GAA Top 20: Doyle, Ryan or Dunney - who is the greatest Kildare footballer of the last 50 years?

MICK O’DWYER had no doubt about Glenn Ryan’s impact on Kildare during his second term as manager.

“He was the rock, the anchor, the captain and the inspiration, a man with the heart of a lion,” wrote Micko in his autobiography. He still insists that if Ryan and Niall Buckley hadn’t carried injuries into the 1998 All-Ireland final, Kildare would have won.

Whatever about O’Dwyer’s assertion – one that has always been rejected in Galway – that injuries cost Kildare, few will argue with our choice of Ryan as Lilywhite No 1.

It gets tricky from there on. We’ve gone for Johnny Doyle at No 2 on the basis of his remarkable consistency rate throughout a 15-year senior career. It all started so promisingly when Kildare won the Leinster title in 2000, but they were again beaten by Galway after which decline set in.

It wasn’t until 2010 that Kildare made another serious challenge for All-Ireland glory, only to be denied by a controversial two-point defeat against Down in the semi-final. Cork beat Down by a point in the final, leaving Kildare to wonder what might have been if luck had gone their way in the semi-final. Doyle was later chosen at left half-forward on the All Stars team.

Pat Dunney and Tommy Carew, heroic figures in the 1960s/70s are next in line, followed by Pat Mangan, Anthony Rainbow and Larry Tompkins, who fills the No 1 slot in Cork.

He left for Leeside at the age of 24 after a sad saga which saw him fall out with the County Board over a £400 (€508) air fare.

“It might have looked expensive to the County Board in 1985, but it was nothing in comparison to what it cost Kildare football over the next 10 years,” wrote O’Dwyer.

KILDARE

1. Glenn Ryan

2. Johnny Doyle

3. Pat Dunney

4. Tommy Carew

5. Pat Mangan

6. Anthony Rainbow

7. Larry Tompkins

8. Niall Buckley

9. Paddy O’Donoghue

10. John Crofton

11. Dermot Earley

12. Martin Lynch

13. Mick Carolan

14. Séamus ‘Sos’ Dowling

15. Ollie Crinnigan

16. Denis Dalton

17. Brian Lacey

18. Davy Dalton

19. Declan Kerrigan

20. Shea Fahy

See Tuesday's Irish Independent and Independent.ie to find out who has made the grade for each team in Munster and have your say on each county's poll below