As part of the planned celebrations for the Fitzgibbon Cup in its centenary year, An Comhairle Ardoideachais C.L.G is pleased to announce the shortlist of 75 players for the 'Irish Daily Mail Fitzgibbon Cup Team of the Century'.

The star-studded list, which is made up of five goalkeepers, 30 defenders, 10 midfielders and 30 forwards, was released to the Irish Daily Mail today after a selection process including each Higher Education GAA Institute which has participated in the competition being invited to forward their most influential players. Each club has at least one nominee included.

Players to make the list are from various decades dating right back to the competitions origin (Éamon Bulfin & John Ryan (UCD) winners in the inaugural competition) right up to the present (Séamus Hickey (UL) a winner in 2011) .

There is no doubting the quality and standard of players that have been included in the initial shortlist with many of those selected fulfilling their promise shown in Fitzgibbon competition and going on to claim All-Ireland titles, All-Stars & Hurler of the Year awards at inter-county level.

However, the criteria for selection on the shortlist, was solely based on performance in the premier Higher Education hurling competition. A committee of former Fitzgibbon players and managers chaired by Iar-Uachtarán Joe McDonagh will also make the final selection based on the same criteria.

The list contains multiple nominees from two families with a father & son (Billy & Tony Loughnane(UCD)) and two brothers (John & Eddie Enright (UCC)) selected.

Comhairle Ardoideachais is running a competition inviting all entrants to submit their own selection from the nominations online.
The person with the closest team to that of the selection committee's will win two All-Ireland Hurling final tickets and two tickets to the Irish Daily Mail Fitzgibbon Cup weekend in Cork, which is hosted by UCC, on March 2/3 including accommodation.

Submission forms and full details of the competition are now available on www.he.gaa.ie. The closing date for entries is 5.00pm on Friday, January 20, 2012 with the final team and competition winner scheduled to be announced the following week.

Since its inception the Fitzgibbon Cup has been one of the most prestigious titles in Higher Education sport.

The trophy itself is named after Dr. Edwin Fitzgibbon, a Capuchin friar and, from 1911 to 1936, a professor of philosophy at University College Cork. In 1912 Dr. Fitzgibbon donated most of his annual salary to purchase the trophy.

For further information visit www.he.gaa.ie.

Irish Daily Mail Fitzgibbon Cup Team of the Century Shortlist - Note: Clubs who have participated in the competition were invited to nominate representatives with at least 1 nomination per club which responded.

Name Club County

Goalkeepers
Tommy Daly UCD Clare/Dublin
Ger Cotter UCC Cork
Damien Young WIT Tipperary
Ray Brennan UCD Wexford
John O'Donoghue UCC Tipperary

Backs
Seán Silke Maynooth Galway
Seán Stack Maynooth Clare
Ronan Curran CIT Cork
Liam Shalloe UCC Waterford
John Grainger UCC Cork
John O'Connor UCC Wexford
Dinny Barry-Murphy UCC Cork
Michael Cahill UCC Tipperary
Ted Carroll UCD Kilkenny
Dan O'Neill UCD Kilkenny
John Ryan UCD Limerick/Dublin
Niall McInerney UCG Clare/Galway
Conor Hayes UCG Galway
John Lee NUIG Galway
Stephen Lucey UCD Limerick
John Walsh DIT Laois
Cyril Duggan TCD Laois
Jackie Tyrrell CIT/LIT Kilkenny
Conor O'Mahony LIT Tipperary
Eamonn Corcoran WIT Tipperary
J. J. Delaney WIT Kilkenny
Michael 'Brick' Walsh WIT Waterford
Seán McMahon UL Clare
Séamus Hickey UL Limerick
John Devane UL Tipperary
Des Cormican QUB Antrim
Brian Lohan UL Clare
Paul Curran WIT Tipperary
John Tennyson UCC Kilkenny
Ken Coogan WIT Kilkenny

Midfielders
Joe Salmon UCG Galway
Iggy Clarke Maynooth Galway
Jim Young UCC Cork
Con Lucey UCC Cork
Paul O'Connor UCC Cork
Eddie Enright UCC Tipperary
Jimmy Cooney UCD Tipperary
Des Dillon UCD Clare/Dublin
Jim Hurley UCC Cork
Dick Stokes UCD Limerick

Forwards
Joe Connolly UCG Galway
James O'Connor UCG Clare
Eoin Kelly LIT Tipperary
Joe Canning LIT Galway
Andy Maloney WIT Waterford/Tipperary
Henry Shefflin WIT Kilkenny
Pat Kavanagh UCD Kilkenny
P. J. Delaney WIT Kilkenny
Andrew O'Shaughnessy GMIT Galway
Colm O'Neill UCC/QUB Cork
Henry Downey QUB Derry
Paddy O'Donovan UCC Cork
Nicky English UCC Tipperary
John Enright UCC Tipperary
Joe Deane UCC Cork
John O'Halloran UCC Cork
Eamon Bulfin UCD Offaly
Jim Byrne UCD Wexford
Donie Nealon UCD Tipperary
Pat Henchy UCD Clare
Jack Ryan UCD Tipperary
Bill Loughnane UCD Clare/Dublin
Tony Loughnane UCD Clare
Matt Ruth UCD KIlkenny
Kevin Broderick AIT Galway
John Sheehan DCU Cork
Dick Troy UCC Cork
Neil McManus UUJ Antrim
Willie Hyland LIT Laois
James 'Cha' Fitzpatrick UCC/St. Pats Kilkenny

Breakdown of Nominations by Club/County - (Players who played for more than 1 club/county included twice)

Club
UCC 21
UCD 18
WIT 9
UCG/NUIG 6
LIT 5
UL 4
Maynooth/NUIM 3
QUB 3
CIT 2
DIT 1
TCD 1
DCU 1
UUJ 1
St. Pats Drumcondra 1
AIT 1
GMIT 1

County
Cork 15
Tipperary 14
Kilkenny 11
Clare 10
Galway 10
Dublin 4
Limerick 4
Wexford 3
Laois 3
Waterford 3
Antrim 2
Offaly 1
Derry 1 Tweet

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