Mayo GAA Club All-Star panel announced

Mayo GAA, in association with local media, have named their 2023 Club All-Star panel to play the Mayo senior football team on December 30 at the Garrymore GAA grounds.

The players all starred for their clubs during the Mayo GAA Connacht Gold Senior, Egan Jewellers Intermediate and TF Royal Hotel & Theatre Junior championships this year.

The charity match is in aid of the Mayo branch of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Mayo GAA PRO John Walker said it was a daunting task to pick the final 26 players as there were some superb individual performances during the year.

“Over 70 different players featured on the Mayo GAA ‘Team of the Week’ since the start of the championship. The media had plenty of healthy debate and discussion before they settled on the final panel,” commented Mr. Walker.

Sixteen different club players featured on the Mayo GAA ‘Team of the Week’ more than once during the season, with Breaffy’s Aidan O’Shea, Ballinrobe’s Kevin Quinn and Ballina Stephenites' Sam Callinan featuring on three different teams.

The final panel features players from all the Mayo GAA county championship winning sides. Ballina Stephenites have three players selected (Evan Regan, Sam Callinan and Luke Feeney), Kilmeena have four players on the panel (Darragh Keaveny, Jack Carney, Caolach Halligan and Stephen Staunton), while Mark Noone from Lahardane MacHales has also made the cut.

The management for the Club All-Star team on the day will be Niall Heffernan (Ballina Stephenites), John Reilly (Kilmeena) and Eddie Conway (Lahardane MacHales).

Lillian McGovern, Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association CEO, thanked Mayo GAA for their support. She said they depend heavily on donations and fundraising efforts like this one.

“We are a small organisation, with 85% of our income coming from donations and fundraising,” explained Ms. McGovern. “A huge thank you to all the players from the Mayo senior team and the club championships for agreeing to take part in this charity match. It’s sure to be a crowd pleaser and I’m hopeful that there will be a great turnout from the local community.”

Mayo GAA cathaoirleach Seamus Tuohy said everyone associated with Mayo GAA is delighted to be working with the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association as their charity partner this year.

He stated: “Motor Neurone is a life-changing disease and sadly we are all becoming aware of the great community and club people who are dealing with the illness. Over the next few months we have a range of different activities planned to fundraise and support the charity and do all we can to raise awareness of the disease and the supports that are out there.”

The Club All-Stars will get commemorative Mayo GAA jerseys and togs for the charity match with the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association logo on them. The players will all wear their own club socks on the day. The charity game will be streamed live on www.mayogaatv.com.

Mayo GAA would like thank title sponsor Intersport Elverys for sponsoring the set of jerseys for this charity game.

The 2023 Mayo GAA Club All-Star panel is as follows: Aaron Timlin (Knockmore), Aidan O'Shea (Breaffy), Basil McLeod (Louisburgh), Bob Tuohy (Castlebar Mitchels), Brian Reape (Bohola Moy Davitts), Conor O'Donoghue (Charlestown Sarsfields), Conor Beirne (Breaffy), Caolach Halligan (Kilmeena), Conor O'Shea (Breaffy), Darragh Keaveney (Kilmeena), Diarmuid Duffy (Ballinrobe), Evan Regan (Ballina Stephenites), Evan O'Brien (Ballinrobe), Ethan Henry (Mayo Gaels), Fenton Kelly (Davitts), Jack Carney (Kilmeena), John McMonagle (Castlebar Mitchels B), Kevin Quinn (Ballinrobe), Liam Maloney (Cill Chomáin), Liam Burke (Ballinrobe), Luke Jennings (Ballinrobe), Luke Feeney (Ballina Stephenites), Mark Noone (Lahardane MacHales), Peter Basquille (Castlebar Mitchels B), Sam Callinan (Ballina Stephenites), Stephen Staunton (Kilmeena).