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Down GAA

File:Downnewcrest.jpg
Irish:	An Dún
Province:	Ulster
Nickname(s):	The Mournemen (football) The Ardsmen (hurling)
County colours:	Red & Black
Ground(s):	Páirc Esler, Newry
Dominant sport:	Gaelic Football
Competitions
NFL:	Division 1
NHL:	Division 2a
Football Championship:	Sam Maguire Cup
Hurling Championship:	Christy Ring Cup
Ladies' Gaelic football:	Brendan Martin Cup
Camogie:	Kay Mills Cup
Standard kit

The Down County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) (Irish: Cummann Luthchleas Gael Coiste An Dún) or Down GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Down. The county board is also responsible for the Down inter-county teams.

For current information on the Down Senior Football team, see 2012 Down GAA Senior Football.

History[link]

With just one loss in six appearances in All Ireland finals, Down have got a reputation for rising to the big occasion. Kitted out in their distinctive red and black, their massive fan base has been responsible for some of the largest match attendances in GAA history. Although in the last fifteen years they have been going through a very barren patch at senior level, despite various successes at underage level, in 2010 Down showed signs of improving by gaining promotion to the National Football League Division One and reaching the All Ireland Senior Football final - narrowly losing by 1 point to Cork.^[1][2]

Gaelic football[link]

Down was not regarded as a Gaelic stronghold when Queen's University won the 1958 Sigerson Cup, and some of its leading players turned their thoughts to Down's inter-county dilemma. They took the 1959 Ulster title with six inter-changeable forwards who introduced off-the-ball running and oddities such as track-suits. In 1960 two goals in a three minute period from James McCartan and Paddy Doherty helped beat Kerry, who were almost completely unbeaten at the time, and which brought to an end the Kerry football regime for a few years, and they beat Offaly by a point in 1961 in a tremendous match that featured five first half goals. In that three-year period their loyal supporters smashed every attendance record in the book. When Down played Offaly in 1961 they set a record attendance of 90,556 for a GAA game. Against Dublin in the 1964 National League final a record 70,125 showed up. The 71,573 who watched them play Kerry in 1961 still stands as a record for an All-Ireland semi-final. In 1968 Down beat Kerry with Sean O'Neill and John Murphy goals, again in a two-minute spell. Despite a famous prediction that Down would go on to win three in a row, the county took twenty years to regain its status. In 1991 they surprised favourites Meath, Barry Breen giving them the goal that sent them into a lead of eleven points with 20 minutes to go, too far even for Meath. In 1994 Mickey Linden sent James McCartan in for a goal directly under Hill 16 which silenced Dublin and helped them claim their fifth title. Down teams through the years have played with great emphasis on attack often leading to the neglect of the defence. This system has cost Down teams in the past 10 years or so with the introduction of more negative tactics to quell forward lines with a massive emphasis on blanket defence.

In 2008 Down defeated Tyrone after a replay in the Ulster Senior Football Championship but fell to Armagh in the Ulster SFC Semi Final. Down went on to play Offaly in the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers. After a convincing 5-19 to 2-10 victory over Offaly, Down faced Laois in round 2 of the qualifers. Beating Laois by a single point, and with Dan Gordon being sent off, Down were through to the last round of the qualifiers where they played Wexford at Croke Park. Down had Dan Gordon's suspension removed, but awful conditions and poor Down performance resulted in a defeat to Wexford by a 2-13 to 0-12 scoreline.

In 2010 Down reached the All-Ireland Final after a narrow win over Kildare in the Semi-Finals. They lost to Cork at GAA Headquarters, the first time Down has tasted defeat in the All-Ireland Final. Cork were three points down at half-time but they upped the ante in the second-half and ran out 0-16 to 0-15 winners in the end. Down captain Benny Coulter's effort on 70 minutes and a fisted Daniel Hughes effort a minute into added time left the bare minimum in it and that was the way it stayed as Cork collected their seventh All-Ireland SFC crown in front of 81,604 spectators.

