TG4 - Best Footballer: 1984-2009

[loughshore lad]

For a purist like myself, Fitzgerald is out in front of Canavan. Granted that Canavan was a superb talent, but to me he has always been a bit of a flawed genius.

There is the patchy disciplinary record, the rumours of broken jaws, the 5 year hiatus from'97 to '01 where he may have cost Tyrone at least one All-Ireland, the inability to consistently get the better of Kieran McKeever (a man who is nowhere near the top 25 list according to TG4) and the nagging suspicion that the GAA hierarchy contrived to hand him his first Celtic cross in '03.

No such suspicions with the tanned Cahirciveen man.

He gets my vote.

His unavailability for Tyrone from 97 - 2000 certainly didnt cost Tyrone an AI in that period as even with him in tow they would not have had that type of quality.  The inability to consistently get the better of McKeever is a bit of a red herring in my opinion.  McKeever may have marked him out of it on a few occassions but then again Canavan was sublime for Tyrone in the 95 and 96 championship meetings between Tyrone and Derry.

Brian McGuigan was a better player than anyone in that list. He gets my vote.

Brian's unfortunate run of injuries would have cost him a place in the reckoning for the likes of this, in spring 2006 he was the best player in the country with the best years of his career in front of him.

I was thinking more 2001.

2001 team had too many weak links and the lads who played on the minor teams of 97-98 were that year or 2 young.

[magpie seanie]

For me this is a straight choice between Maurice Fitzgerald and Peter Canavan. I've gone for Maurice Fitzgerald. Genius and all that Canavan was I don't think he can eclipse Maurice. Players like Canavan come along maybe once a generation. Players like Maurice Fitzgerald come along once.

[BennyHarp]

This myth that Canavan could never get the better McKeever is promoted by Derry people and people who dont really know much about football but dont like tyrone! As was pointed out by someone earlier - in 1995 and 1996 Canavan completely took McKeever to the cleaners in major championship matches. The1995 Ulster semi still being one of the greatest indiviual performances i have witnessed by a player at any level! So to lazily say that Canavan could never get the better of McKeever is an idiotic statement worthy of Liam Hayes!! As for his hiatus from 1997-2001 - you cant blame a man for getting injured, this should in fact further increase his claim to be the best, as how many of the players listed above have come back from career threatening injuries only to re-establish themselves at the top of the game and claim two all-ireland medals! 

[Donnellys Hollow]

This myth that Canavan could never get the better McKeever is promoted by Derry people and people who dont really know much about football but dont like tyrone! As was pointed out by someone earlier - in 1995 and 1996 Canavan completely took McKeever to the cleaners in major championship matches. The1995 Ulster semi still being one of the greatest indiviual performances i have witnessed by a player at any level! So to lazily say that Canavan could never get the better of McKeever is an idiotic statement worthy of Liam Hayes!! As for his hiatus from 1997-2001 - you cant blame a man for getting injured, this should in fact further increase his claim to be the best, as how many of the players listed above have come back from career threatening injuries only to re-establish themselves at the top of the game and claim two all-ireland medals!

Spillane? Only he came back to win 4 more All-Irelands!

[BennyHarp]

This myth that Canavan could never get the better McKeever is promoted by Derry people and people who dont really know much about football but dont like tyrone! As was pointed out by someone earlier - in 1995 and 1996 Canavan completely took McKeever to the cleaners in major championship matches. The1995 Ulster semi still being one of the greatest indiviual performances i have witnessed by a player at any level! So to lazily say that Canavan could never get the better of McKeever is an idiotic statement worthy of Liam Hayes!! As for his hiatus from 1997-2001 - you cant blame a man for getting injured, this should in fact further increase his claim to be the best, as how many of the players listed above have come back from career threatening injuries only to re-establish themselves at the top of the game and claim two all-ireland medals!

Spillane? Only he came back to win 4 more All-Irelands!

I didnt say none did - my question was how many? Probably colm o rourke as well!

[saffron sam2]

This myth that Canavan could never get the better McKeever is promoted by Derry people and people who dont really know much about football but dont like tyrone! As was pointed out by someone earlier - in 1995 and 1996 Canavan completely took McKeever to the cleaners in major championship matches. The1995 Ulster semi still being one of the greatest indiviual performances i have witnessed by a player at any level! So to lazily say that Canavan could never get the better of McKeever is an idiotic statement worthy of Liam Hayes!! As for his hiatus from 1997-2001 - you cant blame a man for getting injured, this should in fact further increase his claim to be the best, as how many of the players listed above have come back from career threatening injuries only to re-establish themselves at the top of the game and claim two all-ireland medals!

