Dinny Allen

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Dinny Allen
Dinny Allen. Villa Maria. Waterville
Personal information
Irish name Donnacha Ó hAilín
Sport Dual player
Football Position: Full-forward
Hurling Position:
Half-forward
Born (1952-08-09) 9 August 1952 (age 71)
Cork, Ireland
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Nickname The Dinnmeister, Wise Dennis
Occupation Bank official
Club(s)
Years Club Apps (scores)
1969–1991
Nemo Rangers
 108 (40-245)
Club titles
Cork titles
 8
Munster titles 6
All-Ireland Titles 4
Inter-county(ies)
Years County Apps (scores)
1972–1989
1975
 Cork (SF)
Cork (SH)		 34 (13–62)
4 (0–6)
Inter-county titles
  Football Hurling
Munster Titles 3 1
All-Ireland Titles 1 0

Denis 'Dinny' Allen (born 9 August 1952) is a retired

Nemo Rangers and was a member of the Cork
senior inter-county teams in both codes from 1972 until 1989. Allen is regarded as one of the greatest Gaelic footballers of all time.

Playing career

Club

Allen played his club football with the famous

Austin Stacks.[1]
Nemo Rangers werelater trounced in the All-Ireland semi-final.

After surrendering their county title in 1976, Nemo were back the following year with Allen picking up a second county winners' medal. A third county championship of the decade followed in 1978 before Allen collected a second Munster club title. The subsequent All-Ireland final pitted Nemo against Scotstown of Monaghan. Snow hampered the game, however, Cogan proved the hero as Nemo won the game by 2–9 to 1–3.[2] It was his first All-Ireland club winners' medal.

In 1981 Allen won his fourth county championship title following a 3–11 to 0–6 defeat of

Bantry Blues. A third Munster club winners' medal quickly followed before Allen lined out in another All-Ireland final. Mayo champions Garrymore provided the opposition, however, Nemo were far too powerful. Allen scored 2–2 in the first half and the Cork champs had an extraordinary 5–6 to 0–1 lead at the interval. Nemo went on to secure a record 6–11 to 1–8 victory and Allen collected a second All-Ireland winners' medal.[3]

After losing out in 1982, Nemo were back in 1983 and Allen won his fifth county championship winners' medal. A fourth Munster club title soon followed before another All-Ireland final appearance beckoned. Walterstown provided the opposition, however, Nemo proved to be the masters again. Allen engineered two goal chances for Ephie FitzGerald as the Cork champions sealed a 2–10 to 0–5 victory. The win gave Allen a third All-Ireland club title.[4]

Nemo Rangers went into a slight decline following this victory. The club bounced back in 1987 with Allen winning his sixth county championship winners' medal. A fifth provincial club title quickly followed, however, Nemo were subsequently defeated in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Allen secured a seventh county championship title in 1988 as Duhallow fell in the championship decider. He later picked up his sixth Munster club winners' medal as Nemo completely dominated the inter-county club championship again. Another All-Ireland final beckoned, this time with Roscommon champions Clan na Gael providing the opposition. Eoin O'Mahoney's free-taking helped Nemo to victory and Allen ended his club football career with a fourth All-Ireland winners' medal.[5]

Inter-county

Allen first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the

All-Ireland under-21 winners' medal.[7]
That year he also helped Cork win the Munster Junior Championship.

Allen made his senior debut for Cork in the 1972 Munster final. Cork were defeated on that occasion, however, Allen was singled out as one of Cork football's rising stars. That same year he also played soccer with

Cork Hibernians, going on to win an FAI Cup winners' medal in 1973. He also later played with Cork Celtic F.C. He showed great promise as a soccer player, however, he remained in Ireland in spite of being offered the chance to play for Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest. This involvement in soccer was allegedly frowned upon by some in the Gaelic Athletic Association. Because of this Allen lost his place on the Cork panel for 1973. That year Cork claimed both the Munster and All-Ireland
titles, however, Allen had missed out.

Two years later in 1975 Allen returned to the Cork GAA set-up, this time as a member of the senior inter-county team. He captured a Munster winners' medal that year following the provincial final trouncing of Limerick.[8] Cork, however, were defeated by surprise package Galway in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final. This defeat brought Allen's hurling involvement to an end. Unfortunately for Allen, Cork went on to win the next three All-Ireland titles.

The following year Allen was appointed captain of the Cork senior football team. It was unfortunate for Allen that his senior inter-county football career coincided with the era of the greatest Kerry football team of all time. Cork lost eight consecutive Munster finals between 1975 and 1982. For a while it looked as if fate would result in Allen ending his career without any success with the footballers.

In 1983 Kerry were aiming to capture a record-breaking ninth Munster title in-a-row. Cork had different ideas and provided stern opposition. At the full-time whistle Cork were the champions by the narrowest of margins. After eighth consecutive provincial final defeats, the 3–10 to 3–9 score line finally gave Allen a Munster winners' medal.[9] The subsequent All-Ireland semi-final pitted Cork against Dublin. That game ended in a draw and the replay was played at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. In spite of Allen scoring two goals Cork were outclassed on that occasion as 'the Dubs' won by 4–15 to 2–10.