Honours[link]

• All-Ireland Senior Football Championships: 5
  • 1960, 1961, 1968, 1991, 1994

• All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: Runner-Up 1
  • 2010

• Ulster Senior Football Championships: 12
  • 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1981, 1991, 1994

• National Football Leagues: 4
  • 1960, 1962, 1968, 1983

• McKenna Cups: 11
  • 1944, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1972, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2008

• Dr Lagan Cups: 6
  • 1949, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964

• All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championships: 1
  • 1979

• Ulster Under-21 Football Championships: 8
  • 1965, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1984, 2005, 2008, 2009

• All-Ireland Minor Football Championships: 4
  • 1977, 1987, 1999, 2005

• Ulster Minor Football Championships: 10
  • 1958, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1977, 1979, 1986, 1987, 1999

• All-Ireland Junior Football Championships: 1
  • 1946

• Ulster Junior Football Championships: 8
  • 1931, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1958, 1965, 1966, 1971

• GAA All Stars Awards: 23
  • 1971 (Sean O'Neill), 1972 (Sean O'Neill), 1975 (Colm McAlarney), 1978 (Colm McAlarney), 1981 (Paddy Kennedy), 1983 (Liam Austin, Greg Blaney), 1990 (James McCartan), 1991 (Conor Deegan, Barry Breen, Ross Carr, Greg Blaney), 1994 (Micheal Magill, Paul Higgins, DJ Kane, Gregory McCartan, Greg Blaney, James McCartan, Mickey Linden), 2010 (Brendan McVeigh, Daniel Hughes, Martin Clarke, Benny Coulter).

Down Football Squad[link]

• Manager: James McCartan
• Selectors: Aidan O'Rourke, Jerome Johnson

Squad as per Down vs Cork (National Football League Semi-Final)

Notable players[link]

This list of "famous" or "notable" sporting persons has no clear inclusion or exclusion criteria. Please help to define clear inclusion criteria and edit the list to contain only subjects that fit that criteria.

• Sean O'Neill, Former All Star (1971 & 72) and Down's only representative on the Gaelic Football team of the Millennium
• Colm McAlarney, former All Star (1975 & 78) player for Down
• Kevin Mussen, from the Clonduff Club he was the first Down man to lift the Sam Maguire Cup in 1960
• Paddy Doherty, All-Ireland winning captain 1961
• Joe Lennon, All-Ireland winning captain 1968
• Patsy O'Hagan, All-Ireland Winner (1960 & 1961) and selector for 1968 All-Ireland winning team
• Patrick Kielty, All-Ireland Winning team 1987 (Down Minors)
• Paddy O'Rourke, All-Ireland winning captain 1991 and former Down Senior Football manager
• James McCartan, All-Ireland winner in 1991 and 1994, former All Star (1990 & 1994) and managed Queen's University to Sigerson Cup glory in 2007. Present manager of Down Senior team.
• Greg Blaney, All-Ireland winner in 1991 and 1994, three-time All Star winner.
• Ross Carr, Two times All Ireland Winner (1991 & 94), a former All Star (1991) player for Down and former Down Senior Football manager
• DJ Kane, All-Ireland winning captain 1994 and former assistant county manager with Down
• Ambrose Rogers, from the Longstone Club, was Captain in 2010 but was injured before the All Ireland Final
• Mickey Linden, winner of 2 All-Ireland medals (1991 & 94) and former All Star (1994). Is regarded as one of Down's best Gaelic Footballers of all time
• Gregory McCartan, All Ireland winner 1994, All Star 1994, one of the best midfielders in the country
• Benny Coulter, star half forward and Ireland international. He won an All-Star award in 2010
• Dan Gordon, Star midfielder from the Loughinisland Club. He was captain of the Down Senior team in 2007/08. In 2010 Dan played in defence.
• Martin Clarke, An Riocht Club man, Martin won an All-Ireland Minor medal in 2005 and is a former player for AFL club Collingwood Magpies. He won an All-Star award in 2010
• Kevin McKernan, All Ireland minor championship 2005 ulster under 21 winner 2008 current down player

Hurling[link]

Entrance to sports ground, Saul, County Down

Down played in the Leinster Minor Hurling Championship for three years in the 1970s, even playing Antrim in an unusual Leinster semi-final in Croke Park in 1979. Four Down hurling clubs, Ballycran, Ballygalget, Portaferry and Bredagh play in the Antrim League. The first two used the experience to win Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championships. Ballygalget, Portaferry and Ballycran play in Antrim Div 1 while Bredagh play in Div 3. Although Down had not won the All Ireland B championship in four final appearances, when the Ulster Senior hurling championship was revived Down won titles in 1992, 1995 and 1997, losing the All Ireland semi-finals by 14, 11 and 16 points.Down beat Kilkenny in 1993 in a division 1 match 1.12 to 1.11

Honours[link]

• All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships: None

• All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championships: None

• All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championships: None

• All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championships: 1
  • 1964

