THERE’S A PILE of laminated A4 pictures in the big kit bag that we pull out from time to time at U-14s training.
One of them is a still of Mayo’s Cillian O’Connor, nose almost touching his knee after striking a free, literally a picture of perfect follow through and leg extension.
There’s another of Shane Walsh, shooting a point for Galway and extending out the arm on his non-kicking side as a counter-weight, aiding his balance.
Another is of Meath’s Jack Flynn, displaying precise timing and plucking a ball out of the air at the highest point possible, hands extended above the head and slightly forward.
Then there’s the image of David Clifford, his left toe about two inches higher than the top of his head after kicking a point against Rocommon in the 2025 Championship. Like O’Connor, his nose almost meets the knee on his kicking leg.
Whenever we spot one of our U-14s jabbing at a kick, or not following through properly, we’ll invariably pull out the Clifford photo to make our point. ‘Woah, how does he get his leg that high?!’ is the typical response.
David Clifford kicks a point as Kerry advance to the All Ireland final https://t.co/vXIWD2ZNLo
We actually asked Kerry selector Aodhán MacGearailt that question the morning after their 2025 All-Ireland final win.
“It’s a good question,” said the former Kerry forward. “David has his routine. It involves his hip flexors, his activation, the groins and hamstring activation. That routine takes maybe 20 minutes before we even start to warm him up. And he goes through every bit of it meticulously. It’s not just by chance he can lift his leg that high.”
You get the feeling that there isn’t anything Clifford leaves to chance and in 2026, his ninth as a Kerry senior, the Fossa man reached new levels of performance.
His scoring stats are off the charts; 7-50 from eight Championship starts, 4-40 from seven National League appearances.
And he has continued to add new aspects to his game, like the two-pointer he kicked off the outside of his left foot against Monaghan last March. For all his scoring exploits, nobody we’ve spoken to could remember him ever slicing a long-range effort like that before.
His increasing use of the back-door cut to find space in the number 13 pocket, and to dart in and convert fisted points off his ‘weaker’ right hand – he did it twice in the All-Ireland final alone – is another new development.
Last November, the Ulster based McKeever Sports sought to capitalise on the Kerryman’s unique ability, and appeal, by launching a collection of Clifford branded sportswear.
Earlier this week, on Tuesday morning at 10am no less, a brand-new range of Clifford football boots was rolled out. Timed, no doubt, to chime with the buildup to this Friday evening’s announcement of the Footballer of the Year for 2026.
𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄. For every young footballer who wants to Kick Like Clifford.
Shop now - link in bio.
#McKvr #KickLikeClifford #CliffordBoot #DavidClifford #GAA https://t.co/kz21xv9NAt
And in any other year, Clifford – who isn’t expected to actually attend due to the Kerry team’s holiday – would be a shoo-in to win that award again.
For all the reasons given above and the fact that despite having already won it three times, and with his 28th birthday approaching, he is actually getting better year on year.
The thing is, he probably won’t get it, denying him the opportunity, for 12 months at least, to draw level with Jack O’Shea as a four-time recipient. And that’s entirely fair.
Because this is Mayo’s year and, in specific playing terms, Ryan O’Donoghue’s. His Mayo colleague Jack Carney is the third nominee for the coveted prize although as Friday’s ceremony comes into focus, it appears a straight shoot-out between Clifford and O’Donoghue for the top individual honour.
Whereas Clifford’s case can be largely made by his remarkable statistics, O’Donoghue’s is a little more nuanced.
Sure, he scored big too, posting 2-56 in the Championship, and another 1-35 in the League. We’re aware that league form may seem irrelevant, and doesn’t appear to carry any influence, but it is a Footballer “of the Year” award, and not a Footballer of the Championship gong.
Either way, O’Donoghue was the beating heart of Mayo’s group all year, and particularly in the Championship, a player who went to extreme lengths to make the county’s All-Ireland dream a reality. He has talked extensively about the punishing training he endured as a young teenager, when his principal focus was boxing. And about how his missed penalty in the 2021 final defeat to Tyrone tormented him for the next five years.
“There wasn’t a week that went by where it didn’t enter my head and I’d get angry, I’d get upset,” revealed O’Donoghue in August. “I would never have admitted that before the 26th of July last, I would never have admitted that to anyone, bar Andy Moran actually.”
