Seven Mayo players are listed among the sixty players shortlisted for the Ulster Bank Sigerson Team of the Century.
From Seán ‘The Baller’ Lavan in the 1920s to Anthony ‘Larry’ Finnerty in the 1990s, Mayo enjoy a healthy representation in the nominations.
Seán Lavan from Kiltimagh was truly a Gaelic football pioneering, originating, as he did, the skill of the solo run in the game. In his seven years at University College Dublin from 1922-29 he won three Sigersons.
Henry Kenny, father of Fine Gael leader Enda, won an All-Ireland with Mayo in 1936 and was a key man at midfield on that team. He won four Sigerson Cup medals with University College Galway (UCG) from 1937 to 1941. Mick Raftery and Joe Salmon played with both Mayo and Galway in the same era and joined Kenny on those UCG teams. However they enjoyed greater success. Raftery won a phenomenal eight medals from 1933 to 1941 and Salmon won six medals from 1936 to 1941.
Two of the great players from the Mayo All-Ireland winning teams of 1950 and ’51 also make the cut. Seán Flanagan, who captained both of those teams, also captained UCG to Sigerson success in 1945/46. Padraig Carney, who earned the sobriquet ‘The Flying Doctor’ when he flew home for some Mayo games in the 1950s, was recognised as one of the best players of his era. He won three Sigersons with University College Dublin from 1945-’50 where he studied medicine.
The only modern day Mayo player to make the shortlist is Anthony ‘Larry’ Finnerty. The popular Moygownagh man had a long Sigerson career, with some intervals it spanned from 1981 to 1996 with both UCG and UCD. In that time he won four Sigersons.
The nominees have been announced to coincide with the third level colleges competition’s centenary celebrations and some of the nominated players players date back to the origin of the competition in 1911.
The final team will be decided by a selection committee under the chairmanship of Crossmolina man, Dr Mick Loftus.
The nominees in full are as follows:
Goalkeepers: Johnny Geraghty (UCG/Galway), Jimmy McGauran (UCG/Roscommon/Galway), Billy Morgan (UCC/Cork), Mick O’Gorman (UCD/Monaghan).
Backs: Denis Bernard (UCC/Cork), Eugene Callinan (UCC/Tipperary/Cork), Mick Carty (UCD/Wexford), Enda Colleran (UCG/Galway), Bryan Cullen (DCU/Dublin), Jack Culleton (UCD/Wexford), Seán Óg de Paor (UCG/Galway), Eddie Devlin (UCD/Tyrone), Seán Flanagan (UCD/Mayo), Hugh Gibbons (UCG/Roscommon), Séamus McHugh (UCG/Galway), DJ Kane (UUJ/Down), Henry Kenny (UCG/Mayo), Seán Martin Lockhart (UUJ/Derry), Paudie Lynch (UCC/Kerry), Kieran McGeeney (QUB/Armagh), Mick Morris (UCC/Kerry), Séamus Moynihan (UCC/ITT/Kerry), Seán Murphy (UCD/Kerry), Martin Newell (UCG/Galway), Pat O’Neill (UCD/Dublin), Mick Raftery (UCG Mayo/Galway), Tony Regan (UCG/Roscommon/Galway, Joe Salmon (UCG/Mayo/Galway).
Midfielders: Paul Brewster (QUB/Fermanagh), Pádraig Carney (UCD/Mayo), PJ Duke (UCD/Cavan), Paddy Henry (Maynooth/Sligo), Jim McDonnell (UCD/Cavan), Paul McGrane (QUB/Armagh), Eugene McKenna (QUB/Tyrone), John O’Keeffe (UCD/Kerry).
Forwards: Greg Blaney (QUB/Down), Frank Bourke (UCD/Kildare/Dublin), James Brady (UCD/Cavan), Jim Brosnan (UCC/Kerry), Peter Canavan (St Mary’s/Tyrone), Ray Cummins (UCC/Cork), Trevor Giles (UCD/Meath), Paul Finlay (IT Sligo/Monaghan), Anthony Finnerty (UCG/UCD/Mayo), Eamonn Fitzgerald (UCC/Kerry), Maurice Fitzgerald (UCC/Kerry), Joe Kearney (UCC/Cork), Donal Keenan (UCD/Roscommon), Kevin Kilmurray (UCD/Offaly), Seán Lavan (UCD/Mayo), Brendan Lynch (UCC/Kerry), Tony McManus (UCD/Roscommon), Michael Meehan (UCG/Galway), Denis ‘Ogie’ Moran (UCD/Kerry), Paddy Moriarty (QUB/Armagh), Seán O’Neill (QUB/Down), Colm O’Rourke (UCD/Meath), Paudie Sheehy (UCC/Kerry), Jackie Walsh (UCD/Kerry).