• Christy Ring Cup:

Runners up: 2005, 2009

• National Hurling League:
• Division 2: 2004

• Ulster Senior Hurling Championships: 4
  • 1941, 1992, 1995, 1997

• Ulster Under-21 Hurling Championships: 11
  • 1969, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1990, 2003, 2004,

• Ulster Minor Hurling Championships: 12
  • 1930, 1932, 1934, 1957, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1978, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1994

• Ulster Junior Hurling Championships: 7
  • 1956, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1967, 1992, 1993

• Ulster Intermediate Hurling Championships: 4
  • 1968, 1971, 1972, 1998

• All Stars: 1
  • 1992 Gerard McGrattan

• Christy Ring Cup All-Stars: 8
  • 2005 Garth Johnson & Martin Coulter
  • 2007 Graham Clarke
  • 2009 Finton Conway & Sean Ennis & Ruairi McGrattan
  • 2010 Paul Braniff
  • 2011 Paul Braniff

Down GAA Clubs[link]

• Aghaderg-Ballyvarley - Website
• An Riocht - Website
• Annaclone - Website
• Annsborough
• Aughlisnafin
• Ardglass - Website
• Atticall - Website
• Ballela - Website
• Ballycran - Website
• Ballygalget - Website
• Ballyholland - Website
• Ballykinlar - ballykinlar.down.gaa.ie
• Ballymartin - Website
• Bredagh GAC
• Bright - Website
• Bryansford - Website
• Burren
• Carryduff - Website
• Castlewellan GAC
• Clann na Banna - Website
• Clonduff GAC - Website
• Darragh Cross - Website
• Downpatrick - Website
• Dromara - Website
• Drumaness - Website
• Drumgath - Website
• Dundrum - Website
• Glasdrumman - Website
• Glenn - Website
• Kilclief - Website
• Kilcoo GAC
• Killyleagh
• Liatroim Fontenoys GAC - Website
• Longstone GAC - Website
• Loughinisland - Website
• Mayobridge - Website
• John Mitchel GFC - Website
• Mourne Hurling Club
• Newry Bosco GFC - Website
• Newry Shamrocks - Website
• Portaferry -Website
• Rostrevor - Website
• Saul - Website
• Saval - Website
• St. John's
• St. Michael's - Website
• St. Paul's - Website
• Teconnaught
• Tullylish - Website
• Warrenpoint GAA

South Down[link]

South Down hurling team
Irish:	An Dún Theas
Nickname(s):	Non-Ards
Colours:	Red and black
Ground(s):	Ballela
Dominant sport:	Hurling
NHL:	Division 4
Hurling Championship:	Lory Meagher Cup
Standard colours

In 2007, the GAA announced that a hurling team from "South Down" (i.e. excluding the Ards peninsula) would compete in parallel to the main Down team,^[3] to encourage hurling in an area of growing population where the game has not been strong.^[4] While players from all of Down were eligible for the main Down team, Ards players could not play for South Down. The new team competed in the National Hurling League 2008, recording their first win by beating Cavan at Ballela, scoring 4-15 to Cavan's 0-9. South Down then competed in the Nicky Rackard Cup 2008 and in the Lory Meagher Cup until 2011.

Camogie[link]

Down contested the final of the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship in 1948, having beaten Galway 1-5 to 1-1 in the All Ireland semi-final, with K Mallon the captain and P Dooey their best player, and 13-year-old Berna Kelly played in goal.^[5] They won the inaugural All Ireland junior championship in 1968 and inaugural minor (under-16) championship in 1974, further All Ireland junior championships in 1976 and 1991 and the intermediate championship of 1994 which resulted in a brief return to the senior championship. They won the All Ireland championship at Under-16 C level in 2011 and reached the 2011 Nancy Murray Cup final. .^[6]

Leitrim Fontenoys won the 2004^[7] and 2005^[8] All Ireland junior club title.

Notable players include All Star and soaring star award winners^[9] Máirín McAleenan, Catherine McGourty and Karen Tinelly. Síghle Nic an Ultaigh and Belle O'Loughlin served as presidents of the Camogie Association).

