Fermanagh county football team

Fermanagh defeated Cavan in the 1914 Ulster SFC semi-final and the Ulster Council nominated the county to play Wexford in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) semi-final. Because the train schedules did not allow them to get back for Sunday night, and the Great Northern Railway Company refused to run a special train because they were opposed to sport on Sunday, Fermanagh had to abdicate the responsibility to Monaghan (the Monaghan team later defeated Fermanagh in the Ulster SFC final anyway).

One of Ulster's great footballers, Armagh-born Jim McCullough, played for Fermanagh in the mid-1930s and helped them reach the 1935 Ulster SFC final and 1936 National League final.

Peter McGinnity was the outstanding player of the under-21 team which reached two All-Ireland finals and defeated Derry and Tyrone to reach the 1982 Ulster SFC final, Despite a Peter McGinnity goal that put Fermanagh into the lead with 20 minutes remaining, the county lost 0–10 to 1–4 to Armagh.

Under manager Pat King, the county achieved a hat-trick of successes in 1997 in the B Championship, Dr McKenna Cup and Division 4 of the National League.

Fermanagh was a beneficiary of the change to the GAA championship in the 2000s.

In 2003, the county defeated Donegal in the Ulster SFC, then Cavan, Meath and Mayo in All-Ireland SFC qualifiers to reach a first All-Ireland SFC quarter-final.

Charlie Mulgrew was appointed manager in January 2004.[1][2]

The county went to a replayed All-Ireland SFC semi-final in 2004, defeating (in the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers) Meath, Cork[3] and getting past Donegal with a one-point win after extra-time,[4] Then, most memorably of all, Armagh in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final, thanks to a late point by Tom Brewster. A loss to Mayo in the semi-final replay ended the county's season. In 2006 despite running All-Ireland SFC favourites Armagh close twice in the Ulster SFC, Fermanagh yet again ended the season without a trophy after losing to Donegal in the fourth round of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers. 2007 brought the loss of the county's National League Division 1 status, having failed to register a single point from its seven match campaign. Fermanagh performed better in the Ulster SFC however, only losing by an injury-time point to Tyrone. The county then defeated Wexford (for the second consecutive season) in the first round of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers. However, it was unable to record a third win in four seasons over Meath at Navan in July, losing narrowly by two points despite dominating the latter stages. Charlie Mulgrew, manager for four seasons, stood down after this match, to be succeeded by Malachy O'Rourke.[5] O'Rourke's first season featured a first appearance in an Ulster SFC final for 26 years, lost eventually to Armagh in a replay.[6][7] His time as manager ended in 2010, after Fermanagh were relegated to Division 4 of the National Football League and a heavy defeat to Monaghan in the 2010 Ulster SFC semi-final.[8]

Peter Canavan served as manager for two years, achieving promotion to Division 3 and a win against Westmeath in the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers. Canavan departed in 2013, with the county board acknowledging that he had taken the helm "at a very difficult time" and his management team stating that "significant progress has been made. The senior footballers now representing their county are fully committed, unified and ambitious".[9]

In an unexpected development, Pete McGrath was appointed as Canavan's successor in November 2013, seeing off the challenge of former player Peter McGinnity, Gerry Moane and Kevin McStay.[10] He brought the team to the 2015 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final before the players forced him out in 2017, shortly after he had said he would like to continue for another season.[11][12][13] The player heave against McGrath drew criticism from observers outside the county.[14]

Ryan McMenamin's time in charge was affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games.[15]

The Irish News 125 Fermanagh Player List

• Mick Brewster - Enniskillen Gaels
• Tom Brewster - Enniskillen Gaels
• Paul Brewster - Enniskillen Gaels
• Issac Gerard Curran - Lisnaskea Emmetts
• Ciaran Campbell - Tempo
• James Cassidy - Teemore
• Owen Clerkin - Roslea Shamrocks
• Dominic Corrigan - Kinawley
• Paul McKenna - Kinawley
• Collie Curran - Lisnaskea
• John Donnelly - Trillick
• Tommy Durnien - Lisnaskea
• Raymond Gallagher - Erne Gaels
• Rory Gallagher - Erne Gaels
• Peter Greene - Belcoo
• Vincent Greene - Kinawley
• Eamonn Maguire - St Patrick's
• Stephen Maguire - Belcoo
• Johnny Monaghan - St Joseph's
• Cormac McAdam - Lisnaskea
• Ryan McCluskey - Enniskillen Gaels
• Eamonn McDonnell - Knockninny Harps
• Peter McGinnity - Roslea Shamrocks
• Martin McGrath - St Joseph's
• Sean McGrath - St Joseph's
• John Hanna - Brookeborough
• Paddy McGuinness - Devenish
• Frank McGurn - Belnaleck
• Sean Maguire/Fr Ignatius McQuillan - Newtownbutler
• Barry Owens- Teemore
• Barney Reilly - Teemore
• J. J. Treacy - Devenish
• P. T. Treacy - Devenish
• Niall Corrigan - Enniskillen Gaels
• Seán Quigley - Roslea Shamrocks
• Ruari Corrigan - Kinawley
• Seamie Quigley - Roslea Shamrocks

• Rory Gallagher, with 3–9 against Monaghan in 2002, matched the 5–3 record set by Johnny Joyce of Dublin in 1960 for the highest individual scorer in any championship football match. Cillian O'Connor's four goals (accompanied by nine points) in the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final at Croke Park broke that record after eighteen years.[16][17]
• In 2015, Cillian O'Connor was in the running for the Golden Boot and initially finished tied for top with Fermanagh's Seán Quigley. However, following a review of Mayo's championship winning DVD, the Gaelic Athletic Association realised they had incorrectly noted O'Connor's score as they had recorded him as having scored 1-6 but he had actually scored 1–7. As a result, O'Connor's tally was increased by 1 which allowed him to claim the Golden Boot.[18]

• 1982: Peter McGinnity
• 2004: Barry Owens, Martin McGrath
• 2006: Barry Owens
• 2015: Seán Quigley (nominated)[19][20]