Paul Flynn (hurler)

Paul Flynn (born 17 December 1974) is an Irish retired hurler and soccer player who was best known as a left wing-forward for the Waterford senior team. He joined the team in 1993 and was a regular member of the starting fifteen until his retirement in 2008.[1]

Paul Flynn

Personal information
Irish name	Pól Ó Floinn
Sport	Hurling
Position	Left Corner Forward
Born	17 December 1974 Waterford, Ireland
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Nickname	N/A
Occupation	Medical Rep
Club(s)
Years	Club
1992-2009	Ballygunner
Club titles
Waterford titles	8
Munster titles	1
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County	Apps (scores)
1993-2008	Waterford	46 (24-181)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	3
All-Irelands	0
NHL	1
All Stars	1

Flynn is Waterford's top championship scorer of all-time. He has won three Munster winners' medals, one National League winners' medal and one All-Star award. He ended up as an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion.[2]

At club level Flynn is a one-time Munster medalist with Ballygunner. In addition to this he has won eight county club championship medals.

Flynn also won schoolboy international caps as a soccer goalkeeper will being a trainee with Aston Villa he also played a season with Waterford United F.C. in the League of Ireland.[3]

A former manager of the Carlow under-21 hurling team, Flynn is currently a selector of the Waterford under-21 hurling team.

Flynn won a GUI senior cup medal in 2014 with Tramore in Carton House, Maynooth.

The hurling 20/20 committee released their recommendations on 6 January 2015 Flynn was part of The group set up by GAA President Liam O'Neill.

Playing career

Club

Flynn plays his club hurling with the Ballygunner club in Waterford and has enjoyed much success.

In 1992 Flynn was still a minor when he won his first county club championship medal following a 1–12 to 2–7 defeat of Mount Sion. It was the club's first title in twenty-four years.

Ballygunner surrendered their club title the following year, but were back in the final again in 1995 to face Mount Sion. Flynn played in a match that finished all square but missed Ballygunner's 3–13 to 1–17 replay victory due to suspension, having been sent off in an under-21 match between the drawn match and the replay. It was the first of three county final victories in-a-row for Ballygunner, defeating Lismore in 1996 and Passage in 1997.

Four club titles in-a-row proved beyond Ballygunner, however, the club bounced back in 1999 with Flynn winning a fifth county championship medal following a five-point defeat of old rivals Mount Sion.[4]

After a defeat by Mount Sion in the championship decider in 2000, Flynn secured a sixth championship medal in 2001 when Ballygunner accounted for Lismore.[5] He later claimed a Munster winners' medal after his club accounted for Blackrock in the provincial final.[6]

After the high of winning the provincial title Ballygunner went on to lose three club championship finals in succession. They broke this unenviable record at the fourth attempt with Flynn winning a seventh county championship medal following a 2–10 to 1–12 defeat of De La Salle.[7]

Ballygunner lost two further finals in succession before Flynn won his eight championship medal in 2009 following a one-point defeat of Lismore after a draw and a replay.[8]

Inter-county

Flynn first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Waterford minor and under-21 teams. In 1992, he won a Munster medal in the minor grade following an exciting two-game saga with provincial kingpins Tipperary.[9] Waterford later qualified for the All-Ireland final, however, Galway were far superior on the day and had an easy 1–13 to 2–4 victory.

That same year saw Flynn play a key role with the Waterford under-21 team. He came on as a substitute to win a Munster medal in that grade before later lining out in the All-Ireland final.[10] Offaly provided the opposition on that occasion, however, the game ended in a draw. The replay saw Waterford take the title by 0–12 to 2–3 and Flynn collected an All-Ireland under-21 medal.

Flynn added a second Munster under-21 title to his collection in 1994, however, there would be no further All-Ireland success.

Flynn's performances at underage levels brought him to the attention of the senior selectors and he made his senior debut in the 1993 championship. It was a less than auspicious start to Flynn's hurling career as Waterford were defeated by the minnows of Kerry in the opening round of the Munster championship.[11] It was one of the lowest points in Waterford hurling.