Under Camogie’s National Development Plan 2010-2015, “Our Game, Our Passion,”^[10] five new camogie clubs are to be established in the county by 2015.^[11]

Club Championships[link]

• Down Senior Football Championship
• Down Senior Hurling Championship

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2008)

External links[link]

• Down on Hoganstand.com
• National and provincial titles won by Down teams
• Club championship winners
• Senior and Minor Football Championship Finals
• Down GAA site

Look up UP or down in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Down may refer to:

• Relative direction, where down is the direction towards the centre of gravity of a celestial object.
• Railroad directions, where down and up have locally significant meanings
• Down feather, a soft bird feather frequently used in manufacture of bedding.
• Downland, a type of hill
• Down syndrome, a genetic disorder
• Down (American football), in American/Canadian football, a period of time where one play takes place
• County Down, a county within Northern Ireland
  • Down District Council
  • Down (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)
  • Down (UK Parliament constituency)
• Down (game theory), a standard position in mathematical game theory
• Down (film), an English remake of the film De Lift, about an express elevator that develops a mind of its own
• Down (comics), a comic book published by Top Cow Productions
• Down (novel), a Bernice Summerfield novel by Lawrence Miles
• Down payment, a term used in the context of the purchase of items
• Down quark, an elementary constituent of matter
• John Langdon Down
• A world in Larry Niven's Known Space stories.
• "Down" (Breaking Bad), an episode from season two of Breaking Bad

Technology[link]

• Downtime
• Uploading and downloading

Music[link]

• Down (band), an American southern heavy metal supergroup

Albums

• Down (Sentenced album)
• Down (The Jesus Lizard album)

Songs

• "Down" (Jay Sean song)
• "Down" (Blink-182 song)
• "Down" (311 song)
• "Down" (R.K.M & Ken-Y song)
• "Down" (Pearl Jam song)
• "Down" (Juelz Santana song)
• "Down" (Stone Temple Pilots song)
• "Down", a single by Modern Day Zero
• "Down", a song by Motograter off their self-titled album
• "Down", a song by Gravity Kills from their self-titled debut album.
• "Down", a song by Kutless from Kutless
• "Down", a song by Pitchshifter from PSI
• "Down", a song by The Prom Kings on their self-titled album.
• "Down", a song by Noise Therapy on their album "Myton Lowrider"

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Gaafu Alifu Atoll
Country	Maldives
Province
Corresponding geographic atoll(s)	Huvadhu Atoll
Location	0° 55' N and 0° 28' N
Capital	Vilingili
Government
• Atoll chief	Abulla Saeed [1]
Population
• Total	12,116
Letter code	P
Dhivehi letter code	GA (ގއ)
Islands
• Number of islands	82
• Inhabited islands	Dhaandhoo Dhevvadhoo Dhiyadhoo Gemanafushi Hadahaa Kanduhulhudhoo Kolamaafushi Kondey Maamendhoo Nilandhoo Vilingili
• Uninhabited islands	Araigaiththaa Baavandhoo Baberaahuttaa Bakeiththaa Beyruhuttaa Beyrumaddoo Bihuréhaa Boaddoo Bodéhuttaa Budhiyahuttaa Dhevvalaabadhoo Dhevvamaagalaa Dhigémaahuttaa Dhigudhoo Dhigurah Dhonhuseenahuttaa Falhumaafushi Falhuverrehaa Farudhulhudhoo Fénéhuttaa Fenrahaa Fenrahaahuttaa Funadhoovillingili Funamaddoo Galamadhoo Haagevillaa Hagedhoo Heenamaagalaa Hirihuttaa Hithaadhoo Hithaadhoogalaa Hulhimendhoo Hunadhoo Hurendhoo Idimaa Innaréhaa Kalhehuttaa Kalhudhiréhaa Kanduvillingili Keesseyréhaa Kendheraa Koduhuttaa Kondeymatheelaabadhoo Kondeyvillingili Kudalafari Kuddoo Kudhébondeyyo Kudhéfehélaa Kudhéhuttaa Kureddhoo Lhossaa Maadhiguvaru Maaféhélaa Maagehuttaa Maakanaarataa Maamutaa Maarandhoo Maaréhaa Mahaddhoo Maththidhoo Maththuréhaa Médhuburiyaa Médhuhuttaa Medhuréhaa Melaimu Meradhoo Minimensaa Munaagala Munandhoo Odagallaa Raaverrehaa Rinbidhoo Thinrukéréhaa Uhéréhaa Viligillaa Vodamulaa
Resort islands, airports and industrial islands are also considered uninhabited.

Northern Huvadhu Atoll or Gaafu Alifu is an administrative division of the Maldives created on February 8, 1962 when Huvadhu Atoll was divided into two districts. Gaafu Alifu corresponds to the northeastern section of this large natural atoll north of the line extending between the channels of Footukandu and Vaarulu Kandu. The capital of this district is Vilingili.

