Tyrone reached the semi-finals but may be disappointed with their representation, while Down’s Odhran Murdock and Derry skipper Conor Glass also made the cut, as the sole representatives from their counties
David Clifford is on a three man shortlist as he looks to land a record third PwC Footballer of the Year award. The 26-year-old is already tied on top of the roll of honour with two Player of the Year awards, alongside Dublin’s Brian Fenton and Meath’s Trevor Giles.
Five-time All Star Clifford, who is certain to win a sixth All Star when the 2025 team is named in November, will battle it out with Kerry team mate Joe O’Connor and Donegal’s Michael Murphy for the biggest individual prize in the game.
Kerry legend Jack O’Shea won four Texaco Footballer of the Year awards before that scheme was discontinued in 2011, with James McCartan Senior, Pat Spillane and Jimmy Keaveney both winning it twice.
Clifford’s scoring feats were off the charts this year as the double All-Ireland winner finished top of the pile with an astonishing 8-62 (86), miles clear of second placed Sean O’Shea on 1-50 (53)
Clifford made hay under the new rules, averaging an astonishing 9.55 scores per game as he proved unstoppable.
Amazingly, this is Murphy’s first nomination for Footballer of the Year, at 36 years of age, and comes after he returned following a two year hiatus away from inter-county football.
When Donegal landed the All-Ireland title in 2012, the Footballer of the Year nominees were Karl Lacey, Colm McFadden and Neil McGee, with Lacey getting the nod.
And in 2014, when they were beaten in the All-Ireland Final by Kerry, the sole Donegal nominee was Neil McGee.
Murphy finished third in the overall Championship scoring charts this year with 1-40 (43) and was a tower of strength up front for his side.
The third nominee, Joe O’Connor, had a standout year for Kerry and along with Kingdom skipper Gavin White, who was unlucky to miss out on a nomination, was the engine of their All-Ireland triumph.
Meanwhile, Armagh’s Oisin Conaty is on track to land back to back Young Player of the Year awards.
Conaty will go up against Donegal defender Finbarr Roarty and Galway forward Matthew Thompson.
Meath’s Ciaran Caulfield was unfortunate to miss out on a nomination, with Donegal’s Ciaran Moore overage for the award. The winners cannot be over 22 years of age in 2025.
Meanwhile, All-Ireland semi-finalists Tyrone have received just two PwC All Star Football nominations.
Fellow defeated All-Ireland semi-finalists, Meath were rewarded for their progress this year with five nominations on the 45 strong list.
Among the Tyrone stars to miss out were Darragh Canavan and Michael McKernan, with defenders Niall Devlin and Kieran McGeary the duo who got the nod from the All Star selectors.
McKernan was Tyrone’s top performer all year but injury ruled him out of the latter stages of the Championship, although he did come on for the final 25 minutes of the All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Kerry.
Canavan hit five points from play against Kerry in a seven point haul, and three from play against Dublin, but wasn’t as prominent as previous seasons.
Darren McCurry also started the Championship with a real bang, but was taken off in the final two games, against Dublin and Kerry.
Meanwhile, the Donegal side Tyrone defeated in the All-Ireland round-robin series and which reached the final, where they were beaten by Kerry received 10 nominations.
One factor in this may have been the sheer volume of games Donegal played, which at 11 was more than anyone else, and the calibre of opposition they met. They also won the Ulster Championship.
This included Kerry, Armagh, Mayo, Tyrone, Monaghan (twice), Derry and Down.
Donegal played three more Championship games than Tyrone and were very impressive bar the All-Ireland Final and the loss to Tyrone.
Tyrone’s only real standout performance of the year was, ironically, against Donegal in the All-Ireland round robin in a year when they never really caught fire.
They did defeat Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-finals and ran Armagh to a point in the Ulster semi-final, but were well off the pace against Mayo and Kerry.
All-Ireland champions Kerry received 9 nominations, one less than Donegal.
The overall county by county breakdown is: Donegal (10), Kerry (9), Meath (5), Armagh (5), Monaghan (3), Louth (3), Galway (3), Tyrone (2), Dublin (2), Mayo (1), Down (1) and Derry (1).
Mayo’s nominee was man marker Jack Coyne, while Down’s Odhran Murdock and Derry skipper Conor Glass also made the cut, as the sole representatives from their counties.
After landing Louth’s second ever All Star, last year, Craig Lennon is nominated again, alongside fellow county men Sam Mulroy and Ryan Burns.
Meath’s huge progress this year, in defeating Dublin, Kerry, Cork and Galway in Championship football saw them earn five nominations.
They are vice-captain Ciaran Caulfield, man marker Sean Rafferty and forwards Matthew Costello, Ruairi Kinsella and Jordan Morris.
Dublin earned two nominations, midfield duo Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne and Ciaran Kilkenny, although Kilkenny was nominated in the forward line.
The goalkeeper position will come down to Kerry’s Shane Ryan, Monaghan’s Rory Beggan and Armagh’s Ethan Rafferty, with Donegal’s Shaun Patton missing out on a nomination after a summer hampered by injury.
The only other Donegal All-Ireland final starters not to earn a nomination are Caolan McColgan, Eoghán Bán Gallagher, Caolan McGonigle and Oisin Gallen.
The six Kerry All-Ireland final starters who missed out on nominations were Dylan Casey, Paul Murphy, Sean O’Brien, Mark O’Shea, Dylan Geaney and Graham O’Sullivan.
Among those players who were unfortunate to not make the long list were Tyrone’s Canavan and McKernan, Donegal’s Patton, Cork’s Colm O’Callaghan and Chris Og Jones, Meath’s Sean Coffey and Bryan Menton and Down duo Daniel Guinness and Danny Magill.
The All Star selectors have the flexibility to move players between defence, midfield and attack.
The final awards will be presented at a gala banquet in the RDS on Friday, November 7 with the winners named live on RTE.
PwC All-Stars Football Nominations 2025
Goalkeepers
Shane Ryan (Kerry), Rory Beggan (Monaghan), Ethan Rafferty (Armagh)
Defenders
Brian Ó Beaglaíoch, Jason Foley, Gavin White, Michael Breen (all Kerry), Brendan McCole, Finbarr Roarty, Peadar Mogan, Ciarán Moore, Ryan McHugh (all Donegal), Ciarán Caulfield, Seán Rafferty (both Meath), Jarlath Óg Burns, Ross McQuillan (both Armagh), Niall Devlin, Kieran McGeary (both Tyrone), Dessie Ward (Monaghan), Jack Coyne (Mayo), Craig Lennon (Louth)
Midfielders
Michael Langan (Donegal), Joe O’Connor (Kerry), Odhran Murdock (Down), Conor Glass (Derry), John Maher (Galway), Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne (Dublin)
Forwards
David Clifford, Paudie Clifford, Seán O’Shea (all Kerry), Michael Murphy, Conor O’Donnell, Shane O’Donnell, Ciaran Thompson (all Donegal), Matthew Costello, Jordan Morris, Ruairi Kinsella (all Meath), Ryan Burns, Sam Mulroy (Louth), Robert Finnerty, Matthew Thompson (both Galway), Rory Grugan, Oisín Conaty (both Armagh), Mícheál Bannigan (Monaghan), Ciaran Kilkenny (Dublin).
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