Some great Small men..

Arduach

Tommy Walsh Kilkenny. They don't come any better.

The internet has him at 4ft 11! Think he's 5ft 9in.
https://www.google.com/search?q=tommy+walsh+kilkenny+height&oq=tommy+walsh+kilkenny+height&aqs=chrome..69i57.16336j0j7&client=ms-android-hmd-rev2&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

Arduach

Fredinho wrote: »

John mullane

He's 6ft.

blackvalley

Peter Canavan of Tyrone would probably qualify as one of the smaller and lighter players .
Not in the " Brick ......house " mode like Dowd or McCartin from Down.

Arduach

blackvalley wrote: »

Peter Canavan of Tyrone would probably qualify as one of the smaller and lighter players .
Not in the " Brick ......house " mode like Dowd or McCartin from Down.

Very slight build, particularly pre 2003. And he trying to mix it with Jason Akremanis, the Australian in the Compromise Rules. No go back in him.

Arduach

Joe Higgins Laois, was about 5ft 8, slight, but some baller. All Star 2003. With Pauric Clancy 6ft 4in here.

Arduach

Jamesie 'Shiner' Brennan, Kilkenny and Dublin for a year or so was around 5ft 7/8.

He was brilliant underage and has two senior hurling all irelands with Kilkenny 1992/93. He was a tasty hurler.

Ceist_Beag

Wee Martin McHugh, genius of a footballer.

spurshero

Deccy pocket rocket Meehan in the early noughties was a galway baller

For Forks Sake

blackvalley wrote: »

Tommy Dowd ( Meath )

6"1

For Forks Sake

Ryan McHugh (5"9)

Strumms

French Toast wrote: »

Jason Sherlock is down as 5'8. You'd put two of him in to that jersey.

I see him in the gym, 5’8 isn’t a typo believe me. That said, he looks no different than he did back in the day playing, in great shape...

Bumped into Eoin Murchan a few times too... 5’7.. unusually small for a corner back..

blackvalley

For Forks Sake wrote: »

6"1

Thanks for correcting me again.
That mistake was accepted and corrected earlier in the discussion but thanks never the less.

WesternZulu

Colm Boyle, small but absolutely fearless.

KIB4Life

Ross Munnelly, brilliant player. Not sure what height he is must be about 5”7 or 8 fairly small but still going fairly strong and is the only player outside of Dublin that is still playing that has a Leinster medal.

beggars_bush

Declan Meehan, Caltra and Galway

mooz

Charlie Carter, class hurler

thesultan

Martin McHugh another great.

Asdfgh2020

thesultan wrote: »

Martin McHugh another great.

Has the great/saucy ‘Silvie Lenane’ of Galway 1980’s team got a mention yet...?

Dyr

Strumms wrote: »

I see him in the gym, 5’8 isn’t a typo believe me. That said, he looks no different than he did back in the day playing, in great shape...

Bumped into Eoin Murchan a few times too... 5’7.. unusually small for a corner back..

For a modern full back 5'7 dwarf like. He looks like a scale model of Fenton.



No disrespect to the great Gaelic short arses of former eras, but its nearly impossible now at inter county level in either code for the shorter gent to get a look in. Fair dues to those that do

ArielAtom

Bambi wrote: »

For a modern full back 5'7 dwarf like. He looks like a scale model of Fenton.



No disrespect to the great Gaelic short arses of former eras, but its nearly impossible now at inter county level in either code for the shorter gent to get a look in. Fair dues to those that do

He could line out in Feile and you wouldn't challenge it!!

Bgiraffe

Mark Bradley of Tyrone is 5ft 6. James Conlon in Meath can't be a whole pile taller, a la Bernie Flynn. Notable smallies: Darran O'Sullivan, Noel Connors, Donie Brennan Laois.

Greenlights16

Peter Canavan aka GOD Peter the Great. The best there ever was.

1995 joke in lead up to Tyrone Dublin AIF - “ What's the difference between Peter Canavan and a black taxi? A black taxi only carries seven.”

10 years on 2005, Canavan was still producing magic, scoring a goal and producing a masterclass at the end of his career to beat Kerry in AIF. A lad named Gooch Cooper was in Ryan McMenamin’s back pocket that day. He was no Canavan.

Billy Mays

How tall is Pat Fox?


I always pictured him as a little barrel of a fella. Maybe I'm misremembering?

thesultan

Greenlights16 wrote: »

Peter Canavan aka GOD Peter the Great. The best there ever was.

1995 joke in lead up to Tyrone Dublin AIF - “ What's the difference between Peter Canavan and a black taxi? A black taxi only carries seven.”

10 years on 2005, Canavan was still producing magic, scoring a goal and producing a masterclass at the end of his career to beat Kerry in AIF. A lad named Gooch Cooper was in Ryan McMenamin’s back pocket that day. He was no Canavan.

In his pocket after scoring four points off him..

Rosita

Billy Mays wrote: »

How tall is Pat Fox?


I always pictured him as a little barrel of a fella. Maybe I'm misremembering?

You are not in the first flush of youth if you remember this guy, but just for the purposes of the barrel comparison here's a picture. Not sure how tall your barrel is though.

