GAA Top 20: McCabe, King or Reilly - who is the greatest Cavan footballer of the last 50 years?

When Cavan reached the 1996 All-Ireland U-21 final and followed up a year later by taking the Ulster senior title for the first time since 1969, hopes soared in the county that a new and successful era was on its way.

Dermot McCabe, who featured on both that U21 (1996) and senior teams (1997), was one of the new breed of young talent who had merged with experienced hands to produce a well-balanced outfit. And with Martin McHugh in charge, expectations were growing rapidly.

It wasn’t to be. McHugh departed after the 1997 campaign, managerial strife followed, momentum was lost and apart from 2001, when Cavan reached the Ulster final, there wasn’t much for Breffni supporters to enthuse about.

McCabe did his best to lift the gloom with many excellent performances for Cavan, Ulster and Ireland (International Rules), but there were no rich pickings on the championship front. Despite that, his career will be remembered as one of the best in Cavan for a long time.

The same applies to Jim Reilly, who was such an influential figure – mostly at wing-back, but sometimes in attack too – throughout the 1980s.

There were times when Cavan looked as if they would make a breakthrough, but it never quite happened despite the best efforts of men like Reilly. The esteem in which he was held became apparent in 1993 when Eamonn Coleman, Brian McEniff, Peter McGinnity and Jimmy Smyth all chose him on an Ulster team drawn from the best players they had seen.

Stephen King was equally admired and respected in a 16-year career which reached its high point in his final season in 1997 when, at the age of 35, he captained Cavan to the Ulster title.

Time was running out for the midfielder whose career had often been disrupted by injury. Despite that, he never lost his enthusiasm for the Cavan cause and played a huge part in the 1997 Ulster success. He retired in February 1998.

CAVAN

1. Dermot McCabe, 2. Jim Reilly, 3. Stephen King, 4. Damien O’Reilly, 5. Steve Duggan, 6. Ollie Brady, 7. Gene Cusack, 8. Enda McGowan, 9. Peter Reilly, 10. Ronan Carolan, 11. Larry Reilly, 12. Ray Carolan, 13. Paddy McNamee, 14. Jason Reilly, 15. Anthony Forde, 16. Gearóid McKiernan, 17. Fintan Cahill, 18. Derek McDonnell, 19. Cian Mackey, 20. James Reilly

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