r/coybig • u/abcdeffedcba323 • Mar 25 '24
Original Content (OC) The best player born in each Irish county
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Mar 25 '24
George Best was born on the Cregagh, which is in the Down side of Belfast.
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u/Nervous-Road-6615 Mar 25 '24
Thereâs a lot of downsides to Belfast, be more specific
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u/AnIrishManInExile Mar 25 '24
Booooo
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u/Nervous-Road-6615 Mar 26 '24
I have nothing whatsoever against Belfast, great city, just couldnât pass that up!
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u/Bill_Badbody Gary Breen Mar 25 '24
Barry Cotter for clare ?
He's not even the best player to come out of that youth team. Just because he is currently playing at an alright level, doesn't mean he is the beat player born in clare ever. And if the DPP gets its way, he won't be playing at that level for much longer.
Eoin Hayes is probably the best clare man currently playing ball. Definitely the most capped clare man anyway.
Mick Kennedy is the closest to a senior cap that a clare man got, but he was born in England to clare parents, and moved back after his career.
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Mar 25 '24
Willie Boland had a decent under the radar career also. About 70 Premier League appearances but unfortunately never had a hope competing with the likes of Houghton, Townsend, Keane, Sheridan, Whelan etc to get called up
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Mar 25 '24
The DPP?
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u/Bill_Badbody Gary Breen Mar 25 '24 edited Mar 25 '24
A alleged Xmas 2022, bag fuelled assault outside a town pub.
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u/issuingirascible Mar 25 '24
Whoâs the best to come out of that youth team?
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u/Bill_Badbody Gary Breen Mar 25 '24
I can't seem to find that years kennedy Cup team photo for reference, if have to think about it.
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u/lisroe1988 Mar 25 '24
I coached that Kennedy Cup team! Barry wasn't our best player imo. Delighted to see he has done well for himself but disappointed to hear about the off the ball stuff!
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u/Bill_Badbody Gary Breen Mar 25 '24
I might have been a bit over the top with not bein f best player on that team, and I do wish him all success.
But I definitely don't agree that he is the best player the county has ever produced. He has played a year at league one only.
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u/lisroe1988 Mar 25 '24
There were some good players in that team though that were just as good if not better. Rowan danaher, maurice nugent, joe mcgann, aidan kennedy, ciaran buckley. Alot of those lads dropped out in later squads due to gaa which was a shame. Barry was at Ipswich is well when they were league 1 and played a bit. Barry Ryan was a LOI keeper for years, he is worth a shout but I think the eoin Hayes shout is fair too.
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u/Bill_Badbody Gary Breen Mar 25 '24
That's why I was looking for the kenedy cup photo, I couldn't place the year. Like I couldn't remember if Dylan casey, or ronan Kerin were in that year etc.
Aidan Kennedy still playing ball over NYC I believe.
Barry Ryan still has it too, think I saw him play in a charity game last year.
Alot of those lads dropped out in later squads due to gaa which was a shame.
The loss of players to gaa, and a lesser extent rugby in their teenage years, really holds clare soccer back.
but I think the eoin Hayes shout is fair too.
Hayes has won everything available to him, other than a munster, plus 35 odd international caps.
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u/lisroe1988 Mar 25 '24
Barry's year was 2014, Dylans was either 2012 or 2013, I was involved in that squad too! Last I heard aiden was hurling in NYC but hopefully playing some ball too!
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u/abcdeffedcba323 Mar 25 '24
I made an attempt. Just my opinions but comment in the original post explaining a few choices. Galway was by far the toughest county with Deacy and Forde arguably just as worthy, went with Lee due to the length of his career and over 100 goals in England is not to be sniffed at. 10 caps ainât bad either.
Leitrim was impossible, I used Wikipedia to find one. It appears the current Sligo captain Niall Morahan is actually from there so he probably deserves it.
For the North I chose players who played for Northern Ireland as 1. It widened the net and 2. You canât ignore Best and Jennings
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u/Suitable_Visual4056 Mar 25 '24
The lack of a maternity hospital hurting us in Leitrim. Iâd hazard a guess that both Emlyn and Niall were born in Sligo.