And who said that?

You appear to have missed my use of the word "consistently" or you may not have read my post.

You really should think before you post.

But the more I read about Canavan on this thread, the more convinced I am that Fitzgerald should get the accolade. We have posters talking about a career that spanned '88 - '05, but there appears to have been a gap of 4/5 years there. Injured or otherwise, you can't really use these years as evidence of his (undoubted) greatness. Nor, I would suggest should you use a Vocational Schools title for your case, unless it is a weak case. The two All-Irelands are also a bit of a red herring, won at the tail end of a career and 8 / 9 years after what some posters think is "one of the greatest individual performances".

However, undoubtedly the strongest evidence is the fact that Magpie Seanie could see beyond his red tinted glasses and pick Fitzgerald.

I would probably have Canavan second, but there were too many flaws in his game to justify #1.

[ONeill]

Maybe the wee man needed those flaws in order to save his remaining teeth.

[saffron sam2]

Maybe the wee man needed those flaws in order to save his remaining teeth.

You'll have to do better than that Shane. Whilst it is beyond dispute that Canavan was the victim of gross thuggery during the early part of career and whilst there is much validity in "the looking after yourself" argument, it is also clear that he over-stepped the mark on numerous occasions.

Something, which to my knowledge, Fitzgerald never did.

[Bensars]

If Fitzgerald was playing club football  in tyrone and annually in the Ulster championship i would have no doubt these "flaws" may have evolved.


Anyway doesnt really matter as these awards are usually won by  individuals with concerted campaigns  behind them rather than a reasonable logical selection. Specifically thinking back to RTE 20 top moments a few years back.

[haranguerer]

Not from tyrone, dont like tyrone, but definitely canavan.

Used to love watching Trevor Giles too, pure quality

As said before - whelan??! What a joke.

[No way ref]

Here goes...
I honestly believe that Maurice Fitz was greatly over rated. He may be the most naturally talented footballer ihave ever seen but definately not the best. There is a huge difference. Indeed i would rate Moynihan and Dara O Se as better footballers. Neither would possess the god given talent of Fitzgerald but i wiuld rather have either of them in my team.
Ready for the backlash from the purists 

[saffron sam2]

If Fitzgerald was playing club football  in tyrone and annually in the Ulster championship i would have no doubt these "flaws" may have evolved.

Whereas Kerry club football is renowned for its total lack of any physicality. Puffs the lot of them. A ridiculous contribution.



Here's Kieran Shannon's thoughts

In being such public property, Cooper is there to be deconstructed. Liam Hayes has questioned Cooper's claims to greatness, saying that he could never win a game on his own the way a Canavan or Colm O'Rourke did. It's a dubious argument; for every brilliant performance of Canavan or O'Rourke's, we'd be able to counter it immediately with one from Cooper. But there was another fundamental reason why it was flawed. Only Cooper's dodgy spells were recalled by Hayes; never Canavan's or O'Rourke's.

The country had never heard of Colm O'Rourke before he hit a 14-yard free off the upright against Dublin in a 1983 Leinster semi-final. O'Rourke by then was 25. Cooper was only 25 last year.

Peter Canavan was 23 by the time he won his first championship match. When Cooper was 23 he had won three All Stars and three All Irelands. Liam will magnify Cooper's run of four poor-to-mediocre games in the middle of Championships 2006 and 2009, without any mention of Canavan's five-year anonymity from 1997 to 2001. We say this not to question Canavan or O'Rourke's greatness, but to defend Cooper's. He's been a gift to the game.

Shannon must be from Derry or hate Tyrone. Or possibly both.

[thewobbler]

SS2 - McGuigan shades Blaney in my book because he knew (knows) where the posts are. His performance in the 2005 AI final was the best I ever saw.

[Cúig huaire]

SS2 - McGuigan shades Blaney in my book because he knew (knows) where the posts are. His performance in the 2005 AI final was the best I ever saw.

No offence to McGuigan, but he isnt good enough to clean Blaneys boots.

[No way ref]

SS2 - McGuigan shades Blaney in my book because he knew (knows) where the posts are. His performance in the 2005 AI final was the best I ever saw.

No offence to McGuigan, but he isnt good enough to clean Blaneys boots.

Ah now thats pure rubbish