Irish Independent 100 Greatest Football Stars Of Today

[Don Johnson]

Taken from yesterday's paper, says the rankings were based on talent, commitment, success, form and longevity.

1 C Cooper
2 T O'Se
3 S Cavanagh
4 B Dooher
5 P Joyce
6 Declan O'Sullivan
7 S McDonnell
8 M O'Se
9 G Canty
10 S Cluxton
11 S O'Neill
12 B Brogan
13 P Jordan
14 P Galvin
15 K Donaghy
16 B Coulter
17 A Brogan
18 J Doyle
19 C Gormley
20 D Earley
21 M Forde
22 M Meehan
23 R McMenamin
24 P Bradley
25 O Mulligan
26 N Murphy
27 J Galvin
28 T O'Sullivan
29 R Clarke
30 D Goulding
31 M Clarke
32 Joe McMahon
33 A Quirke
34 Brian McGuigan
35 Ciaran McManus
36 D Dolan
37 T Freeman
38 Michael Murphy
39 E O'Hara
40 M Shields
41 S Bray
42 K Cassidy
43 K Lacey
44 A Dillon
45 P Keenan
46 J Sheridan
47 N McNamee
48 C McKeever
49 K Young
50 A Kernan
51 J Kavangh
52 D Harte
53 N Crawford
54 Justin McMahon
55 P O'Neill
56 B Cahill
57 D O'Connor
58 G Connaughton
59 D Kelly
60 Danny Hughes
61 M McGrath
62 L Glynn
63 D Shine
64 S Johnston
65 P Finlay
66 P Griffin
67 T Griffin
68 E Bolton
69 A Lynch
70 P McConnell
71 N O'Leary
72 G O'Kane
73 J Bergin
74 S Scanlon
75 D Henry
76 C Mortimer
77 C Harrison
78 I Ryan
79 P Kerrigan
80 C Lyng
81 B Owens
82 D Freeman
83 J McKeon
84 Mick McCann
85 K Reilly
86 E Bradley
87 P McMahon (Laois)
88 B McVeigh
89 K Higgins
90 P Hearty
91 F Hanley
92 D Clerkin
93 R Munnelly
94 D Clarke
95 T Walsh (Carlow)
96 P Barden
97 D Casey
98 D Tubridy
99 B Grogan
100 T Mortimer

That was a mission typing those out.

[5 Sams]

Michael Shields only at No 40 jumps out straight away....He'd be in my top 20 at least

[whiskeysteve]

I HATE these fuckin' lists.

You could chop them up a hundred ways and still argue the case.

Wouldn't waste my breath getting contentious on its ass

[sammymaguire]

How does one decide that Philip Jordan is 13 and Ricey is 23??

Interesting list but hard to work out why it's in the order it's in... Cooper no.1 fair enough

[The Worker]

Ronan Clarke ahead of Marty Clarke....someone is having a steffi graf.

[Maguire01]

Ronan Clarke ahead of Marty Clarke....someone is having a steffi graf.

The opening post said it was based on talent, commitment, success, form and longevity. How long has Marty Clarke been playing? How many senior Ulster or AI titles does he have? Ronan Clarke should surely be ahead of him at this stage.

[pintsofguinness]

Ronan Clarke ahead of Marty Clarke....someone is having a steffi graf.

The opening post said it was based on talent, commitment, success, form and longevity. How long has Marty Clarke been playing? How many senior Ulster or AI titles does he have? Ronan Clarke should surely be ahead of him at this stage.

And Ronan Clarke is well ahead of Marty Clarke under all those headings!

[thewobbler]

Longevity shouldn't have come into this. It skews the whole thing sideways, and puts a greater emphasis on many seasons of decent standards rather than what it's meant to be, naming who the stars of the game are.

In compiling rankings, I'd use one key marker. When kids from a county at the opposite end ofthe country are playing football, how many want to be him?

[Maguire01]

Is C McManus Monaghan's Conor McManus? If so, whilst he has the talent, i'm not sure he stacks up in the other categories at this stage in his career above Tommy. Similarly whilst Darren Hughes is a great talent, I wouldn't rank him above Finlay at this stage. McManus and Hughes both have potential to be the backbone of the Monaghan team over the next 5-10 years, but it's probably a bit premature to be ranking them above the others.

35 C McManus
37 T Freeman
60 D Hughes
65 P Finlay
82 D Freeman
92 D Clerkin

[Maguire01]

Longevity shouldn't have come into this. It skews the whole thing sideways, and puts a greater emphasis on many seasons of decent standards rather than what it's meant to be, naming who the stars of the game are.

In compiling rankings, I'd use one key marker. When kids from a county at the opposite end ofthe country are playing football, how many want to be him?

That's who has the highest profile. There are great players in weak counties that kids at the other end of the country would never have heard of. For example, what kids in Cork or Kerry were running around pretending to be Barry Owens five years ago?

[Donnellys Hollow]

Is C McManus Monaghan's Conor McManus?

Nope. Ciarán McManus of Offaly.

[Maguire01]

Is C McManus Monaghan's Conor McManus?

Nope. Ciarán McManus of Offaly.

Ah right, that explains it!

Don J, type that out again with full names and counties. 

[mattockranger]

10 possible Players missing from the List

Neil Gallagher
Aidan Walsh
Padraig Clancy
Fergal Doherty
Ciaran Hyland
Redmond Barry
John O'Brien
Colm McFadden
Alan Costello
Brian Kavanagh

[Don Johnson]

Is C McManus Monaghan's Conor McManus? If so, whilst he has the talent, i'm not sure he stacks up in the other categories at this stage in his career above Tommy. Similarly whilst Darren Hughes is a great talent, I wouldn't rank him above Finlay at this stage. McManus and Hughes both have potential to be the backbone of the Monaghan team over the next 5-10 years, but it's probably a bit premature to be ranking them above the others.

35 C McManus
37 T Freeman
60 D Hughes
65 P Finlay
82 D Freeman
92 D Clerkin

60 was Danny Hughes, I should have made that clearer sorry.

[Maguire01]

Is C McManus Monaghan's Conor McManus? If so, whilst he has the talent, i'm not sure he stacks up in the other categories at this stage in his career above Tommy. Similarly whilst Darren Hughes is a great talent, I wouldn't rank him above Finlay at this stage. McManus and Hughes both have potential to be the backbone of the Monaghan team over the next 5-10 years, but it's probably a bit premature to be ranking them above the others.

35 C McManus
37 T Freeman
60 D Hughes
65 P Finlay
82 D Freeman
92 D Clerkin

60 was Danny Hughes, I should have made that clearer sorry.

It all makes a lot more sense now!