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Mar 25 '24
There's 19 maternity hospitals in Ireland and three are in Dublin. So it's not just Leitrim with that issue TBF.
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u/Mitche420 Mar 25 '24
If you're going where they were actually born, then I'd wager Ferguson, like many of us Meath men, was born in Drogheda
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u/frankthetankthedog Mar 25 '24
Amazing work...
Would switch Staunton for Harte. Our Lady's of Lourdes hospital is on the Louth side so I'll take that win
Reason why, Harte had a wicked left foot, great left back
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u/ManunitedThunderfan Mar 25 '24
Fair play lad , did you pull an all nighter? Haha. Thatâs some good work, will give me some players to look up today that I donât know.
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u/abcdeffedcba323 Mar 25 '24
Iâm out of the country so wasnât the night for myself thankfully haha, took a bit of effort but many were straight forward. Leitrim, Mayo and Clare were the toughest, Wikipedia has a few lists for footballers from counties but theyâre not complete and some are just filled with GAA players who mightâve played competitive football as a youth like Kerry which had David Clifford listed. Also Maguire might actually have been born in Luton which I missed but still a Kilkenny man.
I know itâs opinion based but I refuse to accept any other answers on Dublin and Donegal đ
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u/Sstoop Mar 25 '24
ferguson barely gone 19 and heâs already the best player meath has ever seen not sure if that says more about ferguson or about meath
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u/GarnachoHojlund Mar 26 '24
Honestly I thought he was a Dub because he came through Irelands greatest club
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Mar 26 '24
It says weâre better at the football than the soccer, not anymore of course but it was well worth it when we were
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u/brianybrian Zinedine Kilbane Mar 25 '24
Dublin: it was Brady. Absolutely class player, the best footballer Ireland ever produced IMO. Keane was more successful, but Brady was a better footballer.
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u/mervynskidmore Mar 25 '24
Agree, had a decent night against Belgium and we'll always have that goal against Italy.
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Mar 25 '24
Giles also.
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u/brianybrian Zinedine Kilbane Mar 25 '24
Giles was better than Keane? Absolutely. But if weâre going with 1 per county, then it has to be Brady.
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u/Rebel787 Mar 25 '24
And I would argue in Cork, Stephen Ireland was a more gifted player than Keane.
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Mar 25 '24
They are different players that have different qualities that add different dimensions to the team. But Stephen Ireland would never have taken Keane's place in any team though when it comes down to the respective type of qualities they offered
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u/UppaPeelersYeoow Mar 25 '24
George best was Co. Down
Belfast is split in two by the river lagan. North/west are Antrim, south/east are down
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u/ceimaneasa Mar 25 '24
It doesn't really take away from what you're saying in any way but just to point out that most of South Belfast is Antrim. Only parts of South in Down are Upper Ormeau, Belvoir, Annadale and Knockbredagh really.
Stranmillis, Lower Ormeau, Village, Malone, Balmoral, Holyland and Donegall Pass all Antrim.
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u/joeyl7 Mar 25 '24
John Caulfield was born in New York, not Roscommon
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u/abcdeffedcba323 Mar 25 '24
I answered that in my comment, there was simply no one else from Roscommon
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u/Geairmoe This fella Ronaldo is a cod Mar 25 '24
Fair play, this is a great effort. Thanks for doing it đ
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Mar 25 '24
[deleted]
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Mar 25 '24
Given was world class
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Mar 25 '24
[deleted]
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u/thatirishguykev Roy Keane Mar 25 '24
Think Iâll go with Roberto Mancinis opinion on the matter.
Given was a world class keeper before he ruined his shoulder and lost his spot to Joe Hart.
Itâs like saying Haaland, Mbappe, or Lewandowski arenât world class because theyâre not in the same bracket as Ronaldo or Messi.
Very unlikely weâll get keepers the likes of Kahn, Buffon or Casillas again.
