Advertisement
London players celebrate. INPHO/Jim Keogh
Exiles

11 things to know about London's Gaelic football heroes

The Paul Coggins managed side won their first Connacht championship game in 36 years yesterday.

11. Yesterday’s win over Sligo was only London’s second ever victory in the Connacht senior championship.

Their last one arrived in 1977 when they defeated Leitrim by 0-9 to 0-6. They now travel to face Leitrim in this year’s Connacht semi-final on June 23rd in Carrick-on-Shannon

10. London’s manager Paul Coggins is a native of Cloonfad in county Roscommon. He is at the helm of the Exiles for the third successive year.

9. Paul Geraghty came off the bench for London for his first game for the county since receiving a one-year ban for striking a referee in a club game with Neasden Gaels in October 2011.

8. It was a strange occasion for London’s two Sligo natives on Sunday as they defeated their own county. Padraig McGoldrick missed a penalty in the first-half and was sent-off in the second-half after being shown a second yellow card.

He is originally from the St Michael’s club and was centre-forward on the Sligo team that won the 2010 All-Ireland junior football championship. Brian Collins from the Curry club in Sligo came on as a substitute for London.

7. London team captain Seamus Hannon is a Longford native who has represented his native county in both senior hurling and senior football. He was left half-back on the Longford team that shocked Mayo in the 2010 All-Ireland qualifiers.

London’s Seamus Hannon.
Pic: INPHO/Jim Keogh

6. 14 different counties supplied players to the starting London line-up. There were two Derry players in action in Caolan Doyle and Catahl McCallion. While 13 other counties Meath (Declan Traynor), Offaly (Kevin Lynam), Kerry (Stephen Curran), Down (David McGreevy), Longford (Seamus Hannon), Monaghan (Shane Mulligan), Mayo (Tony Gaughan), Galway (Mark Gottsche), Westmeath (Greg Crowley), Cavan (Lorcan Mulvey), Laois (Barry Mitchell), Sligo (Padraig McGoldrick) and Down (Cathal McGee) were all represented.

5. Full-forward Ciaran McCallion won an All-Ireland minor medal with Derry in 2002. Some of his teammates that day in their 1-12 to 0-8 victory were Gerard O’Kane, Mark Lynch and Patsy Bradley who will all be in action for the Derry senior side that play Down in next Sunday’s Ulster championship.

4. Damien Dunleavy, who came on as a substitute for London yesterday, won an All-Ireland U21 football medal with Galway in 2005. They defeated Down in that final with the Tribesmen team containing current seniors Finian Hanley, Gary Sice, Niall Coleman, Micheal Meehan and Sean Armstrong.

3. London midfielder Mark Gottsche is a German native. He was born in Kellinghusen and moved to Ireland when he was 5 years old where he went on to play football with the Oranmore-Maree club in Galway. Gottsche went on to play minor, U21 and senior football for Galway and also featured in the Sigerson Cup for both NUI Galway and UUJ.

London boss Paul Coggins celebrates with midfielder Mark Gottsche.
Pic: INPHO/Jim Keogh

2. The most recent famous victory for London was in the All-Ireland qualifiers two yeras ago when they defeated Fermanagh by 0-16 to 0-9. But to give an indication of the high turnover of players in the English capital, it’s worth noting that only five players – David McGreevy, Tony Gaughan, Mark Gottsche, Ciaran McCallion and Padraig McGoldrick – started in both games

1. Over the winter, the London squad conducted their gym sessions in Harrow School, one of the biggest private schools in London. The school also has a famous past student in Sir Winston Churchill.

See how London won their first Connacht SFC game in 36 years

Ex Wicklow player celebrates Leinster SFC win at baseball game in Washington

Your Voice
Readers Comments
6
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.