Greenlights16

thesultan wrote: »

In his pocket after scoring four points off him..

2002 final- good 1st half, anonymous second half.

2002 final - completely anonymous.

Good first 10 mins in 2005, after that, anonymous, go and watch it. You can “4 points” all you want.

2008 - anonymous. Zero impact

2011 v Dublin, again, zero.

The years he had a good day when it mattered, you were crushing Mayo and cork teams that shouldn’t have been there.

Colm was a sublime footballer, as good as any forward in Ireland on his day, but was he a leader or warrior type that changed games when Kerry needed him? No.

If I recall correctly in one of his last finals v Dublin he was out scored by his marker McMahon (whom I have zero love for on field, but a great guy off of it).

Rosita

Greenlights16 wrote: »

2002 final- good 1st half, anonymous second half.

2003 final - completely anonymous.

Good first 10 mins in 2005, after that, anonymous, go and watch it. You can “4 points” all you want.

2008 - anonymous. Zero impact

2011 v Dublin, again, zero.

The years he had a good day when it mattered, you were crushing Mayo and cork teams that shouldn’t have been there.

Colm was a sublime footballer, as good as any forward in Ireland on his day, but was he a leader or warrior type that changed games when Kerry needed him? No.

If I recall correctly in one of his last finals v Dublin he was out scored by his marker McMahon (whom I have zero love for on field, but a great guy off of it).

To give Cooper his due it'd have been hard for him not to be anonymous in the 2003 final since it was Tyrone v Armagh. It's no wonder that that's the day his anonymity was complete.

And he was the top scorer from play in the 2011 final when he scored as much from play as Dublin's entire starting forward line. To say he had zero impact is odd. He was also Kerry's top scorer from play in the 2008 final. Your argument is being diluted by exaggeration.

ArielAtom

Greenlights16 wrote: »

Peter Canavan aka GOD Peter the Great. The best there ever was.

1995 joke in lead up to Tyrone Dublin AIF - “ What's the difference between Peter Canavan and a black taxi? A black taxi only carries seven.”

10 years on 2005, Canavan was still producing magic, scoring a goal and producing a masterclass at the end of his career to beat Kerry in AIF. A lad named Gooch Cooper was in Ryan McMenamin’s back pocket that day. He was no Canavan.

Canavan was a fine footballer, you can say that without dissing the Gooch, one of the finest to grace a football pitch. If I had to choose, the Gooch would get the nod.

thesultan

Greenlights16 wrote: »

2002 final- good 1st half, anonymous second half.

2003 final - completely anonymous.

Good first 10 mins in 2005, after that, anonymous, go and watch it. You can “4 points” all you want.

2008 - anonymous. Zero impact

2011 v Dublin, again, zero.

The years he had a good day when it mattered, you were crushing Mayo and cork teams that shouldn’t have been there.

Colm was a sublime footballer, as good as any forward in Ireland on his day, but was he a leader or warrior type that changed games when Kerry needed him? No.

If I recall correctly in one of his last finals v Dublin he was out scored by his marker McMahon (whom I have zero love for on field, but a great guy off of it).

He scored four points off him whatever way you watch it at least two were brilliant scores out on the sideline. He added another in the second after his was eye gauged as a means to stop him..

thesultan

2003 final he had a quiet day as he was probably watching it at home as it was an all ulster final..
I was wrong on my 05 final as he got 5 points four from play.
Got 6 with 3 from play in 08..
Did he not get a goal in 11?

So you pillaring him is because mcmahon got the better of him in a final

ciarriaithuaidh

Can't believe no mention of Ogie Moran yet? Played in 10 All Ireland finals, won 8 All Ireland medals - all in same position centre forward.

thesultan

ciarriaithuaidh wrote: »

Can't believe no mention of Ogie Moran yet? Played in 10 All Ireland finals, won 8 All Ireland medals - all in same position centre forward.

Was he small?

ciarriaithuaidh

thesultan wrote: »

Was he small?

No more than 5'8 I would say.

mayo_lad

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Colm Boyle . the warrior form davits is only 5 ft 9 in height

has 4 all-stars never let the club or county down

DDC1990

Mike Frank Russell comes to mind.

Nice medal haul as well.

billyhead

David dottsy O'Callaghan would be around 5ft 7 or 8.

flasher0030

Greenlights16 wrote: »

2002 final- good 1st half, anonymous second half.

2003 semi final - completely anonymous.

Good first 10 mins in 2005, after that, anonymous, go and watch it. You can “4 points” all you want.

2008 - anonymous. Zero impact

2011 v Dublin, again, zero.

The years he had a good day when it mattered, you were crushing Mayo and cork teams that shouldn’t have been there.

Colm was a sublime footballer, as good as any forward in Ireland on his day, but was he a leader or warrior type that changed games when Kerry needed him? No.

If I recall correctly in one of his last finals v Dublin he was out scored by his marker McMahon (whom I have zero love for on field, but a great guy off of it).

