LEADING OFFALY FORWARD Niall McNamee has announced his retirement from inter-county football.
McNamee — who plays his club football with Rhode — donned the Offaly jersey 132 times in league and championship, and started on 121 occasions.
He made his debut against Laois back in 2003, at the age of 17.
In 2006, he was pivotal as Offaly reached the Leinster final, and he was nominated for an All-Star that same year. McNamee scored 2-16 in his side’s four-game run to the provincial decider, but they were defeated by Dublin on the day.
He also has a Division 2 and two Division 4 league medals to his name, and represented Ireland in the 2010 International Rules Series.
In recent years, McNamee opened up about his gambling addiction, and has been a strong advocate for those seeking recovery.
“Only seems like yesterday that I made my debut,” the 31-year-old wrote on Instagram. ”It’s been a huge honour to represent and captain my county. The time has now come to step away.
“I want to say a huge thank you to all of my team mates that I’ve been lucky to take the field with down through the years. Thank you to all the managers who showed faith in me. I’ve been extremely lucky to fulfill a lot of my childhood dreams and it is truly with a heavy heart that I call it a day.
“A massive thank you to all the faithful supporters for your support throughout the years both on and off the field. Finally a big thank you to my parents, brothers and sister and my girlfriend for always being there in the good days and the not so good days. I couldn’t have done it without you all.
“@gaelicplayers thank you also for the huge part you guys have played in supporting my off field career. I’m really looking forward to supporting the boys next year and beyond and I pray that the glory days return to Offaly in the not too distant future.”
A club Statement on Niall McNamee's The Inter-county Retirement. pic.twitter.com/HX5wGggrom
— Rhode GAA (@RhodeGAA) August 29, 2017
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