GAA Top 20: Connor, Furlong or Bryan - who is the greatest Offaly footballer of the last 50 years?

FIFTY years ago, Offaly’s football landscape looked a whole lot different to what it appears today. They had lost the 1969 All-Ireland SFC final to Kerry, but there was a clear sense that the trajectory was on course for a first All-Ireland title.

And so it proved. By the end of 1971, the Faithful County were on the honours’ list and a year later they joined the exclusive club reserved for back-to-back All-Ireland winners. A decade later, a third title was secured in the most dramatic circumstance with that famous win over Kerry.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of our top 20 comes from those teams, led by Matt Connor, one of the most technically gifted forwards in Gaelic football history.

Unfortunately, his career was ended by a car accident in 1984 at a time when Offaly’s fortunes were beginning to slide. In all probability, their rate of decline wouldn’t have been nearly as steep if Connor was around for the rest of the decade.

Despite his excellence, Connor didn’t win a Footballer of the Year award, unlike three of the next four, Eugene Mulligan (1971), Willie Bryan (1972) and Martin Furlong (1982). Tony McTague was in that class too but lost out to Mulligan and Bryan respectively in the All-Ireland double years.

Seán Lowry, bridged both eras, as a 20-year-old rookie in 1972 and as a vastly experienced campaigner a decade later. He played at centre-back in both finals, while featuring at full-forward in 1981 when Offaly lost the All-Ireland final to Kerry.

He later played in attack for Mayo too. An ability to play in defence and attack at the highest level underlined his flexibility as a footballer, a quality Richie Connor also brought to his game.

He was at centre-back when Offaly reached the 1981 All-Ireland final, but captained them to glory from centre-forward a year later. Meanwhile, Lowry switched from attack to defence. Both moves were important in Offaly’s 1982 success.

OFFALY

1. Matt Connor

2. Martin Furlong

3. Willie Bryan

4. Tony McTague

5. Eugene Mulligan

6. Seán Lowry

7. Richie Connor

8. Paddy McCormack

9. Johnny Mooney

10. Johnny Cooney

11. Kevin Kilmurray

12. Mick Ryan

13. Brendan Lowry

14. Pádraig Dunne

15. Vinny Claffey

16. Peter Brady

17. Ciarán McManus

18. Finbarr Cullen

19. Seamus Darby

20. Niall McNamee

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