Peter Canavan
Encyclopedia
Peter Canavan is manager of Fermanagh
and an Irish
former Gaelic football
player for Tyrone
, and is one of the most decorated players in the game's history, winning two All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
medals, six GAA All Stars Awards
(more than any other Ulster player, and joint third overall), four provincial titles
, and two National Leagues
and several under-age and club championship medals. He represented Ireland
in the International Rules Series
on several occasions from 1998 until 2000. He is considered one of the great players of the last twenty years by commentators such as John Haughey of the BBC
. and in 2009, he was named in the Sunday Tribune
's list of the 125 Most Influential People In GAA History.
His scoring record of 218 points is the second highest of all time in the Ulster Senior Football Championship
. His early high scoring rate, when he would often be Tyrone's best performer—particularly in the 1995 All-Ireland final when he scored eleven of Tyrone's twelve points—led to claims that Tyrone was a "one-man show," and that the team was too dependent on him, particularly in his early career.
and was the tenth of eleven children. His older brother, Pascal
, played with him on the Tyrone panel for most of the 1990s. He is married to Finola (sister of former Tyrone team-mate Ronan McGarrity), and has four children, Áine, Claire, Darragh and Ruairi, and has been a Physical Education teacher in Holy Trinity College, Cookstown
, throughout most of his career (Gaelic games are amateur sports
). While there, he taught Eoin Mulligan
his point-taking technique, and the pair have been known in the media as 'master and student' ever since, particularly by television commentators.
He writes a column for the Gaelic games
magazine, Hogan Stand
and the Northern Ireland edition of The Daily Mirror
. and in 2008, Canavan joined TV3
as a football pundit for their first year of broadcasting live GAA matches.
In 2003, just over a week before Tyrone's Ulster final appearance against Down
, Canavan's father, Seán, died. It came as a shock to Canavan, who had thought his father (who was already in hospital) was getting better. He decided to play in the match, stating that he knew, subconsciously "[he] was going to be playing in the Ulster final all along and Daddy certainly wouldn't have wanted [him] to do anything but play."
Canavan has suffered from asthma
since he was a child, and has battled throughout his career to control the ailment. He told the Asthma Society of Ireland, "I thought to myself, this is something that I am just going to have to put up with." In later years, however, improved medication has afforded Canavan what he described as, "a better quality of life".
, Canavan had to work around a Gaelic Athletic Association
(GAA) bylaw, because of a dispute in his parish
, Errigal Ciarán. Two clubs claimed to represent the parish, the established Ballygawley St. Ciaran's club and the newly-formed club, then called Errigal Ciaran Naomh Malachai. Players from the Errigal team were not recognised as being GAA members, because the club failed to register correctly. Canavan registered as a member of the Killyclogher hurling
club, even though he didn't play the sport, just so he would be eligible for selection for the Tyrone minors. Prior to that, he had not played legitimate club football, but had forged his way onto the Tyrone under-age teams with his performances at school level. The two clubs united under the banner of Errigal Ciaran two years later.
In 1988, Canavan won the Ulster minor Championship
, but lost in the All-Ireland semi-final to Kerry
.
Canavan captained Tyrone to two All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship
s (U-21) titles in 1991 and 1992, having been on the team which lost the 1990 final, again to Kerry. In four years as an U-21 player, Canavan scored 13-53 (13 goals and 53 points—each goal equals 3 points; 13 x 3 + 53 = 92 points, see GAA scoring rules) for Tyrone . By the time he was twenty, he was already an automatic choice in the senior panel.
in 1994
. He was the top scorer in Ulster, earning him his first All Star
, at the age of 23.
Throughout the 1995 championship
, Canavan had spearheaded Tyrone's march to the final, with round after round of massive scoring exploits. Against Derry
in the Ulster Semi-Final, he scored 0–8, and against Galway
in the All-Ireland semi-final, he scored 1–7.
He scored eleven of Tyrone's twelve points in the All-Ireland Final, despite ending up on the losing side to Dublin
. The game was remembered as contentious for Tyrone fans, for the fact that a point that would have equalised the match in the dying seconds was controversially disallowed, because the blind-sided referee deemed Canavan to have touched the ball on the ground.
He was the top scorer in Ireland that year, with a total of 1–38, earning him the inaugural Footballer of the Year title. The fact that Canavan's scoring tally was so far ahead of his peers on the team led to suggestions that Tyrone were depending too heavily on him.