That’s presumably where some of the drive came from to execute 17 turnovers throughout the Championship, nine on his own and eight more as part of a group. Clifford, notably, executed none. Journalist Cahair O’Kane crunched the numbers on that one. Speaking of crunching, O’Donoghue was perhaps fortunate to get away with a heavy hit on Clifford late in the first half of the final.
Ryan O'Donoghue and Darragh Beirne challenge Kerry's Paul Murphy. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Still, it was the sort of appetite for destruction required to win a game of that magnitude and how he led the Mayo press this season was what will probably win him the award. Whilst Kerry’s ploy seemed to be to get the ball to Clifford, O’Donoghue went hunting it down himself and a heat map of his summer movements would be considerably more extensive than Clifford’s.
The first night back at U-14s training after the final, we happily underlined the value of that sort of work-rate in the forwards, and of defence beginning in the attack. It’s probably something that Clifford will seek to improve on himself in 2027. Imagine that, a player of his talent, and physical stature, pressing defenders hard too.
O’Donoghue’s surging run for Mayo’s goal in the final will go down as another iconic moment. Industry, artistry and defiance all rolled into one. He was man of the match in the final, and in the semi-final too when he struck 1-11.
GOAL 🚨🚨🚨
It's an incredible start to the second half for @MayoGAA as Darragh Beirne has found the back of the net ⚡️🤩🔥
Mayo lead by 4 🟢🔴
#KERvMAY https://t.co/CkF12OgJKd
Late in that game, and with the result long since confirmed, he dived full length to try to block a Ciarán Downey two-point attempt. He didn’t get there but the effort alone summed up his immense spirit. Much, much earlier in the campaign, he was man of the match in the Connacht opener against London, could well have been against Cork later on too. Not even Clifford could begrudge O’Donoghue this award.
Darragh Beirne, Kobe McDonald (both Mayo), and Dara McDonnell (Louth) are the Young Player of the Year nominees. And it’s an even more difficult one to call.
Our feeling is that McDonnell, man of the match in the win over Armagh, one of the summer’s great shocks, as well as against Monaghan in the All-Ireland quarter-final, when he won nine kick-outs, should get it.
The Kobe story is incredible though, particularly how he delivered under the most blinding spotlight, and his U-20 colleague Beirne, a wonderfully two-footed forward and the man who scored the goal that shook a stadium.
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All-Stars 2026: Digging into who should win the Footballer of the Year award
THERE’S A PILE of laminated A4 pictures in the big kit bag that we pull out from time to time at U-14s training.
One of them is a still of Mayo’s Cillian O’Connor, nose almost touching his knee after striking a free, literally a picture of perfect follow through and leg extension.
There’s another of Shane Walsh, shooting a point for Galway and extending out the arm on his non-kicking side as a counter-weight, aiding his balance.
Another is of Meath’s Jack Flynn, displaying precise timing and plucking a ball out of the air at the highest point possible, hands extended above the head and slightly forward.
Then there’s the image of David Clifford, his left toe about two inches higher than the top of his head after kicking a point against Rocommon in the 2025 Championship. Like O’Connor, his nose almost meets the knee on his kicking leg.
Whenever we spot one of our U-14s jabbing at a kick, or not following through properly, we’ll invariably pull out the Clifford photo to make our point. ‘Woah, how does he get his leg that high?!’ is the typical response.
We actually asked Kerry selector Aodhán MacGearailt that question the morning after their 2025 All-Ireland final win.
“It’s a good question,” said the former Kerry forward. “David has his routine. It involves his hip flexors, his activation, the groins and hamstring activation. That routine takes maybe 20 minutes before we even start to warm him up. And he goes through every bit of it meticulously. It’s not just by chance he can lift his leg that high.”
You get the feeling that there isn’t anything Clifford leaves to chance and in 2026, his ninth as a Kerry senior, the Fossa man reached new levels of performance.
His scoring stats are off the charts; 7-50 from eight Championship starts, 4-40 from seven National League appearances.
And he has continued to add new aspects to his game, like the two-pointer he kicked off the outside of his left foot against Monaghan last March. For all his scoring exploits, nobody we’ve spoken to could remember him ever slicing a long-range effort like that before.