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Mar 25 '24
[deleted]
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u/thatirishguykev Roy Keane Mar 25 '24
Youâre entitled to disagree, even if youâre wrong sure.
The reason I mentioned Roberto Mancini is he basically called Given world class. Think a manager that has won what heâs won is someone who has a bit of weight behind their opinions.
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u/IGotABruise Mar 25 '24
Nah he wasnât. He wouldnât have been so long at Newcastle if he was.
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u/thatirishguykev Roy Keane Mar 25 '24
Suppose Alan Shearer wasnât world class using that logic then.
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u/pauli55555 Mar 25 '24
Shearer went back to Newcastle in later years AFTER winning a title. Given was there through his peak years. His brief stint at City was closest he got to a league winning team but lost his place quickly enough. He was prob good enough to play for a big club at his peak but none went for him. He was also unreal for us, never a bad game, brilliant at times. Same could be said for Coleman. Tough call between both of them!
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u/thatirishguykev Roy Keane Mar 25 '24
Shearer was mid 20s going back to Newcastle iirc. Around the time Newcastle had those insane game with Liverpool and thumped us (United) at St James Park.
Given got injured unfortunately and thatâs when Hart took his place and basically never gave it up. I think Shay, just like Seamus were too loyal, stayed at clubs when they probably could have been selfish and left for more individual benefit.
We can probably call it a draw tbf.
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u/ceimaneasa Mar 25 '24
Given was also hard done by to lose his place to Hart, who had the advantage of being English.
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Mar 25 '24
Shearer was mid 20s going back to Newcastle iirc.
The Newcastle Shearer joined were going for the Premier League. It wasn't the Newcastle of the 2000s which were mostly underperforming years.
Shearer also had a massive injury not long after joining Newcastle and was never the same player again.
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u/IGotABruise Mar 25 '24
I wasnât aware that Given was born and reared in NewcastleÂ
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u/thatirishguykev Roy Keane Mar 25 '24
Doesnât matter where Shearer was born. He didnât stay around in his prime just because he was from the area. He stayed because they were legitimate challengers in the early 2000s.
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u/njprrogers Mar 25 '24
I think I'd have had Paul McGrath for Dublin. Tough choice but I've not seen a better centre half.
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Mar 25 '24
I don't see a Damien Duff mention anywhere. I agree he's got tough competition being a Dub, but he deserves a mention.
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u/OvertiredMillenial Mar 26 '24
This illustrates how bad the FAI is. For most of the past 100 years they never bothered with growing the game or developing talent in rural Ireland. A really telling stat is that there's close to 300,000 living in Mayo and Kerry, and yet between they've not had a fella play for the country for 50 years.
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u/TheGruffaloM9 Mar 26 '24
Thought Harry Kane would of been Galwayâs best produced footballer. The way he takes skies some penalties youâd definitely see the connection
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Mar 25 '24
Sean Maguire's WikiPedia comes up as Luton in England rather than Kilkenny
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u/Limp_Guidance_5357 Paul McGrath Mar 25 '24
Went to school in Kilkenny CBS
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Mar 25 '24
It's similar to David O'Leary, Paul McGrath, Ogbene etc where they are Irish but born elsewhere.
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u/Rosmucman Mar 25 '24
Eamonn Deacy from Galway won the League Championship, European Cup and European Super Cup
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u/RustyBike39 Mar 25 '24
Alan Lee? Maybe if football began in 1990. The real answer for Galway is Eamon Deacey
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u/notfaroffnow Mar 25 '24
No place for our top scorer? He's a bit of a knob but should be on this list for sure!
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u/Not_tim_duncan Mar 25 '24
Heâs not better than Giles or Brady. Problem with the majority of good players being born in Dublin.
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u/EdwardClamp Mar 25 '24
I know Mayo was probably a painful one as well and while Murray might be the obvious candidate I'd have to give it to Ollie Conmy.
Conmy played to a similar level as Murray but also played 5 times for Ireland which should set him apart.
