Peter Canavan

Canavan is from Glencull, near Ballygawley, County Tyrone[14] and was the tenth of eleven children.[2] His older brother, Pascal, played with him on the Tyrone panel for most of the 1990s. He is married to Finola (sister of former Tyrone team-mate Ronan McGarrity[14]), and has four children, Aine, Claire, Darragh and Ruairi, and has been a physical education teacher in Holy Trinity College, Cookstown, throughout most of his career (Gaelic games are amateur sports).[14][15] While there, he taught Owen Mulligan his point-taking technique, and the pair have been known in the media as 'master and student' ever since, particularly by television commentators.[16]

In 2003, just over a week before Tyrone's Ulster final appearance against Down, Canavan's father, Seán, died. It came as a shock to Canavan, who had thought his father (who was already in hospital) was getting better. He decided to play in the match, stating that he knew, subconsciously "[he] was going to be playing in the Ulster final all along and Daddy certainly wouldn't have wanted [him] to do anything but play."[17]

Canavan has suffered from asthma since he was a child, and has battled throughout his career to control the ailment. He told the Asthma Society of Ireland, "I thought to myself, this is something that I am just going to have to put up with." In later years, however, improved medication has afforded Canavan what he described as, "a better quality of life".[18]

To play for an inter-county GAA team, Canavan had to work around a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) bylaw, because of a dispute in his parish, Errigal Ciarán. Two clubs claimed to represent the parish, the established Ballygawley St. Ciaran's club and the newly formed club, then called Errigal Ciaran Naomh Malachai. Players from the Errigal team were not recognised as being GAA members, because the club failed to register correctly. Canavan registered as a member of the Killyclogher hurling club, even though he didn't play the sport, just so he would be eligible for selection for the Tyrone minors. Prior to that, he had not played legitimate club football, but had forged his way onto the Tyrone under-age teams with his performances at school level. The two clubs united under the banner of Errigal Ciaran two years later.[19]

In 1988, Canavan won the Ulster minor Championship, an under eighteens tournament, but lost in the All-Ireland semi-final to Kerry. The crux of this team, including Adrian Cush, Ciaran Corr and others, would stay together as part of the senior team for most of the nineties. Canavan captained Tyrone to two All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championships titles in 1991 and 1992, having been on the team which lost the 1990 final, again to Kerry.[3] In four years as an Under 21 player, Canavan scored 13–53 (13 goals and 53 points—each goal equals 3 points; 13 × 3 + 53 = 92 points, see GAA scoring rules) for Tyrone.[5] By the time he was twenty, he was already an automatic choice in the senior panel.

Canavan's name was already known around Tyrone because of his exploits for the Under 21 team,[8] but he started to make an impact in the Ulster Senior Football Championship in 1994, as Tyrone lost to eventual All-Ireland champions, Down. He was the top scorer in the province,[4] earning him his first All Star, at the age of 23.[20]

During a weak period for Tyrone Seniors in the late 1990s, Canavan represented Ireland in the inaugural International Rules Series in 1998 against Australia. In 1999, he was named vice-captain of the team for the tour to Australia, and Ireland came away convincing winners, with Canavan scoring eleven points in the first test in Adelaide, South Australia.[7] In 2000, In the first test Australia's Jason Akermanis gave Canavan a bloody nose 20 seconds into the game.[25] Canavan was sent off in the second test, after fighting with Akermanis. He was banned for one match, which wouldn't be played until the next year, so he ruled himself out of the next series.[26] In five tests Canavan scored 37 points, becoming one of the few Irish players to leave their mark on the Australian supporters.[27]

Tyrone were one of the favourites for the 2002 All-Ireland, having won their first National Football League in the spring,[24] but ended up losing a qualifying match to Sligo, even though Canavan scored six points on the day.[28] That particular defeat stunned him so much, he considered retiring Inter County football.[29] Despite that, he won his fourth All Star that year, the only Tyrone player to do so,[20] which made him Tyrone's most represented player on the All Star Roll of Honour, overtaking Eugene McKenna, his manager at the time.[30]