In 1998 Flynn played in his first Munster final in the senior grade. Waterford held All-Ireland champions Clare to a draw in the Munster final, however, the Decies lost the replay. Flynn's side later faced Kilkenny in what would be the county's first All Ireland semi final appearance in Croke Park since 1963. Kilkenny won by a single point.

In 2002 Waterford emerged from the doldrums by reaching the Munster final once again. Flynn was the game's top scorer as he collected his first Munster winners' medal as Waterford defeated Tipperary by 2–23 to 3–12. It was their first provincial crown in thirty-nine years.[12] Waterford's hurling odyssey came to an end in the All-Ireland semi-final.

After surrendering the Munster title to Cork in 2003, Flynn's side were back in the provincial showpiece for a third successive year in 2004. In one of the greatest games of all-time Waterford defeated Cork in a Munster final for the first time in forty-five years to take the title by 3–16 to 1–21. One of the highlights of a game that had everything was a Flynn goal from a close-in free. An All-Ireland appearance subsequently eluded the team yet again. In spite of this there was some consolation at the end of the year as Flynn won his sole All-Star award.

The following few years proved difficult for Flynn. Waterford crashed out of the early stages of the provincial championship in 2005 and 2006. On both these occasions his team was defeated by Cork in the All-Ireland series.

In 2007 Flynn added a National Hurling League medal to his collection when Waterford defeated Kilkenny by 0–20 to 0–18 in the final.[13] He later claimed a third Munster winners' medal as Waterford defeated Limerick by 3–17 to 1–14 in the provincial decider.[14] While Waterford were viewed as possibly going on and winning the All-Ireland title for the first time in almost half a century, Limerick ambushed Waterford in the All-Ireland semi-final.

2008 began poorly for Waterford as the team lost their opening game to Clare as well as their manager Justin McCarthy. In spite of this poor start Flynn's side reached the All-Ireland final for the first time in forty-five years. Kilkenny provided the opposition and went on to defeat Waterford by 3–30 to 1–13 to claim a third All-Ireland title in-a-row.[15] Following this defeat Flynn brought the curtain down on his inter-county career.

Inter-provincial

Flynn was also a regular on the Munster team at various times between 1994 and 2000. He won two Railway Cup medals on the field of play in 1994 and 2000, while also claiming a third as a non-playing substitute in 1996.[16]

Managerial career

Carlow

After retiring from playing Flynn took up his first management role when he took over the Carlow under-21 hurling team in 2011.[17]

His first season in charge ended with a four-goal drubbing by Dublin in the opening round of the championship.[18]

In 2012 Flynn's side had high hopes of qualifying for the Leinster final, however, Laois defeated Carlow by just a single point in the provincial semi-final.[19]

Down

It was announced in November 2012 that Flynn was to join Gerard Monan's back-room team with the Down senior hurling team for the 2013 season.[20]

Career statistics

Club

Team	Year	Waterford		Munster		All-Ireland		Total
		Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score
Ballygunner	1992-93	3	0-09	1	0-02	—		4	0-11
	1993-94	7	5-29	—		—		7	5-29
	1994-95	7	4-39	—		—		7	4-39
	1995-96	9	8-37	3	2-04	—		12	10-41
	1996-97	x	x-xx	3	3-21	—		x	x-xx
	1997-98	x	x-xx	2	2-09	—		x	x-xx
	1998-99	x	x-xx	—		—		x	x-xx
	1999-00	4	3-30	3	1-17	—		7	4-47
	2000-01	4	1-26	—		—		4	1-26
	2001-02	x	x-xx	3	1-38	1	0-04	x	x-xx
	2002-03	x	x-xx	—		—		x	x-xx
	2003-04	x	x-xx	—		—		x	x-xx
	2004-05	x	x-xx	—		—		x	x-xx
	2005-06	x	x-xx	3	4-11	—		x	x-xx
	2006-07	5	1-10	—		—		5	1-10
	2007-08	3	1-05	—		—		3	1-05
	2008-09	2	2-09	—		—		2	2-09
	2009-10	8	2-43	2	0-13	—		10	2-43