His increasing use of the back-door cut to find space in the number 13 pocket, and to dart in and convert fisted points off his ‘weaker’ right hand – he did it twice in the All-Ireland final alone – is another new development.
Last November, the Ulster based McKeever Sports sought to capitalise on the Kerryman’s unique ability, and appeal, by launching a collection of Clifford branded sportswear.
Earlier this week, on Tuesday morning at 10am no less, a brand-new range of Clifford football boots was rolled out. Timed, no doubt, to chime with the buildup to this Friday evening’s announcement of the Footballer of the Year for 2026.
And in any other year, Clifford – who isn’t expected to actually attend due to the Kerry team’s holiday – would be a shoo-in to win that award again.
For all the reasons given above and the fact that despite having already won it three times, and with his 28th birthday approaching, he is actually getting better year on year.
The thing is, he probably won’t get it, denying him the opportunity, for 12 months at least, to draw level with Jack O’Shea as a four-time recipient. And that’s entirely fair.
Because this is Mayo’s year and, in specific playing terms, Ryan O’Donoghue’s. His Mayo colleague Jack Carney is the third nominee for the coveted prize although as Friday’s ceremony comes into focus, it appears a straight shoot-out between Clifford and O’Donoghue for the top individual honour.
Whereas Clifford’s case can be largely made by his remarkable statistics, O’Donoghue’s is a little more nuanced.
Sure, he scored big too, posting 2-56 in the Championship, and another 1-35 in the League. We’re aware that league form may seem irrelevant, and doesn’t appear to carry any influence, but it is a Footballer “of the Year” award, and not a Footballer of the Championship gong.
Either way, O’Donoghue was the beating heart of Mayo’s group all year, and particularly in the Championship, a player who went to extreme lengths to make the county’s All-Ireland dream a reality. He has talked extensively about the punishing training he endured as a young teenager, when his principal focus was boxing. And about how his missed penalty in the 2021 final defeat to Tyrone tormented him for the next five years.
“There wasn’t a week that went by where it didn’t enter my head and I’d get angry, I’d get upset,” revealed O’Donoghue in August. “I would never have admitted that before the 26th of July last, I would never have admitted that to anyone, bar Andy Moran actually.”
That’s presumably where some of the drive came from to execute 17 turnovers throughout the Championship, nine on his own and eight more as part of a group. Clifford, notably, executed none. Journalist Cahair O’Kane crunched the numbers on that one. Speaking of crunching, O’Donoghue was perhaps fortunate to get away with a heavy hit on Clifford late in the first half of the final.
Still, it was the sort of appetite for destruction required to win a game of that magnitude and how he led the Mayo press this season was what will probably win him the award. Whilst Kerry’s ploy seemed to be to get the ball to Clifford, O’Donoghue went hunting it down himself and a heat map of his summer movements would be considerably more extensive than Clifford’s.
The first night back at U-14s training after the final, we happily underlined the value of that sort of work-rate in the forwards, and of defence beginning in the attack. It’s probably something that Clifford will seek to improve on himself in 2027. Imagine that, a player of his talent, and physical stature, pressing defenders hard too.
O’Donoghue’s surging run for Mayo’s goal in the final will go down as another iconic moment. Industry, artistry and defiance all rolled into one. He was man of the match in the final, and in the semi-final too when he struck 1-11.
Late in that game, and with the result long since confirmed, he dived full length to try to block a Ciarán Downey two-point attempt. He didn’t get there but the effort alone summed up his immense spirit. Much, much earlier in the campaign, he was man of the match in the Connacht opener against London, could well have been against Cork later on too. Not even Clifford could begrudge O’Donoghue this award.
Darragh Beirne, Kobe McDonald (both Mayo), and Dara McDonnell (Louth) are the Young Player of the Year nominees. And it’s an even more difficult one to call.
Our feeling is that McDonnell, man of the match in the win over Armagh, one of the summer’s great shocks, as well as against Monaghan in the All-Ireland quarter-final, when he won nine kick-outs, should get it.
The Kobe story is incredible though, particularly how he delivered under the most blinding spotlight, and his U-20 colleague Beirne, a wonderfully two-footed forward and the man who scored the goal that shook a stadium.
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All-Stars Analysis David Clifford Footballer of the Year GAA Gaelic Football hotshots Kerry GAA Mayo GAA ryan o'donoghue