For the 1996 championship
, Canavan was handed the captaincy of Tyrone, and was Ulster's leading scorer for the third year in a row, and subsequently awarded his third successive All Star. Tyrone reached the All-Ireland semi-final against Meath
, but Canavan was one of six Tyrone players to sustain injuries that day, which some Tyrone fans attribute to Meath's heavy-handedness. Canavan's injury was so severe that he was still feeling the effects for over a year, and there was speculation as to whether he had been playing on a broken foot.
in the inaugural International Rules Series
in 1998 against Australia. In 1999, he was named vice-captain of the team for the tour to Australia, and Ireland came away convincing winners, with Canavan scoring eleven points in the first test in Adelaide
, South Australia
. In 2000, In the first test Australia's Jason Akermanis
gave Canavan a bloody nose 20 seconds into the game. Canavan was sent off in the second test, after fighting with Akermanis. He was banned for one match, which wouldn't be played until the next year, so he ruled himself out of the next series.
In five tests Canavan scored 37 points, becoming one of the few Irish players to leave their mark on the Australian supporters.
, having won their first National Football League
in the spring, but ended up losing a qualifying match to Sligo
, even though Canavan scored six points on the day. That particular defeat stunned him so much, he considered retiring Inter County football.
Despite that, he won his fourth All Star that year, the only Tyrone player to do so, which made him Tyrone's most represented player on the All Star Roll of Honour, overtaking Eugene McKenna
, his manager at the time.
. As he approached the podium on Croke Park
's Hogan Stand after the final, his nervousness was visible, and after being handed the trophy, he made an emotional speech about how he had to enviously watch other Ulster teams lift the Sam Maguire Cup
, but "to eventually win it is something else."
His appearance in the final was remarkable for the fact that he was the top scorer of the day with five points, despite having suffered an ankle injury in the previous match, and was not expected (or advised) to play. He started the final and was taken off before half time. During the break, and even some way into the second half, he was receiving treatment to his ankle, including pain-killing injections.
With ten minutes remaining, he was reintroduced by manager Mickey Harte
, likely due to his experience as the only member of the team who had played in an All-Ireland final before. This reintroduction, while not the first time it had happened (blood substitutions had been used sporadically, for example), was seen as one of the greatest moments in the GAA in the last forty years.
In the drawn Ulster final against Down, Canavan was playing a week after the death of his father. He remarked in his autobiography that he feared Tyrone were going to lose by one of the biggest margins in Ulster Championship history, if they didn't stem the flow of the Down attack. When Tyrone were awarded a penalty, Canavan stepped up, due to Stephen O'Neill
(the first choice penalty-taker) being on the bench. He took the kick, and managed to find the net, later describing it as "the most important [kick] of my career," citing the fact that if Tyrone had been heavily beaten, they probably wouldn't have been able to pick themselves up to play in the 'back door' qualifier series.
Over the course of the 2003 Championship
, he amassed a total of 1–48 (a total of 51 points), and had won the National League in the spring, all of which earned him a fifth All Star. Among his more notable performances of the year included an eight-point haul in the replayed first round match against Derry
, and in the replayed Ulster Final, Canavan scored eleven points.
He became the first GAA star to gain an honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster
, and was also voted BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year
, a regional award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year
. Following an email campaign throughout Ireland, Canavan was an early forerunner for the national award, despite the fact that Gaelic games have very little exposure in Great Britain
.
after the 2003 Championship, and had been used mostly as an 'impact substitute' throughout the year in 2005
—brought on to either unsettle the opposition, or rally his teammates. This backfired when he was sent off within a minute of coming on as a substitute in the Ulster Final replay
replay.
In the All-Ireland semi-final against Armagh
(who were meeting Tyrone for the third time that year), Canavan scored with the last kick of the game, winning the match for Tyrone. Kevin McStay, a former Mayo
player, described it as the point of the season, despite the free kick being from a relatively straightforward position.
Mickey Harte chose Canavan on the starting line-up of the All-Ireland final and went on to score Tyrone's only goal, winning on a scoreline of 1–16 to 2–10.
