When Brian McGuigan’s not making a team, you know it’s going to be alright.
This is stupid.
Where the f**k is Brian McGuigan?
No Stephen O’Neill. No Benny Coulter.
When Michael Meehan retired with a heartfelt statement last week, it got the GAA world thinking about the amount of greats which have passed on in this decade alone.
We thought to ourselves: Christ, in the last seven years, the calibre of footballer to hang up the inter-county boots would make up one of the finest 15 line-ups of all time and, in actual fact, it became a right, royal pain in the backside – so much so that Michael Meehan didn’t even make it in the end.
Here’s a dream team of 15 footballers to have retired since 2010.
Ciarán Whelan just missed the cut having bowed out after the 2009 season whilst Darragh Ó Sé also didn’t play anything in 2010 so that sure-fire midfield duo were omitted.
Barry Owens has won two All-Stars playing with Fermanagh and has even won games for the Erne County from full forward.
2012 Footballer of the Year Karl Lacey could’ve been deployed anywhere along that backline whilst Pádraig Joyce is pulled further afield to hold the half forward line so Brogan and O’Sullivan can run and to make way for what must be the three best ball-winners in the game.
Derry’s Paddy Bradley is the top championship scorer of all time out of any player to hail from Ulster whilst McDonnell is every bit as destructive, making a career out of winning individual battles and scoring as comfortably as he caught ball.
The list of names not making that team is a joke:
- Tom O’Sullivan
- Michael Shields
- Noel O’Leary
- Aidan O’Mahony
- Eoin Brosnan
- Denis Bastick
- Rory Kavanagh
- Neil Gallagher
- Enda Muldoon
- Paul Galvin
- Alan Dillon
- Brian McGuigan
- Benny Coulter
- Bryan Cullen
- Colm McFadden
- Stephen O’Neill
- Paul Barden
- Michael Meehan
But the big decisions had to be made. Sorry.
