Sligo county football team

The Sligo county football team represents Sligo in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Sligo GAA, the County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team compete in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Connacht Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.

Sligo's home ground is Markievicz Park, Sligo. The team's manager is Paul Taylor.

The team last won the Connacht Senior Championship in 2007, but have never won the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League.

Crest and colours

Sligo's team colours are black and white. Sligo's jerseys have alternated between black and white over the years. In the 1990s, Sligo opted for predominantly white shirts with black shorts with exceptions in 1995 and 1996 when they wore an all-black strip. In 2001, Sligo was fined by the GAA for not wearing their registered county colours and after a win over Kildare decided to make the all-black kit their first choice.

Sligo's crest features Benbulbin in the background, one of the iconic landmarks of County Sligo.

Kit evolution

History

Due to its much smaller population than both County Galway and County Mayo, the two dominant forces in the province of Connacht, and competition from professional League of Ireland soccer team Sligo Rovers in the county's capital town. The Sligo county football team have never been able to break free of the shackles inherent in the provincial championship format. They have won only three Connacht championships, with about 50 years between each win. These championships came in 1928, 1975 and 2007.

Sligo have never appeared in an All-Ireland final. The 1922 Championship is the closest they have come, defeating Roscommon, Mayo and Galway to win the Connacht title, and beating Tipperary in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final that followed. However an objection from Galway on what is described as "a flimsy technicality" led to the Connacht decider being brought to a replay, which Sligo went on to lose.[1] Sligo met the same fate in the inaugural National Football League campaign of 1926, beating Laois to reach the final, only for Laois to object on the grounds of a Sligo player's name being misspelled; Sligo lost the replay. This gives Sligo the unique position of having qualified for an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final and a National Football League Final, without ever having contested either.

In 1954, Sligo reached the Connacht final against Galway, only for an equalising goal in the final minute to be disallowed. In 1962, Sligo reached the Connacht final against Roscommon, and led for much of the match only to be blighted by a sudden string of injuries, miss a 50 while two points ahead in the final minute, and then gift soon-to-be All-Ireland finalists Roscommon a goal in what is considered "one of the great football tragedies in Connacht".[1] In 1965, Sligo reached the Connacht final against Galway and gained a seven-point lead, only for one of their players to be "mysteriously sent to the full-forward spot", causing "the entire team [to lose] momentum" and the match.[1]

Since the 2001 introduction to the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship of a qualifier system for teams eliminated from their provincial championship, Sligo, despite historically having a poor record, has enjoyed some modest, though noteworthy, success. The new format together with a prolonged period of competing in Division 1 of the National Football League helped bring about an upward turn in the county's fortunes. In 2002, having narrowly lost the Connacht Senior Football Final to Galway, the defending All-Ireland champions, Sligo went on to defeat Tyrone in Croke Park, turning over a seven-point deficit in the process. A similar comeback against the eventual All-Ireland champions Armagh two weeks later led to a replay, but Sligo's run was halted when they had claims for a penalty in injury time of the second game turned down.

On 8 July 2007, Sligo claimed their first Connacht title since 1975 with a one-point victory over Galway. The following year they were trashed by Mayo and ended up in the Tommy Murphy Cup, after a league campaign that had seen them relegated to Division 4. Star player Eamonn O'Hara said he was embarrassed by the team's rapid decline back into mediocrity.[2] On 27 June 2010, Sligo hosted Galway and led 1–8 to 0–2 at halftime but were shocked by an undeserved draw ending 1–10 each. The replay saw Sligo defeat the Tribesmen on the scoreline 1–14 to 0–16 to advance to the Connacht Senior Football Final. Once there, after all their hard work and continued misfortune, Roscommon defeated them by 0–14 to 0–13.

Sligo football descended to a new depth on 26 May 2013 when they were dumped out of the Connacht Championship by London in their first game. The scoreline was 1-12 to 0-14. This was London's first victory in the Connacht Championship since 1977. Lorcan Mulvey scored the vital London goal.[3][4][5]

The county Vocational Schools team reached two All-Ireland finals in 1962 and 1963, losing both to Dublin City.

Four Sligo players have won All-Stars: Mickey Kearins of St Pat's (1971),[6] Barnes Murphy of St Mary's (1974),[7] Eamonn O'Hara of Tourlestrane (2002), and Charlie Harrison of St John's (2010).

Current squad
No. Player Position Club
1 Aidan Devaney Goalkeeper Calry/St Joseph's
2 Charlie Harrison Right Corner Back St John's
3 Eoin McHugh Full Back St Molaise Gaels
4 Ross Donovan Left Corner Back Eastern Harps
5 Neil Ewing Right Half Back Drumcliffe/Rosses Point
6 Adrian McIntyre Centre Back Tubbercurry
7 Ger O'Kelly Lynch Left Half Back St Mary's
8 Niall Murphy Midfield Coolera/Strandhill
9 Kevin McDonnell (c) Midfield Castleconnor
10 Patrick O'Connor Right Half Forward St Farnan's
11 Liam Gaughan Centre Forward Tourlestrane
12 Cathal Henry Left Half Forward Tourlestrane
13 Kyle Cawley Right Corner Forward St Mary's
14 Pat Hughes Full Forward Geevagh
15 Adrian Marren Left Corner Forward Curry
No. Player Position Club
16 Éamonn Kilgannon Substitute St Farnan's
17 Mikey Gordon Substitute Easkey
18 Cian Breheny Substitute St Mary's
19 Seán Carribine Substitute Castleconnor
20 Eddie McGuinness Substitute Tubbercurry
21 Finnian Cawley Substitute St Farnan's
22 Luke Nicholson Substitute St Mary's
23 Keelan Cawley Substitute Coolera/Strandhill
24 Darragh Cummins Substitute Calry/St Joseph's
25 Peter Laffey Substitute Coolera/Strandhill
26 Nathan Rooney Substitute St Mary's

Squad as per Sligo v Galway, 2018 Connacht Senior Football Championship Semi Final, 3 June 2018

Current management team

Players

Notable players

All Stars: 4

Honours

Connacht Senior Football Championship: 3 – 1928, 1975, 2007

Connacht Junior Football Championship: 11 – 1926, 1928, 1935, 1956, 1973, 1998, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014

Connacht Minor Football Championship: 2 – 1949, 1968.

All-Ireland Junior Football Championship: 2 – 1935, 2010

FBD Insurance League: 1 – 2004

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References
  1. Sweeney, Eamonn (8 July 2007). "About time Lady Luck gave Sligo the time of day". Sunday Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  2. "O'Hara 'embarrassed' by Sligo's fall from grace". Hogan Stand. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  3. "London shock Sligo to secure first Connacht SFC victory since 1977". The Score. 26 May 2013. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  4. "London dump Sligo out of Connacht". RTÉ Sport. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  5. "London end 36-year wait for Connacht championship glory". The Irish Times. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  6. http://homepage.eircom.net/~bunsligeach/kearins.htm
  7. http://www.hoganstand.com/Sligo/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=26256
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