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Extra.ie
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Extra.ie
Inside David Clifford's life off the GAA pitch
David Clifford will be hoping to make it into his fourth All Ireland Senior Football final after this week's clash with Tyrone in Croke Park. The full forward will be lining out as part of Jack O'Connor's Kerry team on Saturday with hopes that they will secure their place in the final in two weeks time. The 26-year-old is widely regarded as one of the best footballers currently playing, but what honours does he have, and what's his life like off the pitch? David Clifford will be hoping to make it into his fourth All Ireland Senior Football final after this week's clash with Tyrone in Croke Park. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile David Clifford first showed his insane talent after scoring two goals and five points in the Hogan Cup final for his school St Brendan's College in Killarney ten years ago. It was the first title for the club in 24 years after beating St Patrick's College. David joined the Kerry minor team not long after and won back-to-back Munster and All Ireland medals in 2016 and 2017. The next year he made his senior debut and won his first Munster Championship that summer beating both Clare and Cork on the way to victory. Kerry brothers Paudie, left, and David Clifford, and David's son Ógie celebrate with the Sam Maguire Cup in 2022. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile The Fossa footballer was Kerry captain in 2020, the same year he won his first national league title with The Kingdom. Clifford also captained the Kerry team in 2023. Three years later, with a number of Munster titles under his belt, David Clifford won his first All Ireland Senior Football title, scoring eight points against Galway in one day. The following year Kerry lost in the final to Dublin, while in 2024 they were knocked out by Derry in the Quarter-Finals. All roads lead to Croke Park this weekend as the Kerry team take on Tyrone to reclaim a place in the All Ireland finals. David, left, and Paudie Clifford of Kerry with family, including mother Ellen, father Dermot, and sister Shelly. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile David has been in a relationship with partner Shauna O'Connor since at least 2017, EVOKE reports, adding that social media pictures see the pair fresh-faced at the age of 18 years old. The couple welcomed their first child, Ógie, in 2021 the day after Kerry were beaten in the All Ireland Championships against eventual winners Tyrone. David has been in a relationship with partner Shauna O'Connor since at least 2017. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile Speaking to RSVP Magazine at the time, the new dad said: 'It's an example of the lows but then the highs you can feel as well but everything is going great so far, thank God.' The Kerry man studied at the Institute of Technology, Tralee (now Munster Technological University Kerry) and got a Masters at the University of Limerick. He currently teaches in his former secondary school, St Brendan's College. David's older brother Paudie also plays for the Kerry county football team with the duo often lining out together. The pair were often proudly supported by their late mother Ellen, who died from cancer in May 2023. Ellen had just turned 60 when she lost her battle. Speaking at her funeral, Paudie said they had 'many great memories' of their mum going to games, noting she had 'passion and commitment for GAA.'
7NEWS
11-06-2025
- Sport
- 7NEWS
Queensland debutant Kurt Mann addresses ‘nose full of tumeric' story
Queensland debutant Kurt Mann is one of the NRL's toughest players and it all goes back to the day he played a game and ran a cross-country with turmeric powder stuffed up his nose. Mann, 32, will play No.14 for the Maroons in Perth as they attempt to square the State of Origin series. The Canterbury utility grew up tough in Winton and attended St Brendan's College in Yeppoon, where he was coached by Terry Hansen, one of the greatest ever schoolboy mentors. Hansen never went to any game without a can of turmeric powder, a noted cure-all, in his back pocket. Mann was in Grade 11 and playing for the A side when his nose was smashed all over his face and he had blood squirting everywhere. Hansen grabbed Mann, stuffed the powder up his schnoz and the youngster went back out and played a blinder. Hansen knew he had found a player and always rated Mann one of the hardest-nosed players to lace up a boot. 'The turmeric thing is a true story. 'Hanso' put the turmeric up my nose because I broke it,' Mann said with a grin. 'We had the school cross-country the next day and he made me run in it with a broken nose too. I couldn't breathe out of it because I had a turmeric pack up my nose. 'He has done a couple of strange things to me, Hanso. 'I got a cork another time and he got a cup and lit a bit of paper. He put the paper in the cup while it was on fire and stuck it on my leg and sucked my leg into the cup like a vacuum. He reckoned that old wives' tale is how you fixed corks. 'Hanso was a great coach and a great mentor to me at St Brendan's. He taught me a lot about footy and toughness as well.' Mann will become Queensland's second oldest Origin debutant behind the great Arthur Beetson in 1980. 'At the start of the year, I probably would have thought all this was kind of past me being the age I am, but it's a credit to the team we have at the Bulldogs,' he said. 'I probably wouldn't have been a look-in if it wasn't for the way we've started the year there, so really excited, especially being a boy from Winton. 'It's a lifelong dream to represent my state.' Mann is the ultimate utility. 'I've actually started a game in every position bar front-row,' he grinned. 'I've played a little bit of front-row as well, a couple of weeks back against the Roosters. 'I've played enough footy now that I think I can get the job done wherever.' Mann's head can look a bit rough at times, but that's because he puts it in places others don't. 'I'll put it wherever I need to put it, especially for my state and for my family and community,' he said with a grin. Winton will be abuzz for his Origin debut. 'Oh, massive, it'll be huge,' Mann said. 'When they found out I was 18th man last game … there's a big water tower in town and it's usually white, but they turned it all maroon. 'I don't know how they managed that, so I think it'll be a pretty good atmosphere in Winton.'
Irish Independent
03-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Kerry athletes win five gold medals at Irish Schools Athletics Championships
The Vickers brothers each won gold in 800 metres while Liam Rohan, Kieran Keane and Kevin O'Shea won the gold, silver and bronze medals in the intermediate discus Kerryman Kerry's post-primary students won five gold medals at the 107th Irish Schools Athletics Championships on Saturday in Tullamore. Brothers Isaac and Ryan Vickers of St Brendan's College were both on the winners' podium with Isaac winning the intermediate 800m gold medal in a time of 1:57.94, less than an hour after his younger brother Ryan crossed the finish line of his junior 800m final in first place in a faster time of 1:57.65, which bordered on the championship best performance of Mark Milner in 2015.