He retired from inter-county football following this performance with a sixth All Star, ending a sixteen-year tenure in Senior championship football. He said of his decision, "I have spent enough time on the treatment table", referring to the instances where he played while carrying potentially career-threatening injuries, as he had done in 1996 and 2003. Canavan's appearance in the 2005 final (his last game for Tyrone), was his forty-ninth Championship match.
titles and two Ulster Club Championships
, and in 2006, he won his first Tyrone All Star for his performances in the club championship.
In December 2008, he moved into management for the first time, by taking charge of Errigal Ciaran, leading them to win the Tyrone All County League final in 2009.
, Kerry's
manager in the 2005 All-Ireland final, suggested in his autobiography that Canavan tackled Colm Cooper
off the ball, preventing him getting into a goal-scoring position, a claim backed up by The Sunday Tribune journalist, Kieran Shannon.
in November 2011 on a three-year term to be reviewed annually, with trainer Kieran Donnelly and selector Enda Kilpatrick joining him.
Fermanagh GAA
The Fermanagh County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Fermanagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. The county board is also responsible for the Fermanagh inter-county teams-History:...
and an Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
former Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
player for Tyrone
Tyrone GAA
The Tyrone County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Tyrone GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Tyrone. The county board is also responsible for the Tyrone inter-county teams....
, and is one of the most decorated players in the game's history, winning two All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn...
medals, six GAA All Stars Awards
GAA All Stars Awards
The All Stars Awards, currently sponsored by Vodafone, are given annually since 1971 by the Gaelic Athletic Association to the best player in each of the fifteen positions in Gaelic football and Hurling in Ireland. Additionally, one player in each code is selected as the player of the year...
(more than any other Ulster player, and joint third overall), four provincial titles
Ulster Senior Football Championship
For information on this years competition, see Ulster Senior Football Championship 2011-2010 Draw:-2009 Draw:-2008 Draw:-Top winners:* All-Ireland winning years in bold.-Roll of honour:Notes:* 1907 No final result in records...
, and two National Leagues
National Football League (Ireland)
The National Football League is a Gaelic football tournament held annually between the county teams of Ireland, under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The prize for the winning team is the New Ireland Cup, presented by the New Ireland Assurance Company...
and several under-age and club championship medals. He represented Ireland
Ireland international rules football team
The Ireland International rules football team is the representative team for Ireland in international rules football, a compromise between Gaelic football and Australian rules football...
in the International Rules Series
International Rules Series
The International Rules Series is a senior men's International rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team and the Ireland international rules football team...
on several occasions from 1998 until 2000. He is considered one of the great players of the last twenty years by commentators such as John Haughey of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. and in 2009, he was named in the Sunday Tribune
Sunday Tribune
The Sunday Tribune was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tabloid. Former editors include Conor Brady, Vincent Browne,...
's list of the 125 Most Influential People In GAA History.
His scoring record of 218 points is the second highest of all time in the Ulster Senior Football Championship
Ulster Senior Football Championship
For information on this years competition, see Ulster Senior Football Championship 2011-2010 Draw:-2009 Draw:-2008 Draw:-Top winners:* All-Ireland winning years in bold.-Roll of honour:Notes:* 1907 No final result in records...
. His early high scoring rate, when he would often be Tyrone's best performer—particularly in the 1995 All-Ireland final when he scored eleven of Tyrone's twelve points—led to claims that Tyrone was a "one-man show," and that the team was too dependent on him, particularly in his early career.
Personal life
Canavan is from Glencull, near Ballygawley, County TyroneCounty Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
and was the tenth of eleven children. His older brother, Pascal
Pascal Canavan
Pascal Canavan is a former Tyrone Gaelic footballer. He played in Tyrone's second All-Ireland Final appearance in 1995 and captained Errigal Ciaran in 2002. He retired from Inter-county football in 2002, following Tyrone's success in the National Football League.Pascal is a Religious Education...
, played with him on the Tyrone panel for most of the 1990s. He is married to Finola (sister of former Tyrone team-mate Ronan McGarrity), and has four children, Áine, Claire, Darragh and Ruairi, and has been a Physical Education teacher in Holy Trinity College, Cookstown
Cookstown, County Tyrone
Cookstown is a town and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth largest town in the county and had a population of nearly 11,000 people in the 2001 Census. It is one of the main towns in the area known as Mid-Ulster. It was founded around 1620 when the townlands in the area...