2005: Championship swan song

Canavan was used mostly as an 'impact substitute' throughout the 2005 Championship—brought on to either unsettle the opposition, or rally his teammates.[8] This backfired when he was controversially sent off within a minute of coming on as a substitute in the Ulster Final replay replay.[43]

In the All-Ireland semi-final against Armagh (who were meeting Tyrone for the third time that year), Canavan scored with the last kick of the game, winning the match for Tyrone.[44] Kevin McStay, a former Mayo player, described it as the point of the season, despite the free kick being from a relatively straightforward position.[45]

Canavan (13, white) drilling home Tyrone's winning goal in the 2005 All-Ireland final

Mickey Harte chose Canavan on the starting line-up of the All-Ireland final and went on to score Tyrone's only goal, winning on a scoreline of 1–16 to 2–10.[46]

He retired from inter-county football following this performance with a sixth All Star, ending a sixteen-year tenure in Senior championship football.[47] He said of his decision, "I have spent enough time on the treatment table", referring to the instances where he played while carrying potentially career-threatening injuries, as he had done in 1996 and 2003. Canavan's appearance in the 2005 final (his last game for Tyrone), was his forty-ninth Championship match.

Canavan was part of both Tyrone sides that won the National Football League title two years in a row—in 2002 and 2003[8]—and he competed in the 1994 final against Derry. His success in other competitions include five Railway Cups, two Vocational Schools titles, and one Dr. McKenna Cup.[5]

After retiring from inter-county football, he continued to play at club level for Errigal Ciarán until 2007.[48] During the seventeen years he played he won six Tyrone Senior Club titles and two Ulster Club Championships,[49] and in 2006, he won his first Tyrone All Star for his performances in the club championship.[50] In December 2008, he moved into management for the first time, by taking charge of Errigal Ciaran,[51] leading them to win the Tyrone All County League final in 2009.[52]

His career features many examples of indiscipline,[53][54] including on-pitch scuffles with other players.[25] which at times threatened to overshadow his achievements. Jack O'Connor, Kerry's manager in the 2005 All-Ireland final, suggested in his autobiography that Canavan tackled Colm Cooper off the ball, preventing him getting into a goal-scoring position,[55] a claim backed up by Sunday Tribune journalist, Kieran Shannon.[56]

Canavan was appointed manager of Fermanagh in November 2011 on a three-year term to be reviewed annually, with trainer Kieran Donnelly and selector Enda Kilpatrick joining him.[57] His first game against Antrim, saw Fermanagh winning by a scoreline of 2 – 11 to 1 – 06.

He stepped down as Fermanagh manager in September 2013.[58]

However, Canavan was not out of management for long. He was appointed manager of Cavan Gaels in December 2013.[59] He guided them to their 1st Senior Championship in 3 years in October 2014, defeating Kingscourt Stars in the final by a point.[60] This was seen as a huge success for Canavan and the Cavan Gaels Club.

After delivering the Oliver Plunkett trophy back to the Cavan town club, he then went on to become a selector with the Tyrone under-21 panel in 2015. He was part of the management team which consisted of Feargal Logan (manager) and Brian Dooher. They guided the under-21s to an Ulster Final victory against Donegal in Celtic Park, and subsequently, to the All-Ireland title, defeating Tipperary in the final.

When Mickey Harte left as Tyrone senior manager in 2020, Canavan ruled himself out due to family involvement and did not join Logan and Dooher, who were subsequently appointed as Harte's successors.[61][62]

Canavan has written a column for the Gaelic games magazine, Hogan Stand[63] and the Northern Ireland edition of The Daily Mirror.[64] and in 2008, he joined TV3 as a football pundit for their first year of broadcasting live GAA matches.[65]

He is an analyst for the BBC.[66]

He is an analyst for Sky Sports.[67]

• In May 2020, a public poll conducted by RTÉ.ie named Canavan in the half-forward line alongside Pat Spillane and Diarmuid Connolly in a team of footballers who had won All Stars during the era of The Sunday Game.[68]
• Also in May 2020, the Irish Independent named Canavan at number three in its "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years".[69]

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