Greg Blaney
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Sport | Dual player | ||
Football Position: | Centre half forward | ||
Hurling Position: |
Centre half forward | ||
Born | Kircubbin County Down | ||
Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
Nickname | Heggy | ||
Occupation | Dentist | ||
Club(s) | |||
Years | Club | ||
Ballycran (H) | |||
Club titles | |||
Football | Hurling | ||
Down titles | 1 | 8 | |
Ulster titles | 0 | 1 | |
All-Ireland titles | 0 | 0 | |
College titles | |||
Sigerson titles | 1 | ||
Inter-county(ies) | |||
Years | County | ||
1981-1997[2] 1985-1993 |
Down (F) Down (H) | ||
Inter-county titles | |||
Football | Hurling | ||
Ulster Titles | 3 | 1 | |
All-Ireland Titles | 2 | 0 | |
League titles | 1 | 2 (Div 3) | |
All-Stars | 3 | 0 |
Greg Blaney is an
In football, he usually played at
Blaney is a legend in Down GAA circles,[5] and is known as one of the county's best ever footballers.[3] In 2009 to mark the 125th anniversary of the Gaelic Athletic Association he was named by The Irish News as one of the all-time best 125 footballers from Ulster.[1]
As a hurler with Down, Blaney won Ulster Minor and Ulster Senior Hurling Championship medals.
Background
Blaney is from Kircubbin in the Ards Peninsula, County Down, where hurling is undoubtedly the game of choice. In fact there is no club where football is even available in the ards, with all 3 being famed clubs where hurling is the only game played.[citation needed] He however is a member of the famous Blaney family, a renowned Gaelic Games family in county Down.[citation needed] Keeping with his family traditions, Blaney attended school at St. Colman's College in Newry, a famed gaelic football institution known Ireland-wide.[citation needed] This was the beginning of his footballing career, one which he later enhanced whilst attending[6] Queen's University Belfast.[6]
His father Seán captained Armagh to Ulster Minor and All-Ireland Minor Football Championship glory in 1949.[6]
He has six brothers and one sister.He is married with six children and currently lives in Belfast. His favourite daughter Eimear is a doctor who currently resides in Australia. He misses her dearly.[citation needed]
Football career
Club
Blaney's club is
Inter-county
Blaney played for the Down
Blaney joined the Down Senior panel in 1981.
In
Blaney won a third Ulster Championship medal with Down in
Blaney lined out in another Ulster final two years later, but Down lost to Tyrone.[2] He retired from inter-county football in 1997.[2] Blaney is one of a couple of players that have won Ulster Senior Hurling and Football
School/college
While at St. Colman's Blaney was part of probably the best college team Ulster has certainly seen and with respect to Ireland we will never know. Between Blaney's 1st year in 1974 and last in 1981, the team went undefeated through league and knockout stages in the various age category competitions. Winning Dalton Cup(74/75)(Blaney captain), Corn na nOg(76/77), Rannefast(78/79) and MacRory Cup(1981). Unfortunately, this team never had the chance to test their mettle on the Irish stage. In this era the only All-Ireland football competition was the final school year but the disparity between school leaving age in Ulster and the other three provinces meant a misalignment of the competition ages. So in 1981, having qualified for the then only All-Ireland college competition, the Hogan Cup, but with the age disparity between Ulster's MacRory (U18 1/2) and the other 3 provinces, Blaney and half a dozen colleagues from this undefeated team were deemed ineligible for the Hogan Cup (U18).
Blaney's honours while at St. Colman's included helping the school win three
Sean and Greg are the only father/son combination to captain winning MacRory Cup teams.
