Excitement growing ahead of All-Star announcement

GAA news

Excitement is building in Cavan ahead of this Friday's announcement of the PWC All-Star football team.

After winning the Ulster Senior Football Championship for the first time in 23 years, Cavan were handed a record seven All-Star nominations.

Raymond Galligan, Padraig Faulkner, Ciaran Brady, Gerry Smith, Thomas Galligan, Gearoid McKiernan and Martin Reilly all picked up nominations and hopes are high that two to three of the Cavan players will be selected for the final 15, which is chosen by a panel of national GAA journalists.

Raymond Galligan is expected to be a shoo-in for the number one position, despite strong opposition from Mayo’s David Clarke and Dublin legend Stephen Cluxton.

Aside from the Cavan captain, Padraig Faulkner and Thomas Galligan are believed to be among the front-runners of the Cavan contingent. Cavan have previously picked up just two All-Stars since the modern-day inception of the scheme in 1971, namely Ollie Brady (Redhills, 1978) and current selector Dermot McCabe (Gowna, 1997) and hopes are high that at least two if not three more players will join that select group of Cavanmen.

The football team will be announced in advance this year with the hurling selection revealed on the night in a nationally-televised ceremony. The 90-minute show on RTE on Saturday night will feature both in-studio and remote interviews.