NOTE: Haa Alifu, Haa Dhaalu, Shaviyani, Noonu, Raa, Baa, Kaafu, etc. (including Gaafu Alif) are code letters assigned to the present administrative divisions of the Maldives. They are not the proper names of the natural atolls that make up these divisions. Some atolls are divided into two administrative divisions while other divisions are made up of two or more natural atolls. The order followed by the code letters is from North to South, beginning with the first letters of the Thaana alphabet used in Dhivehi. These code letters are not accurate from the geographical and cultural point of view. However, they have become popular among tourists and foreigners in the Maldives who find them easier to pronounce than the true atoll names in Dhivehi, (save a few exceptions, like Ari Atoll).^[1]

History[link]

Some of the ancient kings of Maldives traced their ancestry to certain families of Devvadu Island, located in the centre of the large lagoon. There are many Buddhist archaeological remains in Devvadū, mainly low hills left by ruined stupas. None of these ancient remains have been properly investigated yet.

In January 1959, the three southern atolls: Huvadhu, Fuvahmulah and Addu, were involved in setting up the breakaway United Suvadive Republic which survived until September 1963. The name of the secessionist state was taken from the ancient name of Huvadhu Atoll, "Suvadiva".

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2009)

• Hasan A. Maniku. The Islands of Maldives. Novelty. Male 1983.
• H.C.P. Bell, The Maldive Islands; Monograph on the History, Archaeology and Epigraphy. Reprint Colombo 1940. Council for Linguistic and Historical Research. Male’ 1989
• Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. 1999, ISBN 84-7254-801-5
• Muhammadu Ibrahim Lutfee. Divehiraajjege Jōgrafīge Vanavaru. G.Sōsanī. Malé 1999.

v t e Administrative Divisions of the Maldives Capital Malé Mathi-Uthuru (Upper North) Haa Alif Haa Dhaalu Shaviyani Uthuru (North) Noonu Raa Baa Lhaviyani Medhu-Uthuru (North Central) Kaafu Alif Alif Alif Dhaal Vaavu Medhu (Central) Meemu Faafu Dhaalu Mathi-Dhekunu (Upper South) Thaa Laamu Medhu-Dhekunu (South Central) Gaafu Alif Gaafu Dhaalu Dhekunu (South) Gnaviyani Addu

Coordinates: 0°43′45″N 73°19′52″E / 0.729198°N 73.331°E / 0.729198; 73.331

This Maldives location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Greg Blaney is an Irish former dual GAA player who played Gaelic football and hurling for Down in the 1980s and 1990s. He is chiefly remember as a footballer. He was part of the Down team that won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 1991 and 1994.^[1] Blaney also won three Ulster Senior Football Championships^[2] and a National League title with Down. He also had a distinguished underage career with the county - winning Ulster Minor, Ulster Under 21 and All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship medals. He also won three All Star awards during his career.^[2]

In football he usually played at centre half forward.^[3] He was a brilliant reader of the game.^[3] He was renowned for his vision,^[4] ball-winning^[1] and play-making abilities.^[1][5] His excellent passing skills^[1] set up countless chances for team-mates.^[3] His understanding with Down corner forward Mickey Linden has been described as "near telepathic".^[1] It has been said that he made the Down "attack tick with his shrewd play and inventiveness".^[5] Blaney was also able to score himself.^[3]

Blaney is a legend in Down GAA circles,^[5] and is known as one of the county's best ever footballers.^[3] In 2009 to mark the 125th anniversary of the Gaelic Athletic Association he was named by The Irish News as one of the all-time best 125 footballers from Ulster.^[1]

With Down hurlers he won Ulster Minor and Ulster Senior Hurling Championship medals.

Background[link]

Blaney went to secondary school at St. Colman's College in Newry.^[6] Later he attended Queens University Belfast.^[6]

His father Seán captained Armagh to Ulster Minor and All-Ireland Minor Football Championship glory in 1949.^[6]

He is a relation of James, Daniel, Eoin McCartan, James McCartan Sr and Dan McCartan.

Football career[link]

Club[link]

This section requires expansion.

