Michael Murphy is in no doubt that fellow Donegal man Seamus Coleman would have been a star in the GAA if he hadn't concentrated on soccer.

Coleman, who got engaged to his girlfriend of nine years, Rachel Cunningham, last weekend, has been in sparkling form for Everton in the Premier League, being the highest scoring defender in Europe with five goals to his credit at the midway stage of the season.

Murphy remembers the Killybegs man as an outstanding underage talent who had all the attributes to be a top-class Gaelic footballer.

"Seamie would've been a year ahead of me (with the Donegal development squads), but you'd always have been keeping an eye on the group directly above you or the group below," the 2012 All-Ireland winning captain said in the Donegal Democrat.

"He was always a prominent player. One day we, Glenswilly, came up against Killybegs in Dunkineely in the U15 'B' league semi-final. It will always stick in my head. He was centre back and I was centre forward and it wasn't the most pleasant 60 minutes I ever had.

"It was a time before centre backs would be so forward-thinking, but he had me on the back foot the whole time.

"We got hammered as Killybegs were very strong at that time. I was thinking the whole time that I was the forward here and he was the defender. There's no doubt in my mind he would've made it with Donegal and would've been a star of Gaelic football." Tweet

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