Greatest ever Kerry side

Following on from Loyal's threads on 'Greatest Ever County Selections', I thought it was time to up the ante a bit, and attempt to make the most difficult selection of all - The All-Time Kerry 15. Unlike some of the others we have seen, this side will have a great of the game in every position, and many more not even making the bench.

To assist, I've come up with a shortlist, and have even listed the players in order of the eras in which they played. I'll post my own in a bit (based on what I've seen and read), but am keen to read the thoughts of our posters here, especially RKF who, for all we know, might even be on the list below! So, here is the staggeringly impressive 'shortlist':

Goalkeepers
Dan O'Keefe, Johnny Culloty, Charlie Nelligan, Declan O'Keefe, Diarmuid Murphy

Defenders
Thady Gorman, Maurice McCarthy, Phil O'Sullivan, Joe Barrett, Joe Koehane, Paddy 'Bawn' Brosnan, Bill Casey, Sean Murphy, Donie O'Sullivan,
Paidi O'Se, John O'Keefe, Jimmy Deenihan, Tim Kennelly, Seamus Moynihan,
Mike McCarthy, Tom O'Sullivan, Tomas O'Se, Marc O'Se

Midfielders
Pat 'Aeroplane' O'Shea, Con Brosnan, Paddy Kennedy, Mick O'Connell,
Jack O'Shea, Dara O'Se

Forwards
Dick Fitzgerald, John Joe Sheehy, Tim 'Roundy' Landers, JJ 'Purty' Landers,
Tadghie Lyne, Tom Long, John Egan, Eoin Liston, Denis 'Ogie' Moran, Pat Spillane, Mike Sheehy, Maurice Fitzgerald, Colm Cooper, Declan O'Sullivan, Paul Galvin,
Keiran Donaghy

Versatile Players
JP O'Sullivan, Tom 'Gega' O'Connor, Jackie Lyne, Mick O'Dwyer,
Paudie Lynch, Sean Walsh, Ger Power

Thats some list of footballers alright there TC. I'd imagine most of mine will be from the 70s team on as I would have seen them in action. Do you want the team to be exact positions or just picking three HFs etc like the All Stars?

Parouisa wrote:Thats some list of footballers alright there TC. I'd imagine most of mine will be from the 70s team on as I would have seen them in action. Do you want the team to be exact positions or just picking three HFs etc like the All Stars?

Feel free to pick them however you want. Obviously, there will be some players who are associated only with one position (e.g. Pat Spillane), but a lot of those guys played in various jerseys, so mix & match. Agreed, an amazing array of talent when you see them all listed together!

Nearly impossible task so decided to do it quickly. Based largely on players I have seen play but one or two thrown in on the basis of exploits, legendary status and past performances. Here goes -

Goalkeeper
Johnny Culloty

Defenders
Joe Keohane, Tim Kennelly, John O'Keeffe
Sean Murphy, Seamus Moynihan, Tomas O'Se

Midfielders
Mick O'Connell, Jack O'Shea

Forwards
Ger Power, Pat Spillane, Maurice Fitzgerald,
Colm Cooper, Eoin Liston, Mikey Sheehy

I will stick to players that I have seen in my lifetime. Some positions have had more than their great share of stars than others but here goes anyway.

Johnny Culloty/
Jerome O'Shea/
John O'Keeffe
Paidi Lynch
Paidi O'Se
Seamus Moynihan
Mick O'Dwyer
Mick O'Connell
Jack O'Shea
Pat Spillane
Maurice Fitzgerald
Ger Power
Colm Cooper
Eoin Liston
John Egan

Now leaving out Mikey Sheehy,Darragh and Tomas,Tadhgy Lyne,Tom Long,Tim Kennelly,
John Egan, Sean Murphy and a few more may not be fair but I picked players in positions that they lined out in although Ger Power,Maurice and Micko Dwyer also played very well in other ones.

Two good teams so far, although I'll try and go back a bit further. Unlike Boxty, I never had the chance to see the likes of John Joe Sheehy play, but I've read quite a bit, and have tried to assess the older guys based on how they were regarded in their own time.