, throughout most of his career (Gaelic games are amateur sports
Amateur sports
Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. Sporting amateurism was a zealously guarded ideal in the 19th century, especially among the upper classes, but faced steady erosion throughout the 20th century with the continuing growth of pro sports...
). While there, he taught Eoin Mulligan
Eoin Mulligan
Eoin "Mugsy" Mulligan is an Irish Gaelic football player. He helped Tyrone win the 2003, 2005 and 2008 All-Ireland Finals and plays in Cookstown for the Fr...
his point-taking technique, and the pair have been known in the media as 'master and student' ever since, particularly by television commentators.
He writes a column for the Gaelic games
Gaelic games
Gaelic games are sports played in Ireland under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The two main games are Gaelic football and hurling...
magazine, Hogan Stand
Hogan Stand
Hogan Stand is a Gaelic games magazine, published monthly and distributed throughout Ireland. The magazine is named after the main stand in Croke Park, where the trophies are presented to the winning captains. It is the most widely distributed Gaelic games magazine in the country at present and was...
and the Northern Ireland edition of The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is often referred to in popular parlance. It had an...
. and in 2008, Canavan joined TV3
TV3 Ireland
TV3 is a free-to-air commercial television network in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 20 September 1998 it was Ireland's first commercial broadcaster. The channel is owned by TV3 Group a subsidiary of Doughty Hanson & Co.-The TV3 Group:...
as a football pundit for their first year of broadcasting live GAA matches.
In 2003, just over a week before Tyrone's Ulster final appearance against Down
Down GAA
The Down County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Down GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Down...
, Canavan's father, Seán, died. It came as a shock to Canavan, who had thought his father (who was already in hospital) was getting better. He decided to play in the match, stating that he knew, subconsciously "[he] was going to be playing in the Ulster final all along and Daddy certainly wouldn't have wanted [him] to do anything but play."
Canavan has suffered from asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
since he was a child, and has battled throughout his career to control the ailment. He told the Asthma Society of Ireland, "I thought to myself, this is something that I am just going to have to put up with." In later years, however, improved medication has afforded Canavan what he described as, "a better quality of life".
Under-age career
In order to play for an inter-county GAA teamGAA county
A Gaelic Athletic Association county is a geographic region within the Gaelic Athletic Association , controlled by a county board and originally based on the counties of Ireland as they were in 1884. While the counties of Ireland have changed since the foundation of that date, the GAA counties have...
, Canavan had to work around a Gaelic Athletic Association
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
(GAA) bylaw, because of a dispute in his parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
, Errigal Ciarán. Two clubs claimed to represent the parish, the established Ballygawley St. Ciaran's club and the newly-formed club, then called Errigal Ciaran Naomh Malachai. Players from the Errigal team were not recognised as being GAA members, because the club failed to register correctly. Canavan registered as a member of the Killyclogher hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
club, even though he didn't play the sport, just so he would be eligible for selection for the Tyrone minors. Prior to that, he had not played legitimate club football, but had forged his way onto the Tyrone under-age teams with his performances at school level. The two clubs united under the banner of Errigal Ciaran two years later.
In 1988, Canavan won the Ulster minor Championship
All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
The All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier "knockout" competition for under-18 competitors of the game of Gaelic football played in Ireland...
, but lost in the All-Ireland semi-final to Kerry
Kerry GAA
The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry...
.
Canavan captained Tyrone to two All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship
All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship
The All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship is the premier "knockout" competition for players aged between 18 and 21 in the game of Gaelic football played in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and are played during the summer months...
s (U-21) titles in 1991 and 1992, having been on the team which lost the 1990 final, again to Kerry. In four years as an U-21 player, Canavan scored 13-53 (13 goals and 53 points—each goal equals 3 points; 13 x 3 + 53 = 92 points, see GAA scoring rules) for Tyrone . By the time he was twenty, he was already an automatic choice in the senior panel.
Early senior career
Canavan's name was already known around Tyrone because of his exploits for the Under 21 team, but he started to make an impact in the Ulster Senior Football ChampionshipUlster Senior Football Championship
For information on this years competition, see Ulster Senior Football Championship 2011-2010 Draw:-2009 Draw:-2008 Draw:-Top winners:* All-Ireland winning years in bold.-Roll of honour:Notes:* 1907 No final result in records...
in 1994
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 1994
-All-Ireland Final:...