Blaney played club football for Carryduff. His first year playing for the club's Senior team was 1978,^[1][7] aged just 15.^[7] He helped the club win the Down Junior Football Championship in 1986.^[6]

Inter-county[link]

Blaney was known as one of Down's best ever underage players. Blaney played for the Down Minor team for three years and won the Ulster Minor Football Championship with them in 1977 & 1979.^[1] In 1979 at the age of just 16,^[1] he was part of the Down Under 21 team that won the Ulster Under 21 and All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championships.^[1]

Blaney joined the Down Senior panel in 1981.^[2] That year, while only 18 years old,^[2] he won his first Ulster Senior Football Championship medal with the county.^[1] Two years later he helped Down win the National Football League.^[1] He also received an All Star award for his performances that year.^[1] Blaney and Down reached the 1986 Ulster final, but were beaten by Tyrone.^[2]

In 1991 Down again won the Ulster Championship, beating Donegal in the decider. Down defeated Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final, before beating Meath in the All-Ireland final. The success was Down's first All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title since 1968.^[1] Blaney also won a second All Star that year.^[1]

Blaney won a third Ulster Championship medal with Down in 1994 - overcoming Tyrone comfortably in the decider.^[2] Victories over Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final and Dublin in the final gave Blaney another All-Ireland Senior medal. Once again he was honoured for hs performances that year with an All Star.^[1]

Blaney lined out in another Ulster final two years later, but Down lost to Tyrone.^[2] He retired from inter-county football in 1997.^[2]Blaney is 1 of a couple of players that have won Ulster Senior Hurling and Football

School/college[link]

Blanye's honours while at St. Colman's include helping the school win three MacRory Cups^[1] (1978, 1979 and 1981^[6]). In 1978 they went on to reach the Hogan Cup final, but were beaten by St. Jarlath's College, Tuam.

Despite being just a fresher, Blaney was top-scorer when Queens University Belfast won the Sigerson Cup in 1982.^[6] He also won the Ryan Cup^[6] on two occasions with QUB (1984 and 1985). In 1999 he was named a 'Sporting Great' of the university.^[8] He also a patron of QUB's GAA academy.^[8]

Province[link]

Blaney played for Ulster on many occasions. He won the Railway Cup five times with the province^[1][6] (between 1983 and 1995^[6]).

International[link]

Blaney played Compromise rules football for Ireland against Australia in 1984, 1986, 1987 and 1990.^[6]

Hurling career[link]

This section requires expansion.

Club[link]

Blaney played club hurling for Ballycran.^[5] His honours with the club include downing a pint of guiness and fixing players teeth after their rough matches with portaferry and ballygalget .

Inter-county[link]

Blaney represented Down hurlers at Minor, Under 21 and Senior level.^[6] In 1978 he won an Ulster Minor Hurling Championship medal with the county.^[6]

He was part of the Down side that won the 1992 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship^[6] - the county's first since 1941.

After retiring[link]

Blaney has a deep knowledge of football^[5] and has served as a selector with the Down Senior football team, when former team-mate Paddy O'Rourke was manager.^[2] He was appointed to the role in July 2002.^[5] In 2003 Down reached the Ulster final, where they faced Tyrone.^[2] The game was a thriller and finished a high-scoring draw. On 9 January 2011, Blaney was appointed Manager of South Belfast outfit St.Brigids.^[2] Tyrone however, comfortably won the replay.^[2]

Honours[link]

Club[link]

• 1 Down Junior Football Championship 1986
• 1 Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship 1993
• 8 Down Senior Hurling Championship 1980 1984 1985 1986 1987 1993 1994 1995

Inter-county[link]

Senior[link]

• 2 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 1991 1994
• 1 National Football LeagueDivision 1 1983
• 3 Ulster Senior Football Championship 1981 1991 1994
• 4 Dr McKenna Cup 1987 1989 1992 1996
• 1 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship 1992

Under-21[link]

• 1 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship 1979
• 1 Ulster Under-21 Football Championship 1979
• 1 Ulster Under-21 Hurling Championship 1983

Minor[link]

• 2 Ulster Minor Football Championship 1977 1979
• 1 Ulster Minor Hurling Championship 1978

School/college[link]

• 1 Sigerson Cup 1982
• 1 Ryan Cup 1982
• 2 MacRory Cup 1978 1979

Province[link]

• 6 Railway Cup 1983 1984 1989 1991 1992 1995

Individual[link]

• 3 All Star 1983 1991 1994
• 1 Irish News Ulster All-Stars 1996

References[link]

External links[link]

• QUB Hall of Fame
• Official Down GAA website

Teams[link]

Template:Down Senior Hurling Team 1992