossing the line? It irked Fenton for months.
“I genuinely get flashbacks of Diarmuid O’Connor winning that ball out on the endline,” he explained after the 2023 final. “I don’t know if you remember it, but I was kind of ushering it out and Diarmuid kept it in. Genuinely, images like that haunt you.”
The next time they met Mayo was that season’s All-Ireland quarter-final. Dublin led and Mayo were pushing for an improbable comeback. Ryan O’Donoghue gained possession free in front of goal. As he pulled the trigger, Fenton slid across and blocked it. Eoghan McLaughlin missed the rebound and Dublin cruised home.
After his first FOTY award, Fenton spoke movingly about his late mother, Marian, who passed away in 2013. She was his ‘number one supporter,’ and at the forefront of his mind.
A year later he spoke about what drives him on now. That season they completed the five-in-a-row after a replay against Kerry. That is the native county of his father, Brian Snr, who was watching from the Croke Park bleachers.
“When I catch his eye in the stand after a game there are no words, just a look that says ‘I’m proud of you’, and that’s how I get my kicks,” Fenton said. He had moved out of his family home at that stage but still rang his dad every day.
“When I was there, I’d come home from training and he’d want to know everything.
“You know, the last thing you want to talk about is training, but he’d want to know was I okay, sleeping enough, just wanting the best for me, that old school mentality.”
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