. He was the top scorer in Ulster, earning him his first All Star
GAA All Stars Awards
The All Stars Awards, currently sponsored by Vodafone, are given annually since 1971 by the Gaelic Athletic Association to the best player in each of the fifteen positions in Gaelic football and Hurling in Ireland. Additionally, one player in each code is selected as the player of the year...
, at the age of 23.
Throughout the 1995 championship
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 1995
-All-Ireland Final:-See also:...
, Canavan had spearheaded Tyrone's march to the final, with round after round of massive scoring exploits. Against Derry
Derry GAA
The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Derry GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in the GAA county of Derry, which covers virtually the same territory as the former administrative county of Londonderry...
in the Ulster Semi-Final, he scored 0–8, and against Galway
Galway GAA
The Galway County Boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Galway GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Galway. The county boards are also responsible for the Galway inter-county teams.Unlike all other counties in Ireland,...
in the All-Ireland semi-final, he scored 1–7.
He scored eleven of Tyrone's twelve points in the All-Ireland Final, despite ending up on the losing side to Dublin
Dublin GAA
Dublin County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association , or Dublin GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Dublin. The county board is also responsible for the Dublin inter-county teams...
. The game was remembered as contentious for Tyrone fans, for the fact that a point that would have equalised the match in the dying seconds was controversially disallowed, because the blind-sided referee deemed Canavan to have touched the ball on the ground.
He was the top scorer in Ireland that year, with a total of 1–38, earning him the inaugural Footballer of the Year title. The fact that Canavan's scoring tally was so far ahead of his peers on the team led to suggestions that Tyrone were depending too heavily on him.
For the 1996 championship
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 1996
-Leinster Senior Football Championship:-------------------------------------Connacht Senior Football Championship:---------------------Ulster Senior Football Championship:--------------------------------...
, Canavan was handed the captaincy of Tyrone, and was Ulster's leading scorer for the third year in a row, and subsequently awarded his third successive All Star. Tyrone reached the All-Ireland semi-final against Meath
Meath GAA
The Meath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Meath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Meath, as well as for Meath inter-county teams.- Pre-1960s :...
, but Canavan was one of six Tyrone players to sustain injuries that day, which some Tyrone fans attribute to Meath's heavy-handedness. Canavan's injury was so severe that he was still feeling the effects for over a year, and there was speculation as to whether he had been playing on a broken foot.
1998–2000: International stage
During a weak period for Tyrone Seniors in the late 1990s, Canavan represented IrelandIreland international rules football team
The Ireland International rules football team is the representative team for Ireland in international rules football, a compromise between Gaelic football and Australian rules football...
in the inaugural International Rules Series
International Rules Series
The International Rules Series is a senior men's International rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team and the Ireland international rules football team...
in 1998 against Australia. In 1999, he was named vice-captain of the team for the tour to Australia, and Ireland came away convincing winners, with Canavan scoring eleven points in the first test in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. In 2000, In the first test Australia's Jason Akermanis
Jason Akermanis
Jason Dean Akermanis is an Australian rules football player. He is a Brownlow Medallist and triple premiership player who played for the Brisbane Bears, Brisbane Lions and Western Bulldogs...
gave Canavan a bloody nose 20 seconds into the game. Canavan was sent off in the second test, after fighting with Akermanis. He was banned for one match, which wouldn't be played until the next year, so he ruled himself out of the next series.
In five tests Canavan scored 37 points, becoming one of the few Irish players to leave their mark on the Australian supporters.
Late senior career
Tyrone were one of the favourites for the 2002 All-IrelandAll-Ireland Senior Football Championship 2002
-Munster Senior Football Championship:-----------------------------Ulster Senior Football Championship:-------------------------------------Leinster Senior Football Championship:--------------------------------...
, having won their first National Football League
National Football League (Ireland)
The National Football League is a Gaelic football tournament held annually between the county teams of Ireland, under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The prize for the winning team is the New Ireland Cup, presented by the New Ireland Assurance Company...
in the spring, but ended up losing a qualifying match to Sligo
Sligo GAA
The Sligo County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Sligo GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Sligo...
, even though Canavan scored six points on the day. That particular defeat stunned him so much, he considered retiring Inter County football.
