Who are football’s most versatile players?

LAST week, somewhat by accident, we became aware of a fairly amazing fact: Denis ‘Ogie’ Moran – holder of eight All-Ireland senior medals, who played in 10 All-Ireland SFC final, and who played every minute of those eight successful ones – is in possession of just one, yes, one, All Star award. Of course, we had known this somewhere in the back of our mind, but it came as no less of a shock to be reminded of the fact.

It seems an even greater anomaly – folly, even – when Moran’s single All Star is set against the nine of Pat Spillane, the seven of Mikey Sheehy, Ger Power’s six and Páidí Ó Sé’s five awards – they being the only other Kerry men to have won eight All-Ireland senior medals, the same as Ogie.

One Twitter response to our observation about Moran was that ‘his selflessness came against him when it came to [A]ll [S]tar selection’ and that could well be true.

Another thing that possibly came against him when the All Stars selection committee convened was that he was the ultimate ‘one position’ player, which can be unusual for a forward. In all eight of those All-Ireland winning finals, Moran started at centre-half forward, and for more than a decade he was, arguably, the consistently best no.11 in the country. Good enough to land him multiple All Star awards though? Apparently not, but that shouldn’t, and doesn’t, diminish Ogie’s greatness.

It should be said, of course, that Moran ( pictured right) didn’t just star for Kerry as a centre-forward: he was, in fact, one of the most adaptable footballers of his generation. Between 1975 and 1986 the Beale club man started Championship games wearing no.4, 5, 7, 10, 11 and 12, which suggests he was one of Kerry’s most versatile footballers of that, or any era. And given that the game was less fluid back then in terms of players moving away from their designated position, we can safely assume that when Ogie Moran wore no.4 in the 1978 Munster Championship semi-final against Waterford that he did, indeed, stay and play as a corner back, which is backed up by the fact that on a day when Kerry scored 4-27 against the Deise, none of the six defenders were on the score sheet.

It could also be argued that over the last fifty years the only genuine rival to Ogie Moran as Kerry’s premier centre-forward is Declan O’Sullivan, which merely proves that, for one reason or another, the All Star committee might have got it wrong on at least a couple of occasions with regard to Moran.

Looking into Moran’s time in the green and gold, and seeing that he started Championship matches in three different positions in the defence, and three more in the forward unit, got us to thinking about the versatility of some footballers compared to others.

Some of the best proponents of the game have made their name in more or less one position. Recently the Irish Independent spent a week selecting the 20 best footballers from every county from the last 50 years, before reducing it down to the top 20 by province, and then landing on a top 20 nationally. It came as little surprise that Kerry supremo Jack O’Shea came in at No.1, with Pat Spillane at No.2. Tyrone’s Peter Canavan was third on the list, followed by Stephen Cluxton and then Mike Sheehy. Apart from all being wonderfully brilliant footballers, the thing all five have in common is that they’re synonymous with a very particular position.

Jacko was the quintessential Rolls Royce midfielder: nothing more, nothing less.

Spillane was the dashing lefthalf forward; blonde hair bobbing as he terrorised wing-backs down the attacking flank.

Canavan was an inside forward, and a deadly one at that; some days he wore number 13 and other times he carried 14 on his back, in every sense, but he was what he was, a corner-cumfull-forward.

Cluxton is a goalkeeper; the number one No.1 of this or any other generation.

Sheehy, like Canavan, was at his best closest to the opposition goal; so good was he there that he seldom, if ever, went beyond the 21-metre line.

The point is that so many of the very best Gaelic footballers are linked, in the main, with one position; so much so that many of today’s inter-county Gaelic footballer reference ‘their’ number in their Instagram account name or Twitter handle. And yet there is - as there always was

- a coterie of Gaelic footballers who could, quite literally, play anywhere.

Sometimes calling a footballer a ‘utility player’ is seen as a negative, or calling him ‘versatile’ is a back-handed compliment; it’s suggesting that they’re good enough to play in several positions but not really exceptional enough to dominate any one of them. We’d beg to differ.

For all his brilliance, Jack O’Shea wouldn’t have made a brilliant corner forward. Would Tyrone have won three All-Irelands had they played Peter Canavan at full back. Mikey Sheehy as a corner back? Cluxton in the Dublin midfield?

It should be obvious that the footballer who can carry almost any number on their back and not look out of place is actually a special talent, and every bit as valuable to the team, perhaps more valuable, as the ‘specialist’.

gie Moran mightn’t have picked up the multiple All Star awards that his talent and contribution to his team deserved, but any player who can be entrusted by Mick O’Dwyer to start in six different positions is the quintessential Mr Versatile by us.

Here, we consider a selection of Kerry men who could, and did, play a multitude of positions, from corner back to corner forward, and in some cases they even donned the goalkeeper’s gloves. Read on...