As a fresher, Blaney was a top-scorer when Queen's University Belfast won the Sigerson Cup in 1982.[6] He also won the Ryan Cup[6] on two occasions with QUB (1984 and 1985). In 1999, he was named a "Sporting Great" of the university.[8] He is also a patron of QUB's GAA academy.[8]
Province
Blaney played for
).International
Blaney played
Hurling career
Club
Blaney's club is Ballycran, and he played club football for a period with Carryduff as Ballycran had no football team. He won many underage honours with Ballycran including a Feile na nGael Hurling and played in the National Feile in Limerick. He won numerous Down Senior Hurling Championships alongside his brothers and childhood friends. Ballycran started a football team winning Down ACFL Division 4 and progressing into Division 3. It was as a Ballycran footballer that he won the All-Ireland in 1991 with Down. Blaney played in Antrim Senior Hurling League Division 1 with Ballycran in an era where no quarter was given or asked against teams such as Cushendall, Loughgiel, Ballycastle and fierce local rivals Ballygalget and Portaferry.
Inter-county
Blaney represented Down hurlers at Minor, Under 21 and Senior level.[6] In 1978 he won an Ulster Minor Hurling Championship medal with the county.[6]
He was part of the Down side that won the 1992 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship[6] - the county's first since 1941.
After retiring
Blaney served as a selector with the Down Senior football team when former teammate Paddy O'Rourke was manager.[2] He was appointed to the role in July 2002.[5] In 2003 Down reached the Ulster final, where they faced Tyrone.[2]
Honours
Club
There are 7 available Down All-County Senior League Medals Available - 3 in hurling and 4 in football. Blaney has a record number of league medals, a feat that may never be equalled. Blaney has won all medals, save for the Division 1 ACFL. He has won the following:
- Down ACHL Division 1 Hurling League
- Down ACHL Division 2 Hurling League
- Down ACHL Division 3 Hurling League
- Down Junior Football Championship (1) 1986
- Down AFL Division 4 Football League (1) 1990
- Down AFL Division 3 Football League (1) 1980
- Down AFL Division 2 Football League (1) 198?
- Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship (1) 1993
- Down Senior Hurling Championship (8) 1980 1984 1985 1986 1987 1993 1994 1995
Inter-county
Senior
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (2) 1991 1994
- National Football League Division 1 (1) 1983
- National Football League Division 2 (2) 1982 1988
- Ulster Senior Football Championship (3) 1981 1991 1994
- Dr McKenna Cup (4) 1987 1989 1992 1996
- Ulster Senior Hurling Championship (1) 1992
- National Hurling League Division 3 (2) 1987 1989
Under-21
- All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship(1) 1979
- Ulster Under-21 Football Championship(1) 1979
- Ulster Under-21 Hurling Championship(1) 1983
Minor
- Ulster Minor Football Championship (2)1977 1979
- Ulster Minor Hurling Championship (1) 1978
School/college
- Sigerson Cup (1) 1982
- Ryan Cup (1) 1982
- MacRory Cup (1) 1978 1979 1981
Province
- Railway Cup(6) 1983 1984 1989 1991 1992 1995
Ireland
- International Rules(1) 1986
Individual
- All Star(3) 1983 1991 1994
- All star (10) Replacement (1981,1984,1985,1986,1988,1989,1999,1992,1993,1996)
- Irish News Ulster All-Stars (18) 1981,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,96,97,98,99
- Ulster GAA Personality of the year (4) 1990,1991,1994,1996
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Ulster's 125 - The province's 125 best footballers since 1884". The Irish News. 20 March 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k McSherry, Ronan (5 June 2008). "Mourne great Blaney recalls some past Red Hand tussles". The Strabane Chronicle. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- ^ a b c d e "Ulster's 125 - Down shortlist". The Irish News. February 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
- ^ "Dream team for Down?". BBC Sport Online. 10 June 2002. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Greg Blaney becomes new Down selector". Down GAA website. 10 July 2002. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "QUB Hall of Fame". Queen's University Belfast GAA website. 2000. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- ^ a b "A Short Club History". Carryduff GAC website. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- ^ a b "A Landmark Year – 75th Anniversary of the GAA at Queen's". Queen's University Belfast GAA website. 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2009.[permanent dead link]
External links
- QUB Hall of Fame Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- Official Down GAA website