Gary Fahey
Gary Fahey is a former All-Ireland winning Gaelic footballer who captained Galway in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Gearóid Ó Fathaigh | ||
| Sport | Gaelic football | ||
| Position | Full Back | ||
| Born | Galway, Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
| Killanin | |||
| Colleges(s) | |||
| Years | College | ||
| UCG | |||
| College titles | |||
| Sigerson titles | 1 | ||
| Inter-county(ies) | |||
| Years | County | ||
1992–2004 | Galway | ||
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Connacht titles | 5 | ||
| All-Irelands | 2 | ||
| NFL | 0 | ||
| All Stars | 0 | ||
Playing primarily in a full-back position, he won five Connacht Senior medals and two All-Ireland medals.
Fahey's intercounty career began in 1992 when he joined the Galway panel after playing a role for the Sigerson Cup winning UCG team. Fahey made his inter-county debut in the summer of 1992 when he came on as a substitute in a defeat against Mayo in Castlebar. It wasn't until 1995 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship that Galway finally won the Connacht title under Bosco McDermott. They defeated Mayo in Tuam Stadium: their first provincial title in 8 years. Galway later lost to Tyrone in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Mayo defeated Galway in both the 1996 and 1997 Connacht campaigns where they also lost both subsequent All-Ireland finals. John O'Mahony was brought in as Galway manager in September 1997, and coached a team which had Fahy as a "central cog".
In the 1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, the team defeated Kildare in the All-Ireland final. It was Galway's first All-Ireland win in 32 years. Their 1–13 to 2–06 win was the catalyst for a strong season for Galway, who followed up with victories over Leitrim, Roscommon in the Connacht final and Derry in the semi-final.
In the next four years, Fahey would play in some of the biggest games in Galway's history. In 1999, a hamstring injury kept him out of the Connacht Final. He returned for the 2000 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship season where Galway re-claimed the Connacht title after defeating Leitrim before losing to Kerry in the All-Ireland Final after a replay.
Galway began the 2001 championship season with a defeat to Roscommon. However, through the new 'back-door' system, and following victories over Wicklow, Cork, Armagh, Roscommon (again) and Derry, they met Meath in the All-Ireland final. Galway beat Meath in the final by nine points, and Fahey collected his second All-Ireland medal. He also had the honour of lifting the Sam Maguire trophy as captain.
Galway won the Connacht title again in both the 2002 championship and 2003 competition.
John O'Mahony departed in 2004 and Fahy retired from inter-county football shortly afterwards.[1]
References
External links
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Seamus Moynihan (Kerry) |
All-Ireland Senior Football winning captain 2001 |
Succeeded by Kieran McGeeney (Armagh) |