From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charlie Nelligan (born 1957 in Castleisland, County Kerry) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local Castleisland Desmonds club and with the Kerry senior inter-county team from 1978 until 1991.
[edit] Playing career
Nelligan played his club football with his local Castleisland Desmonds club.
[edit] Inter-county
Nelligan first came to prominence on the inter-county scene in the 1970s as goalkeeper on the Kerry minor football team. He won a Munster title at this level in 1975 before later winning an All-Ireland medal following a victory over Tyrone. That same year Nelligan won a Munster title with the Kerry under-21 panel. Similarly, this was subsequently converted into an All-Ireland title following a win over Dublin. This was the first of three under-21 titles in-a-row for Nelligan as Kerry defeated Kildare and Down in 1976 and 1977. In 1978 he won a fourth consecutive Munster under-21 medal, however, Kerry's hopes of securing a fourth All-Ireland title in-a-row were dashed by Roscommon.
By this stage Nelligan had already made his debut for the Kerry senior team. He won a National Football League title in 1977 before claiming a first Munster title in 1978. Kerry subsequently defeated Dublin in the championship decider, giving Nelligan his first All-Ireland medal.
In 1979 he won a second Munster title before Kerry once again faced up to Dublin in the All-Ireland final. In spite of star corner-back Páidí Ó Sé being sent off for a foul the men from the Kingdom had another emphatic victory over Dublin and Nelligan collected a second All-Ireland medal. Victories for Kerry over Roscommon and Offaly in the respective All-Ireland finals of 1980 and 1981 brought Ó Nelligan's All-Ireland medal tally up to four. In 1982 he collected his second National League, his fifth consecutive Munster Championship medal and the scene was set for Kerry to become the first team in history to win five All-Ireland football titles in-a-row. Once again Kerry faced Offaly in the All-Ireland final. Kerry had the upper hand for much of the game and were leading by two points with two minutes left to be played. The game, however, was not over as Offaly substitute Séamus Darby, who had entered the game almost unnoticed, produced the most spectacular of finishes by scoring a late goal. Kerry failed to score again to level the match and Offaly went on to win their third All-Ireland title ever.
In 1983 Kerry were denied a record-breaking ninth Munster title in-a-row by Cork. Nelligan's side were down but not out, as they reclaimed the provincial title the following year, before securing back-to-back All-Ireland victories over their old rivals Dublin in 1984 and 1985. In 1986 Nelligan collected his third National League medal as well as a third All-Ireland title in-a-row with an 8 point victory over Tyrone. It was his sevanth All-Ireland medal overall. Cork won the next four provincial titles, however, Kerry returned in 1991 with Nelligan claiming a ninth Munster title. He retired from inter-county football after Kerry were defeated in that year's All-Ireland semi-final.
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Kerry - All-Ireland Senior Football Champions 1978 (24th title) |
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Kerry - All-Ireland Senior Football Champions 1979 (25th title) |
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Kerry - All-Ireland Senior Football Champions 1980 (26th title) |
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Kerry - All-Ireland Senior Football Champions 1981 (27th title) |
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Kerry - All-Ireland Senior Football Champions 1984 (28th title) |
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Kerry - All-Ireland Senior Football Champions 1985 (29th title) |
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Kerry - All-Ireland Senior Football Champions 1986 (30th title) |
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