Inter-county

Team	Year	National League			Munster		All-Ireland		Total
		Division	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score
Waterford	1992-93	Division 1B	0	0-00	1	3-02	—		1	3-02
	1993-94	Division 1	7	0-39	1	0-04	—		8	0-43
	1994-95	Division 2	9	4-44	1	0-03	—		10	4-47
	1995-96	Division 1	4	0-04	1	1-05	—		5	1-09
	1997	Division 2	7	5-42	1	1-07	—		8	6-49
	1998	Division 1B	7	5-31	4	1-22	2	0-08	13	6-61
	1999		4	5-11	2	2-12	—		6	7-23
	2000		7	0-41	1	0-03	—		8	0-44
	2001		6	3-26	1	1-04	—		7	4-30
	2002	Division 1A	5	3-18	2	1-18	1	1-04	8	5-40
	2003		5	3-12	4	6-16	1	0-03	10	9-31
	2004		9	5-58	3	1-10	1	0-13	13	6-81
	2005		6	3-28	1	1-06	4	2-20	11	6-54
	2006		6	2-32	1	0-05	3	1-02	10	3-39
	2007		2	0-01	2	1-03	3	1-09	7	2-13
	2008		0	0-00	0	0-00	5	0-01	5	0-01
Total			84	38-387	26	19-120	20	5-60	130	62-567

Honours

Team

Ballygunner

• Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship (1): 2001
• Waterford Senior Club Hurling Championship (8): 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2009

Waterford

• Munster Senior Hurling Championship (3): 2002, 2004, 2007
• National Hurling League (1): 2007
• All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship (1): 1992
• Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship (2): 1992, 1994
• Munster Minor Hurling Championship (1): 1992

Munster

• Inter-provincial Championship (1): 1995, 2000

Individual

• All-Stars (1): 2004 9 times nominationed

References

1. "Two more Waterford players retire". RTÉ Sport. 15 November 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
2. Gleeson, James (29 December 2009). "A Tipperary tribute to Paul Flynn". The Nationalist. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
3. "PAUL FLYNN: Waterford hurle". Irish Independent. 6 August 2006. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
4. Murphy, John (20 September 1999). "Free for all mars Deise final". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 7 February 2006. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
5. Hogan, Vincent (18 September 2001). "Ballygunner crowned kings". Irish Independent. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
6. Breheny, Martin (3 December 2001). "Ballygunner finally scale club heights". Irish Independent. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
7. "Flynn's late magic keeps Gunners firing". Irish Independent. 17 October 2005. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
8. "Flynn fires Gunners to glory". Irish Independent. 17 October 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
9. "Minor Hurling". Munster GAA website. Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
10. "Under-21 Hurling". Munster GAA website. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
11. O'Shea, Kerry (7 May 2003). "Brick is the foundation for a Kerry victory". The Kingdom. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
12. Breheny, Martin (1 July 2002). "Waterford wonders whip Tipp with awesome display". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
13. Breheny, Martin (4 May 2007). "Waterford end 44-year famine with National League title". Munster Express. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
14. Breheny, Martin (9 July 2007). "Dynamic Dan adds some extra dash for the Déise". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
15. "RTÉ Sport: Kilkenny 3–30 Waterford 1–13". RTÉ Sport. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
16. "Railway Cup Hurling". Munster GAA website. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
17. Reilly, Terry (12 January 2011). "Flynn new Carlow U21 hurling manager". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
18. Keegan, Charles (9 June 2011). "Classy Dubs stroll into semis". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
19. Keegan, Charlie (21 June 2012). "Laois survive mighty test from Carlow". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
20. "Paul Flynn joins Down as hurling team coach". RTÉ Sport. 3 November 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2012.