Armagh county football team

The Armagh county football team represents Armagh GAA, the County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the Gaelic sport of football. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Ulster Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.

For information on this team's most recent season, see 2020 Armagh county football team season.

Armagh's home ground is the Athletic Grounds, Armagh. The team's manager is Kieran McGeeney.

The team last won the Ulster Senior Championship in 2008, the All-Ireland Senior Championship in 2002 and the National League in 2005.

Colours and crest

Armagh's county colours are orange and white. Originally they wore black and amber striped shirts until 1926 when Dominican nuns from Omeath, in County Louth knitted the team a pair of orange and white kits ahead of a Junior clash with Dublin which they have kept since.[1]

Team sponsorship

The Armagh County Board negotiated a number of new sponsorship deals in 2012, including telecommunications company Rainbow Communications as principal jersey sponsor,[2] and Simply Fruit for the minor team. Previously, the county's main sponsor had been Morgan Fuels, but that 17-year relationship ended somewhat acrimoniously in 2012.[3][4]

History

Armagh became only the second team to win the Ulster Senior Football Championship in 1890. In the early years of the GAA, a club that won its county championship went on to represent the county and would also wear the county colours. Armagh Harps represented Armagh in the Ulster final, beating Tyrone (Cookstown's Owen Roes), but losing to All-Ireland Champions Cork (Midleton) in the All-Ireland Semi-Final.

Despite early success at provincial level, national success at junior and minor level and All-Ireland final appearances in 1953 and 1977, it took until 2002 for Armagh to win their first and only All-Ireland Senior Football Championship under manager Joe Kernan. The county won the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship, in 1949 and again in 2009, but lost the 1957 All-Ireland Minor final to Meath.

Joe Kernan's Golden Era: 2002–06

Joe Kernan is widely regarded as Armagh's most successful manager having won one League title, four Ulster Championships and one All-Ireland Championship.

Kernan–McGeeney interim: 2007–14

Peter McDonnell was appointed Armagh managed for the 2007–2009 seasons. During his time as Armagh manager, McDonnell won one Ulster Championship. After a disappointing 2009 campaign which resulted in Armagh being defeated by Tyrone, Peter McDonnell stepped down as Armagh manager.

Paddy O'Rourke, from the neighbouring county of Down, replaced McDonnell as Armagh manager between 2010 and 2012. During this time O'Rourke won the National Football League Division 2 title.

Paul Grimley replaced O'Rourke as Armagh manager for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Grimley resigned following a one-point defeat to Donegal in the 2014 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final.

Kieran McGeeney era: 2015–

In 2015, Kieran McGeeney took over as manager on a five-year contract that was extended by a year in 2019 to 2020.

In his first season as Armagh manager, McGeeney secured promotion to Division 2 of the National Football League after beating Fermanagh in the final.

In his first Ulster championship game as manager, Armagh were defeated by Donegal on a scoreline of 0–8 to 2-11. Armagh's championship continued through the qualifiers where they managed a win over Wicklow but were then defeated by Galway in round 2.

The 2016 NFL campaign ended with four teams finishing on the same points but by virtue of having a poor scoring difference Armagh were relegated to division 3. In the 2016 Ulster championship, Armagh suffered a defeat at the hands of Cavan forcing Armagh to continue their championship through the backdoor which resulted in a defeat to Laois in round 1.

Armagh's 2017 NFL campaign ended with Tipperary beating Armagh in the last league game, this resulted in Armagh missing out on promotion back to division 2.

In the Ulster championship Armagh went out to neighbours Down. However, Armagh recovered with wins over Fermanagh, Westmeath, Tipperary and Kildare to book a place in the All Ireland quarter finals where they were defeated by rivals Tyrone.

Armagh started the 2018 season with promotion to division 2 but their Ulster championship ended with a loss to Fermanagh in the quarter final. Armagh continued their championship in round 1 of the qualifiers where they beat Westmeath, Sligo and Clare GAA but were unable to overcome Connacht finalists Roscommon.

The 2019 campaign started off with Armagh securing their division 2 status. Armagh's 2019 Ulster championships started off with a quarter final win against neighbours Down which would mark Kieran McGeeney's first win in Ulster as manager of Armagh. In the quarter final Cavan and Armagh were inseparable in the first game but Cavan took the victory in the replay.

In the qualifiers Armagh were pitted against Monaghan winning the game 2–17 to 1-12. In round 3 of the qualifiers Armagh were drawn against Mayo who would eventually defeat the Orchard county by a point.

Current squad

Team as per Armagh vs Roscommon in the 2018 All-Ireland SFC

No. Player Position Club
1 Blaine Hughes Goalkeeper Carraig an Chrupáin
2 Patrick Burns Right Corner Back Foirceall
3 Aaron McKay Full Back Dromainn Tí
4 Gregory McCabe Left Corner Back Sheáin Ui Néill
5 Mark Shields Right Half Back An Chrois Bhán
6 Brendan Donaghy Centre Back Cluain Mhor
7 Aidan Forker Left Half Back An Machaire
8 Charlie Vernon Midfield Cláirsigh Ard Mhacha
9 Connaire Mackin Midfield Sheain Ui Neill
10 Rory Grugan ( C ) Right Half Forward Baile Mhic an Aba
11 Jemar Hall Centre Forward Foirceall
12 Niall Grimley Left Half Forward Na Madáin
13 Ryan McShane Right Corner Forward Cláirsigh Ard Mhacha
14 Andrew Murnin Full Forward Naomh Pól
15 Stephen Sheridan Left Corner Forward Foirceal
No. Player Position Club
16 Patrick Morrison Substitute Cláirsigh Ard Mhacha
17 Paul Hughes Substitute Crossmaglen Rangers
18 Niall Rowland Substitute Cullaville Blues
19 Ciaran Higgins Substitute An Machaire
20 Kevin Dyas Substitute Dromainn Tí
21 Ryan Henderson Substitute Clann Eireann