Anyway, my stab would be:

1. Dan O'Keefe
2. Paidi O'Se
3. Joe Keohane
4. Joe Barrett
5. Sean Murphy
6. Bill Casey
7. Mick O'Dwyer
8. Mick O'Connell
9. Jack O'Shea
10. Tadghie Lyne
11. Dick Fitzgerald
12. Pat Spillane
13. Mikey Sheehy
14. Tom Long
15. Colm Cooper

The toughest calls for me where Keohane over O'Keefe, Paudi over Moynihan and Donie O'Sullivan, and leaving Maurice Fitzgerald out of attack. Spillane aside, Maurice could have challenged any of the others, but I felt all the other guys were more consistent over a longer period that the Cahirciveen man. Tadghie Lyne could have lost out to a few, including Gega O'Connor or even Tomas O'Se (if O'Dwyer moved forward), but my father loved Lyne, and that perhaps has influenced me there.

Great effort from our resident Kerry reporter.....a few minor alterations.

Charlie Nelligan.

Jerome O'Shea.
John O'Keeffe.
Jimmy Deenihan.

Tómas O'Sé.
Seamus Moynihan.
Mick O'Dwyer.

Mick O'Connell.
Jack O'Shea.

Maurice Fitzgerald.
Declan O'Sullivan.
Pat Spillane.

Colm Cooper.
Tom Long.
Mike Sheehy.


Declan O'Sullivan may be a tad lucky to get in here, but it's a position that Kerry have never been comfortable with (cue howls re: Ogie Moran) but he best replicates for me the qualities sought after in this position.

Thomas Clarke wrote:Two good teams so far, although I'll try and go back a bit further. Unlike Boxty, I never had the chance to see the likes of John Joe Sheehy play,.

Fooks sake man, JJS (getting like the JJB) was back in the 30's or 40's...Grrrr. (The 40's are a cool place to come from just the same)

I have picked a Kerry team based on "seeing them" with a bit of oul' book codology thrown in. Sean Murphy is in hard luck at RHB, much akin to Micko's good luck at LHB, for I remember the Waterville man giving a virtuoso display right under me in the semi-final of '59, as he (conceding about 6" and surely 3 st.) out-caught, out-fought and destroyed one of Galway's finest, the Army captain, Joe Young.
On the other wing, Hauleen McDonagh was getting fook all off Sean Murphy.
Purcell, for all his contribution to Galway, was finding the late Kevin Coffey a handfull. Stockwell was a forlorn figure leading the line....

In a lifetime, seeing him in his many roles, I doubt if Micko has had ever a finer hour....Jerome O'Shea moppped up any stray crumb to boot...

Ah, to have see the Golden Era of gaelic football, the fifties.

I hadn't heard that story about O'Dwyer, Boxty, although I have heard him speakly highly (did he ever speak of himself in any other way?!) of his own performance the following year against Sean O'Neill of Down, a game that O'Dwyer rates as one of his finest.

For a man to be that good as a defender, and then reinvent himself as a top forward, is very impressive. Most people just now think of him primarily as a manager, but what a footballer Micko was.

So, four teams posted, and only 4 players have made them all - O'Connell, Jacko, Spillane and Cooper. Hard to imagine there would be such diversity of opinion with any other county.

Three of those four were on the Team of the Century, but are we now saying that Cooper has replaced Mikey Sheehy as the Kindgom's greatest ever inside forward?

Box that was the final of 1959. I may be biased in my team selection as I have included 5 from my own local area ie South Kerry but especially back in the fifties Jerome and the two Mickos were outstanding. I often meet Jerome in the Dublin 6 area and is as fit as ever but its a pity his son defected to rugger!

Real Kerry Fan wrote:Box that was the final of 1959. I may be biased in my team selection as I have included 5 from my own local area ie South Kerry but especially back in the fifties Jerome and the two Mickos were outstanding. I often meet Jerome in the Dublin 6 area and is as fit as ever but its a pity his son defected to rugger!

You are indeed correct RKF because there's no way Boxty Mór would attempt the voyage with the car full of turf for a meaningless match like a semi-final in the month of August.....

Good banter on "Miriam meets" this morning on the wireless..(RTE 1). Her guests were Dwyer and P.O'Sé....
Contrasting characters when matters regarding came under discussion.

Micko, I'd say, has his Confirmation money...
Typical gaff from Paidi when discussing the ravaging of rural Ireland. Lamenting the drink driving rules, he mused about "oul' fellas coming in from the sticks for a pint, a couple of half-ones and a game of 31"...All over. "I condone drink-driving" he wistfully sighed, before Miriam threw him the lifebelt by urging him to try the word condemn......