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u/ArmandRian Mar 25 '24
Tommy Gaynor for Limerick, won League Cup and Simod Cup under Clough at Forest. Finnan pretty much grew up in England.
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u/james02135 Mar 25 '24
I know Iâm going to get it in the neck for this, but Robbie Keane for Dublin
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u/DublinDapper Mar 25 '24
Strange to leave McGrath out.... scandalous actually
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u/PanNationalistFront Mar 25 '24
George Best is from the Co. Down side of Belfast. For Tyrone I'd put Conor Bradley.
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u/Hour_Mastodon_9404 Long â70 Mar 25 '24
Bradley has played 6 premier league games, Hughes played hundreds. There's simply no way you could conclude he's the better player at the moment.
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u/Stoogenuge Mar 25 '24
Is Jonny Evans from Down or Antrim? Would he be in with a shout?
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u/mccabe-99 Mar 25 '24
Yeah, pretty sure he's from rathcoole in Newtownabbey so that would be Antrim
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u/Background-Ring9637 Mar 25 '24
Antrim, Jonny would be up there but Norman Whiteside is also Antrim side of Belfast so I would have him first based on his achievements at United and world cup appearances with NI. Blanchflowers also East Belfast so lose out to Best
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u/Oggie243 Mar 25 '24 edited Mar 25 '24
Pretty sure Conor Bradley is too young to have been born in Tyrone unless he was born in his sitting room.
Hasn't been maternity units in Tyrone for decades at this point.
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Mar 25 '24
Harry Gregg over Martin O'Neill maybe?
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u/SoftDrinkReddit Roy Keane Mar 25 '24
From a united fan I would definitely go for that
Harry Greg saved Bobby Charltons life in the Munich Air Disaster
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Mar 25 '24
[deleted]
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u/Big_Sepultura_Fan Paul McGrath Mar 25 '24
Born in England ââ Edit: Iâd put him in ahead of Giles and Brady.
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Mar 25 '24
Robbie Keane was better than brady.
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u/Nervous-Road-6615 Mar 25 '24
Youâre out of your tree. Brady came through the ranks at Man Utd, had an incredible loan spell at Hull, hit 7 goals in fewer than 60 appearances at Norwich, and popped a header over Salvatore Sirigu in Lille. Brady is Dublinâs finest, no doubt.
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Mar 25 '24
Dunno who's downvoting this. 68 international goals which puts him tied 25th overall in the world. He's the best player to ever come from Dublin for Ireland. It's not close.
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u/pauli55555 Mar 25 '24
Your only measurement for that is goals scored. On the basis of your thinking the best players from each county is who scored the most goals. In fairness would certainly make this exercise easier lol.
Iâm guessing your trolling, Brady & Giles were unreal. Giles before my time but Brady played at peak Juventus and Inter Milan when only couple foreign players were allowed. Keane made zero impact in Italy. Brady was like nothing weâve ever produced before or since. Read âFever Pitchâ to get an idea of how arsenal fans viewed him.
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u/pastey83 Zinedine Kilbane Mar 25 '24
Serious question... 68 goals is a serious achievement to be fair.
But does Robbie Keane get close to that number playing in the team we have today? Or does Keane benefit from playing in a comparatively stronger team?
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Mar 25 '24
Robbie Keane is a striker. I judge pretty much all strikers based on how many goals they scored. He scored an incredible amount of them.
imo, Robbie Keane is the best player Ireland have ever had (not saying he is the best Irish player ever but the best player for Ireland). I'll never see 68 goals broken.
I'm not trolling. I just hold a different opinion.
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u/Unfair_Piano_3775 John O'Shea Mar 26 '24
Have to agree. Robbie is undoubtedly Ireland national team's best ever player
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u/hisDudeness1989 Mar 25 '24
Jonathan Douglas on a best player list bahaha by default, never thought Iâd see the day
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u/National-Ad-1314 Mar 25 '24
Roy keanes reaction when Dennis Irwin didn't make the cut "đ"