Kerry reclaimed their provincial title in 1984 and it looked as if Allen's career was drawing to a close. That same year he was named on a special team to mark the centenary year of the Gaelic Athletic Association. Allen was named in the left corner-forward position on the Football Team of the Century, made up of player swho never won a senior All-Ireland medal.

In 1986 Allen was dropped from the panel. He was recalled to the side two years later in 1988 at the age of 36 and captured a second Munster winners' medal following a narrow 1–14 to 0–16 win over arch-rivals Kerry. Cork later qualified for the All-Ireland final with Meath providing the opposition. Cork stormed ahead after just three minutes when Teddy McCarthy scored the only goal of five consecutive All-Ireland final appearances for Cork. Meath fought back and secured a 0–12 to 1–9 draw. The replay proved to be a tough, controversial affair with Meath reduced to fourteen men with the sending off of Gerry McEntee. In spite of being outnumbered Meath still won the game by 0–13 to 0–12.[10]

Following this result Allen contemplated retiring from inter-county football, however, after another impressive campaign with Nemo Rangers he was persuaded by Billy Morgan to stay on for another year. His decision bore fruit as he was rewarded with the captaincy of the team. 1989 began well with Allen playing a key role in helping Cork to claim the National League title. He later added a third Munster medal to his collection following another win over Kerry. The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Mayo play Cork in a unique pairing. Cork were on top for much of the game, however, a goal by substitute Anthony Finnerty gave Mayo a brief lead. Mayo failed to score for the last nineteen minutes as Teddy McCarthy took over and gave a masterful display at midfield. Cork held on to win the game by 0–17 to 1–11.[11] Seventeen years after he first lined out for Cork Allen had finally collected a senior All-Ireland winners' medal. He also had the honour of accepting the Sam Maguire Cup on behalf of his county.

Allen retired from inter-county football following this triumph.

Association Football

In addition to his Gaelic Games career Allen played Association Football at both junior and League of Ireland level. Allen played junior football with St Mary's reaching a

Cork United (79-81) and finally Cork City in their debut season in 1984.[13]

Personal life

He is married to Frances Barry-Murphy, sister of Jimmy Barry-Murphy.[citation needed]

Career statistics

Team Season
Cork
 Munster All-Ireland Total
Apps Score Apps Score Apps Score Apps Score
Nemo Rangers 1969–70 0 0–00 — — 0 0–00
1970–71 4 4–14 — — 4 4–14
1971–72 3 0–01 — — 3 0–01
1972–73 5 1–18 0 0–00 0 0–00 5 1–18
1973–74 0 0–00 — — 0 0–00
1974–75 0 0–00 0 0–00 0 0–00 0 0–00
1975–76 6 5–13 4 3–12 1 0–01 11 8–26
1976–77 3 1–03 — — 3 1–03
1977–78 4 3–08 2 0–03 — 6 3–11
1978–79 7 2–36 3 1–12 2 0–04 12 3–52
1979–80 3 0–08 — — 3 0–08
1980–81 6 2–25 — — 6 2–25
1981–82 4 0–18 2 1–07 2 2–06 8 3–31
1982–83 3 0–07 — — 3 0–07
1983–84 5 2–08 2 0–04 2 0–04 9 2–16
1984–85 1 0–01 — — 1 0–01
1985–86 3 0–03 — — 3 0–03
1986–87 3 1–07 — — 3 1–07
1987–88 5 3–03 3 2–02 1 0–00 9 5–05
1988–89 5 3–06 2 1–01 2 0–01 9 4–08
1989–90 3 0–04 — — 3 0–04
1990–91 4 2–04 — — 4 2–04
1991–92 3 1–01 — — 3 1–01
Career total 80 30-188 18 8-41 10 2-16 108 40-245

Honours

Player

Nemo Rangers
Cork
Munster
  • Railway Cup
    : 1976, 1977, 1981, 1982

Manager

Nemo Rangers

References

  1. ^ "Club Championship Senior Football – Munster Final Winning Teams (1887–2007)". Munster GAA. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  2. ^ Corry, Eoghan (2005). The GAA Book of Lists. Hodder Headline Ireland. pp. 418–419.
  3. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 419
  4. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 420
  5. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 421
  6. ^ "Munster Under-21 Football Championship Winning Teams". Munster GAA. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  7. ^ Donegan, Des (2005). The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games. DBA Publications. p. 156.
  8. ^ Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games p. 26
  9. ^ "Munster Senior Football Championship Winning Teams". Munster GAA. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  10. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 407
  11. ^ The GAA Book of Lists pp. 407–408
  12. ^ "The Leeside legends series: Dinny Allen grabbed big prizes in soccer and football". echo live. 10 May 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  13. ^ "Dinny Allen: A genuine Cork football legend in two codes". echo live. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Cork Senior Football Captain
1976 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Cork Senior Football Captain
1982 		Succeeded by
Christy Ryan
Preceded by Cork Senior Football Captain
1989 		Succeeded by
Achievements
Preceded by
1989
 Succeeded by
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