One more line of the field requires your say to determine who will line on Clare’s greatest senior hurling team of the past three decades.
Plenty of debates have already taken place as attempts were made to figure out who gets to line out from one to twelve (voting for which is still open, if you’ve forgot to vote).
Focus switches to the middle of the park as readers of The Clare Echo must now decide on who lines out at midfield on Clare’s greatest senior football team (1990 – 2020).
Voting remains open for both the position of goalkeeper and all defensive spots. If you haven’t already submitted your vote, you can do so now.
Midfield (8)
With one of the more iconic nicknames in Clare football, Aiden ‘Horse’ Moloney is first up vying to be named in midfield. An All-Ireland B winner in 1991, Horse followed that up a year later by lining out in the centre of the park as Clare became Munster champions. A three-time Clare SFC winner with Kilmurry Ibrickane, Moloney is the only member of the club to win the championship as a player, captain and manager.
Brendan Rouine started his county career at corner back but did best at midfield. He is another member of the team from the 1992 Munster championship winning sides. Seven years later, Beano had the pleasure of captaining the senior side in the championship. The Ennistymon man has served as a selector with the county minors following retirement.
Like both men before him, Donal O’Sullivan has also appeared in a number of positions for the county seniors. The Kilrush Shamrocks man was midfield on the side that lost the 2000 provincial decider but won the McGrath Cup that year. A lengthy servant for the Shams, Clare SFC alluded the accountant although he did line out in county semi-finals.
Nominated for an All-Star in 2016, Gary Brennan was captain of the Clare sides that secured promotion from Division 4 and Division 3 of the Allianz NFL under Colm Collins. The Clondegad man lined out for Ireland in the International Rules in 2015 and 2017. The ex captain left the panel at the end of last season but has not ruled out a possible return in the future.
Midfield (9)
One of the fan favourites of the 1990s, 6”3’ Tom Morrissey was another to become a Munster medallist from 1992. The Coorclare man also has National League and McGrath Cup medals in his collection. He retired from football in 2001.
Unlike most, David Russell appeared in a Munster Final in his first and final year on the Clare senior football panel. The St Senan’s Kilkee man was not restricted to the one position often lining out in attack as well as midfield. He was captain of the Banner side that won the Tommy Murphy Cup in 2004.
An engine-room in Clare’s midfield throughout the 2000s, Ger Quinlan made his championship bow in 2002 and remained there up until the conclusion of the 2014 campaign. The O’Currys stalwart was wing forward on the Tommy Murphy Cup winning team of sixteen years ago.
A championship debutant in 2011, Cathal O’Connor has partnered Gary Brennan at midfield during Clare’s memorable championship runs of 2016 and 2019 where they reached the All-Ireland quarter-finals and narrowly missed out on the Super 8s. The Coolmeen man is now one of the experienced members of the current squad.
