O’Mahony is the top dog
nominated man for East Kerry All Star awards in the 2010s was a Dr Crokes man with the consistent excellence of Johnny Buckley being rewarded with seven nominations in ten years.
Nor is it any great surprise that the next man up is a Rathmore man with Aidan O’Mahony claiming six nominations with Dr Crokes’ Eoin Brosnan and Dáithí Casey joining him on six nominations each. The ever-reliable Michael O’Donoghue from Spa is also on six nominations.
It’s interesting that the most nominated man Johnny Buckley doesn’t have the most All Stars, no where close as a matter of act. The Crokes man has seven nominations, but has only made the All Star fifteen on two occasions. Now he does have the chance to make that three from seven this Friday evening, but even so that’s a fairly interesting disparity.
Aidan O’Mahony leads the way with the most number of All Stars to his name with six and he did that from six nominations, a 100% return for the former All Ireland senior football final man of the match.
Next up is another ever-green performer Eoin Brosnan with five All Stars. The Killarney solicitor bowed out at the top of his game, claiming an All Star in his last season as a senior footballer with Dr Crokes before his retirement in 2018.
On four All Star awards are Colm Cooper – no surprise to find the Ardshanavooly maestro making the list in a prominent position – and Rathmore brothers Paul and Cathal Murphy, with Murphy making the side as both a defender and a forward.
There are a number of players who have made the grade in a couple of different positions, with Aidan O’Mahony picking up All Stars in a number of different positions, and interestingly there’s even one footballer who’s picked up awards for two different clubs. Shane Murphy won his first All Star award before making the move across to Dr Crokes for his second and third triumphs.
When it comes to the Footballer of the Year gongs Rathmore lead the way edging out Dr Crokes with four titles to their three and Rathmore even have the unique distinction of having the first Young Player of the Year to go on and claim the Footballer of the Year award.
Shane Ryan claimed the Young Footballer of the Year crown in 2016 before going on to claim the Footballer of the Year title in 2017, all while retaining his Young Footballer of the Year title making him the only footballer to have done so. Indeed he’s the only man to have three of the big awards to his name. Nobody else even has two.
One of the best things about looking back at previous winners is that it’s like a time capsule. When you see Seamus Moynihan claiming Footballer of the Year in the first year of the awards and see him pick up a second All Star at midfield the following year it reminds you just how much longevity the man has had in his career.
Really and truly that’s the beauty of an awards scheme such as this, it properly marks the great and the good of our game at a local level. The East Kerry All Stars have gone from strength to strength and long may they continue to do so.
This coming Friday evening marks the end of the first chapter of their story, a chapter dominated by Dr Crokes and Rathmore, what will the next one bring? Time as they say will tell. We can’t wait to find out.