Current management team

Managerial history
Peter McDonnell (right), who was then Arrmagh senior manager, with Antrim manager Liam Bradley (left) at the launch of the 2009 Dr McKenna Cup
The era of the two Brians
1995–2001
NFLProvincialAll IrelandTotal
Games Played3813556
Games Won187227
Percentage Won47.37%53.85%40.00%48.22%
Joe Kernan's Golden Era
2002–2006
NFLProvincialAll IrelandTotal
Games Played38181470
Games Won23141047
Percentage Won60.53%77.77%71.43%67.14%
Peter McDonnell
2007–2009
NFLProvincialAll IrelandTotal
Games Played216330
Games Won103013
Percentage Won47.62%50.0%0.0%43.33%
Paddy O'Rourke
2010–2012
NFLProvincialAll IrelandTotal
Games Played225734
Games Won102113
Percentage Won45.45%40.00%14.29%38.23%
Paul Grimley
2013–2014
NFLProvincialAll IrelandTotal
Games Played144725
Games Won41510
Percentage Won28.57%25.00%71.43%40.00%
Kieran McGeeney
2015–present
NFLProvincialAll IrelandTotal
Games Played4061461
Games Won231934
Percentage won57.5%16.66%64.29%55.74%

[As of 8 March 2020]

Players

All Stars

Armagh has a total of 24 All Star awards.

Honours

All-Ireland Senior Football Championships: 1

Year Squad[8] Scoreline
2002 Benny Tierney, Enda McNulty, Justin McNulty, Francis Bellew, Aidan O'Rourke, Kieran McGeeney, A. McCann, Paul McGrane, J. Toal, P. McKeever, John McEntee, Oisín McConville, Stevie McDonnell, Rónán Clarke, Diarmuid Marsden. Subs: B. O'Hagan for McEntee, T. McEntee for McKeever. Armagh 1-12 Kerry 0-14

All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championships: 1

Year Squad Scoreline
2004 G. Wilson, G. Smyth, F. Moriarty, Andy Mallon, Aaron Kernan, Ciaran McKeever, B. McDonald, M. Mackin, G. Swift, G. Loughran, S. Kernan, P. Toal, M. McNamee, R. Austin, B. Mallon. Subs - P. Duffy, B. Toner, J. Murtagh, M. Moore, S. O'Neill. Armagh 2-08 Mayo 1-09

All-Ireland Minor Football Championships: 2

Year Squad Scoreline
1949 L. McCorry, E. McCann, J. Brattan, J. McKnight, F. Kernan, B. O’Neill, T. McConville, E. Mee, S. Collins, T. Connolly, S. Blaney, J. Cunningham, S. Smith, P.J. McKeever, B. McGrane. Sub - M. McKnight for Collins. Armagh 1-07 Kerry 1-05
2009 S. O’Reilly, K. Downey, R. Finnegan, K. Nugent, D. McKenna, N. Rowland, J. Morgan, P. Carragher (0-1), J. Donnelly, R. Grugan (0-1, 0-1f), A. Murnin (0-1), C. King, R. Tasker (0-3), E. McVerry (0-3, 0-1f), G. McParland. Sub - C. McCafferty for Finnegan ’53, T. McAlinden (0-1) for McVerry ’54. Armagh 0-10 Mayo 0-07

All-Ireland Junior Football Championships: 1

Year Squad Scoreline
1926 C. Morgan, H. Cumiskey, Gene Hanratty, J. Vallely, Joe Harney, J. Maguire, Owen Connolly, J. Corrigan, F. McAvinchey, F. Toner, P. Fearon, J. Kernan, H. Arthurs, J. Donaghy, J. McCusker. Sub - J. McEntee for McAvinchey. Armagh 4-11 Dublin 0-04

National Football Leagues: 1

Year Squad Scoreline
2005 P. Hearty; Andy Mallon, Francis Bellew, P. McCormack 0–1; Aaron Kernan 0–1, Kieran McGeeney, C. McKeever; J. Toal, Paul McGrane; M. O'Rourke, John McEntee 0–1, Oisín McConville 0–2; Stevie McDonnell 0-10, Rónán Clarke 0–2, B. Mallon 0–4. Subs - P. McKeever 1–0, A. McCann, J. McNulty, P. Loughran, A. O'Rourke. Armagh 1-21 Wexford 1-14

References
  1. Neville, Conor (17 May 2016). "6 Counties Who Have Changed Their GAA Kit Colours And The Reasons Why". Balls.ie.
  2. "Grimley welcomes new Armagh sponsors". Hogan Stand. 2 November 2012.
  3. Keys, Colm (8 November 2012). "Morgan adds fuel to Armagh sponsor row". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  4. O'Riordan, Ian (8 November 2012). "Sponsor ends ground deal with Armagh". The Irish Times. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  5. "Derry win very special - Armagh assistant boss McCorry". BBC Sport. 1 November 2020.
  6. "Donaghy joins Armagh backroom team". Hogan Stand. 14 December 2020.
  7. "GAA: Kieran Donaghy joins Armagh's backroom team for 2021". BBC Sport. 16 December 2020.
  8. "Armagh are champions". BBC Sport. 22 September 2002.
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