Kieran McGeeney
Kieran McGeeney (born 18 October 1971) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player, who currently manages his native county, having previously managed the senior Kildare county team from 2007 until 2013.
McGeeney played football with his local club Mullaghbawn Cúchullain's in Armagh and also for Na Fianna club in Dublin. He was a member of the Armagh senior football team from 1992 until 2007, captaining the county to the 2002 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, their first and only *le.
Contents
- 1 Playing career
- 1.1 Club
- 1.2 Inter-county
- 1.3 International rules
- 2 Management
- 3 Honours
- 4 References
Playing career
Club
Born at Mullaghbawn, County Armagh, McGeeney was a member of Mullaghbawn's 1995 Armagh Senior Football Championship and Ulster Senior Club Football Championship winning side. He later moved to Na Fianna on the northside of Dublin. With them he won the 1999 Leinster Senior Club Football Championship and three Dublin Senior Football Championships.
Inter-county
McGeeney captained Armagh to a historic first and only All-Ireland *le in 2002. He won three All Stars Awards (1999, 2000 and 2002) and six Ulster Senior Football Championship medals (1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). He also received the 2002 Texaco Footballer of the Year award.
McGeeney retired from inter-county football in 2007 but returned to the game as the manager of the Kildare footballers later that year. He led the county to a Leinster final appearance in 2009. They also reached the All- Ireland semi final in 2010 where they narrowly lost to Down. In 2013, McGeeney managed the Kildare U21s to the Leinster *le.
International rules
McGeeney represented Ireland on a number of occasions against Australia, captaining his country in the 2006 International Rules Series. He led the Irish team who faced Australia in the first test at Pearse Stadium and in the second test at Croke Park. He has currently made twelve appearances for his country, making his debut back in 1998.
Management
McGeeney managed the Kildare senior football team from 2007 until 2013.
On 15 July 2012, Sean Johnston made his debut for Kildare in an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifier against his native Cavan, coming on as a subs*ute late in the second half and scoring Kildare's final point of the match. The subs*ution was regarded by many as a genius managerial move by McGeeney whose team were only winning by 16 points at the time. Some commentators recognise this move as the starting point for McGeeney's illustrious and successful managerial career which so far includes one under 21 Leinster *le.
He was axed after losing a ballot by county delegates by one vote, 29 to 28 in September 2013.In October 2013, McGeeney joined the management team of the Armagh football team under Paul Grimley .
In November 2013, it was announced that McGeeney would be involved with the Tipperary hurling team for 2014 as a member of the back room team.
McGeeney took over from Paul Grimley as manager of his native Armagh in 2015.
Honours
- In May 2020, the Irish Independent named McGeeney as one of the "dozens of brilliant players" who narrowly missed selection for its "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years".