Cooper over Canavan all day long. Canavan was good, but he didn't quite have the extraordinary skills of Gooch. Your post was torn to shreads. And you also didn't mention the 2013 semi-final against Dublin - when Gooch put in one of the standout performances ever to grace Croke Park.

And you cannot just dismiss a forward scoring 4 points off a quality, albeit cynical corner back. If each of the 6 forwards scored 4 points in a game, it would see off 99% of matches.

Rosita

Canavan was at his peak a brilliant footballer but he seems to be judged by different criteria to Cooper. The whole 'warrior' thing seems to be big in assessments of Canavan but that's a little abstract.

There was a lot made of his being taken off in the 2003 final and brought back on as if he was such a key man and won it for them. But what you heard less often is that he failed to score from play in the match. Hard to imagine that Cooper would be let away with that as a significant career moment. Likewise Cooper's pass for Dara Ó Cinnéide's goal in that 2005 final would probably be better remembered if Canavan had done it.

Greenlights16

flasher0030 wrote: »

Cooper over Canavan all day long. Canavan was good, but he didn't quite have the extraordinary skills of Gooch. Your post was torn to shreads. And you also didn't mention the 2013 semi-final against Dublin - when Gooch put in one of the standout performances ever to grace Croke Park.

And you cannot just dismiss a forward scoring 4 points off a quality, albeit cynical corner back. If each of the 6 forwards scored 4 points in a game, it would see off 99% of matches.

Torn to shreds?

I meant to say final in 2002 v Armagh. Corrected it with one word.

Hardly torn to shreds.

Opinions are opinions - mine is mine and the Kerry / southern bias will back cooper. Because they do not like Ulster teams bringing Sam up the road. That’s fine, cooper opinion goes down ok with me too. I’m happy enough with that.

But I stand by my Canavan was better statement.

Calm down

thesultan

Both were great players I don't feel there is a need to knock Cooper like Brolly and mchugh did without much evidence. Brolly especially after he did his knee in the club semi.

Regarding Canavan I actually think Stephen O'Neill had two or three years where he was even better..

Rosita

Greenlights16 wrote: »

Torn to shreds?

I meant to say semi final in 2003 v Armagh. Corrected it with one word.

Hardly torn to shreds.

You are tearing your own argument to shreds with imagined memories. Kerry didn't play Armagh in the 2003 championship.

Rosita

[QUOTE=thesultan;116497161

Regarding Canavan I actually think Stephen O'Neill had two or three years where he was even better..[/QUOTE]

That's probably true. Worth bearing in mind that Canavan was 32 when Tyrone won the 2003 All Ireland. His best years were probably when Tyrone were under the radar. O'Neill was a key man at that stage

thesultan

How great wa Fan Larkin when he came up against men like Ray Cummins?

dobman88

DDC1990 wrote: »

Mike Frank Russell comes to mind.

Nice medal haul as well.

Mike Frank cant be classed as small surely? Must be close to 6ft. I had the misfortune to mark him for a lonely few minutes in a junior match and he was nearly on eye level with me and I'm a shade over 6ft.

DDC1990

Never marked him but he always came across as being a slight player at intercounty level. Maybe not in height but weight. He is listed on Google as being 4ft11!

Edit: Looking at pictures he is around the same height as Gooch who I know the any that small. Unfair to have him in the Small man category for sure. My bad.

dobman88

DDC1990 wrote: »

Never marked him but he always came across as being a slight player at intercounty level. Maybe not in height but weight. He is listed on Google as being 4ft11!

Edit: Looking at pictures he is around the same height as Gooch who I know the any that small. Unfair to have him in the Small man category for sure. My bad.

Well whatever else he is definitely more than 4'11 :pac:

Rosita

DDC1990 wrote: »

Never marked him but he always came across as being a slight player at intercounty level. Maybe not in height but weight.

That's one of the problems with this thread is that 'small' was never really defined except assumed to be below a certain (unspecified) height.

'Slightness' is a different measure altogether. Taking a rugby comparison for clarity - J Sexton is probably taller than Cian Healy but to describe him as a bigger man would be difficult with a straight face.

seligehgit

dobman88 wrote: »

Mike Frank cant be classed as small surely? Must be close to 6ft. I had the misfortune to mark him for a lonely few minutes in a junior match and he was nearly on eye level with me and I'm a shade over 6ft.

Appearances can be deceptive,pre viewing Mike Frank up close in the flesh in an All Ireland final I always thought he was on the smallish and slight in build.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Re Gooch and Canavan,2 of the greatest ever who in their pomp were the utmost pleasure to watch.

castletownman

One that springs to mind is Rory McCarthy of St.Martin's and Wexford.

The most skillful hurler I have seen represent Wexford in my lifetime, and played in every outfield line apart from full-back for his county.

He thought me in school too, so I can confirm that he wasn't the tallest

tanko

There can't have been many smaller than the current Cavan manager Mickey Graham who played corner forward for Cavan in the nineties.

John Brady from Laragh in Cavan who played in the full forward line for Cavan in the late eighties was very small and slight but a super footballer.
He played on the O Donovan Rossa team who won their first Cork football championship in 1992 and won the all Ireland club final the same year.