Roscommon trio recognised in All-Star nominations

Two Roscommon footballers have been nominated for All-Star awards - including St Brigid's star Brian Stack - while goalkeeper Conor Carroll has been shortlisted for the Young Footballer of the Year award.

In addition to Stack, who was Roscommon captain for the 2023 season, the other Ros’ player nominated for an All-Star is the long serving Enda Smith of Boyle.

The other nominees for Young Footballer of the Year are Derry duo Ethan Doherty and Eoin McEvoy.

The recognition for Stack, Smith and Carroll reflects the positive season Roscommon enjoyed overall, despite disappointment at the way their championship campaign ended.

In Davy Burke's first year in charge, Roscommon finished in the top three in Division 1 of the Allianz Football League.

They went on to claim a notable win over league champions and old rivals Mayo in their Connacht quarter-final at MacHale Park, Castlebar. Though the game was certainly not a spectacle that will be remembered fondly by neutral fans, the hard-earned win was a sign of the progress Roscommon were making.

Galway then ended Roscommon's Connacht title hopes at the semi-final stage. In the new All-Ireland SFC group stages, Roscommon drew with Dublin, beat Sligo and lost narrowly to Kildare. This saw the Rossies go into the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals where they lost an exciting game away to Cork.

With St Brigid's and Boyle in this year's Roscommon SFC semi-finals, Stack and Smith will be hoping to end their years on a high at club level. The Kiltoom men face Roscommon Gaels in their semi-final, while Boyle are preparing to meet Pádraig Pearses.

Meanwhile, the Footballer of the Year nominees are Kerry attacking maestro David Clifford (last year’s winner), Dublin midfielder Brian Fenton (a previous winner on two occasions) and Derry's Brendan Rogers.

Westmeath’s Rónán O’Toole is also among the list of All-Star nominees - see here for a separate article on his nomination.

All-Ireland football champions Dublin have been rewarded with ten places in this year’s All-Star nominations. The high-profile list of 45 names is notable for being spread across 13 counties – the largest representative breakdown since 2008.

The PwC All-Star teams will be presented with their awards at a gala black-tie event which will be staged in Dublin’s RDS and shown live on RTÉ television on Friday, November 17. The football winners and the overall Players of the Year will be announced live on the night.

First held in 1971, the PwC All-Stars represents the highest individual accolade in Gaelic games. The nominations and the final 15 teams are chosen by a panel of Gaelic games correspondents from across, print, radio, TV and digital media, in a meeting chaired by the GAA President.

PwC Football All-Star nominations

Goalkeepers (3): Rory Beggan (Monaghan), Stephen Cluxton (Dublin), Shane Ryan (Kerry).

Defenders (18): Jason Foley (Kerry), Tadhg Morley (Kerry), Tom O’Sullivan (Kerry), Gavin White (Kerry), Michael Fitzsimons (Dublin), Lee Gannon (Dublin), Brian Howard (Dublin), Gareth McKinless (Derry), Conor McCluskey (Derry), Eoin McEvoy (Derry), Conor McCarthy (Monaghan), Karl O’Connell (Monaghan), Seán Kelly (Galway), Aidan Forker (Armagh), Brian Stack (Roscommon), Padraig Hampsey (Tyrone), Rory Maguire (Cork), Brendan McCole (Donegal).

Midfielders (6): Brian Fenton (Dublin), James McCarthy (Dublin), Conor Glass (Derry), Brendan Rogers (Derry), Diarmuid O’Connor (Kerry), Diarmuid O’Connor (Mayo).

Forwards (18): Colm Basquel (Dublin), Cormac Costello (Dublin), Paul Mannion (Dublin), Con O’Callaghan (Dublin), David Clifford (Kerry), Paudie Clifford (Kerry), Seán O’Shea (Kerry), Paul Cassidy (Derry), Shane McGuigan (Derry), Oisín Gallen (Donegal), Conor McManus (Monaghan), Enda Smith (Roscommon), Darragh Canavan (Tyrone), Rónán O’Toole (Westmeath), Andrew Murnin (Armagh), Jordan Flynn ((Mayo), Ben McCormack (Kildare), Damien Comer (Galway).

PwC GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year nominees: David Clifford (Kerry), Brian Fenton (Dublin), Brendan Rogers (Derry).

PwC GAA/GPA Young Footballer of the Year nominees: Ethan Doherty (Derry), Eoin McEvoy (Derry), Conor Carroll (Roscommon).