Five Mayo players among 2023 TG4 Ladies Football All-Stars nominees
Mayo have five players nominated for the 2023 TG4 Ladies Football All-Star Awards.
The five nominees are defensive quartet Danielle Caldwell (a 2022 TG4 All-Star), Clodagh McManamon, Ciara Needham and team captain Kathryn Sullivan, as well as attacker Sinéad Cafferky.
Mayo lost out to Kerry at the All-Ireland senior semi-final stage this year, and the Kingdom – winner of the league but runners-up to Dublin in the championship – lead the way with 13 nominations.
The All-Ireland champions, Dublin, have received 12 nominations, while the long list of 45 nominees includes nine players from the 2022 TG4 All-Star team.
There are three nominations each for Armagh, Cork, Donegal and Meath, the 2021 and 2022 TG4 All-Ireland senior champions, while Clare, Galway and Kildare have one each.
Dublin’s 12 nominees are goalkeeper Abby Shiels, defenders Niamh Crowley, Leah Caffrey, Martha Byrne and Lauren Magee, midfield pair Jennifer Dunne and Eilish O’Dowd, and forwards Orlagh Nolan, Caoimhe O’Connor, Kate Sullivan, team captain Carla Rowe and Hannah Tyrrell, who was the All-Ireland senior final player of the match.
Kerry’s 13 nominees are goalkeeper Ciara Butler, defenders Kayleigh Cronin, Eilís Lynch, Emma Costello, Cáit Lynch and Aishling O’Connell, midfielders Louise Galvin and Lorraine Scanlon, and forwards Niamh Carmody, Anna Galvin, Danielle O’Leary, captain Síofra O’Shea and Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh, who was top scorer in the 2023 TG4 All-Ireland senior championship.
Cronin, Lynch, O’Connell, Carmody and Ní Mhuircheartaigh were all named on the 2022 TG4 All-Star team.
Armagh’s trio of nominees are defenders Clodagh McCambridge and Lauren McConville plus forward Aoife McCoy, while Cork’s nominees are defender Róisín Phelan and attacking sisters Ciara and Doireann O’Sullivan.
Donegal have defender Amy Boyle Carr, 2022 All-Star and senior players’ player of the year, Niamh McLaughlin, who’s listed at midfield, and forward Niamh Hegarty on the list, while Meath are represented by three-time and current All-Star goalkeeper Monica McGuirk, defender Mary Kate Lynch and another current All-Star, forward Emma Duggan.
Galway’s Nicola Ward (nominated at midfield), Clare’s Fidelma Marrinan (forward) and Kildare’s Róisín Byrne (forward) make up the 45-strong list.
Marrinan and Byrne are the players from the intermediate grade who earn All-Star nominations. Marrinan claimed the ZuCar Golden Boot Award as leading scorer in the 2023 TG4 All-Ireland Championships, while Byrne was player of the match for champions Kildare in the final victory over Clare at Croke Park.
One goalkeeper will be chosen from the shortlist of three, with three players selected from each of the full-back, half-back, half-forward and full-forward lines for inclusion in the TG4 All-Star team, along with two midfielders from the six nominated.
The 2023 TG4 All-Star team will be announced at a gala banquet at The Bonnington Dublin Hotel on Saturday, November 18. The 2023 TG4 junior, intermediate and senior players’ player of the year award winners will also be revealed on the night, while the 2023 inductee into the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) Hall of Fame will be acknowledged.
The 2023 TG4 All-Star nominees are as follows: goalkeepers - Abby Shiels (Dublin), Ciara Butler (Kerry), Monica McGuirk (Meath); full-back line - Clodagh McCambridge (Armagh), Róisín Phelan (Cork), Niamh Crowley (Dublin), Leah Caffrey (Dublin), Kayleigh Cronin (Kerry), Eilís Lynch (Kerry), Danielle Caldwell (Mayo), Clodagh McManamon (Mayo), Mary Kate Lynch (Meath); half-back line - Lauren McConville (Armagh), Amy Boyle Carr (Donegal), Martha Byrne (Dublin), Lauren Magee (Dublin), Emma Costello (Kerry), Cáit Lynch (Kerry), Aishling O’Connell (Kerry), Ciara Needham (Mayo), Kathryn Sullivan (Mayo); midfield - Niamh McLaughlin (Donegal), Jennifer Dunne (Dublin), Eilish O’Dowd (Dublin), Louise Galvin (Kerry), Lorraine Scanlon (Kerry), Nicola Ward (Galway); half-forward line - Fidelma Marrinan (Clare), Ciara O’Sullivan (Cork), Orlagh Nolan (Dublin), Caoimhe O’Connor (Dublin), Kate Sullivan (Dublin), Niamh Carmody (Kerry), Anna Galvin (Kerry), Sinéad Cafferky (Mayo), Emma Duggan (Meath); full-forward line - Aoife McCoy (Armagh), Doireann O’Sullivan (Cork), Niamh Hegarty (Donegal), Carla Rowe (Dublin), Hannah Tyrrell (Dublin), Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh (Kerry), Danielle O’Leary (Kerry), Síofra O’Shea (Kerry), Róisín Byrne (Kildare).