Despite that, he won his fourth All Star that year, the only Tyrone player to do so, which made him Tyrone's most represented player on the All Star Roll of Honour, overtaking Eugene McKenna
Eugene McKenna
Eugene McKenna is a retired Gaelic footballer, and former Tyrone manager. With three All Stars, three Ulster Senior Football Championship medals as a player, two as a manager to his name, and his guiding of Tyrone to their first all-Ireland triumph, the 2002 National League, he is often considered...
, his manager at the time.
2003: Championship glory
In 2003, Canavan shook off his tag as 'the greatest player never to win an All-Ireland', captaining Tyrone to their first All-Ireland Senior Football ChampionshipAll-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn...
. As he approached the podium on Croke Park
Croke Park
Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...
's Hogan Stand after the final, his nervousness was visible, and after being handed the trophy, he made an emotional speech about how he had to enviously watch other Ulster teams lift the Sam Maguire Cup
Sam Maguire Cup
The Sam Maguire Cup, often called The Sam , is the name of the cup that is awarded to winners of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier "knockout" competition in the game of Gaelic football played in Ireland...
, but "to eventually win it is something else."
His appearance in the final was remarkable for the fact that he was the top scorer of the day with five points, despite having suffered an ankle injury in the previous match, and was not expected (or advised) to play. He started the final and was taken off before half time. During the break, and even some way into the second half, he was receiving treatment to his ankle, including pain-killing injections.
With ten minutes remaining, he was reintroduced by manager Mickey Harte
Mickey Harte
Michael "Mickey" Harte is the current manager of Tyrone Gaelic football team. He has led the team to three All-Ireland titles, three Ulster titles, one National League, and four Dr...
, likely due to his experience as the only member of the team who had played in an All-Ireland final before. This reintroduction, while not the first time it had happened (blood substitutions had been used sporadically, for example), was seen as one of the greatest moments in the GAA in the last forty years.
In the drawn Ulster final against Down, Canavan was playing a week after the death of his father. He remarked in his autobiography that he feared Tyrone were going to lose by one of the biggest margins in Ulster Championship history, if they didn't stem the flow of the Down attack. When Tyrone were awarded a penalty, Canavan stepped up, due to Stephen O'Neill
Stephen O'Neill
Stephen O'Neill is a Gaelic footballer from Strabane, Northern Ireland, who plays for the Tyrone Senior football team. He won three All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medals, two Under 21 medals, and a Minor medal...
(the first choice penalty-taker) being on the bench. He took the kick, and managed to find the net, later describing it as "the most important [kick] of my career," citing the fact that if Tyrone had been heavily beaten, they probably wouldn't have been able to pick themselves up to play in the 'back door' qualifier series.
Over the course of the 2003 Championship
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 2003
The 2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was won by Tyrone in a landmark final that was the first All-Ireland final that was contested by two teams from the same province, Tyrone, and Armagh - both from Ulster....
, he amassed a total of 1–48 (a total of 51 points), and had won the National League in the spring, all of which earned him a fifth All Star. Among his more notable performances of the year included an eight-point haul in the replayed first round match against Derry
Derry GAA
The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Derry GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in the GAA county of Derry, which covers virtually the same territory as the former administrative county of Londonderry...
, and in the replayed Ulster Final, Canavan scored eleven points.
He became the first GAA star to gain an honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster
University of Ulster
The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...
, and was also voted BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year
BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year
The BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year is an annual sports award organised by BBC Northern Ireland.- Winners :The BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year is an annual sports award organised by BBC Northern Ireland....
, a regional award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year
BBC Sports Personality of the Year
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of one titular award. Several new awards have been introduced, and , eight awards are presented. The oldest of these are the Team of the Year and...
. Following an email campaign throughout Ireland, Canavan was an early forerunner for the national award, despite the fact that Gaelic games have very little exposure in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
2005: Championship swan song
Canavan relinquished his captaincy to the late Cormac McAnallenCormac McAnallen
Cormac McAnallen was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for Tyrone. He won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship with the county in 2003, also winning the Ulster Senior Football Championship twice and two National League titles. At underage level he won an All-Ireland Minor and two...
after the 2003 Championship, and had been used mostly as an 'impact substitute' throughout the year in 2005
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 2005
-Leinster Senior Football Championship:-----------------------------------------Ulster Senior Football Championship:-------------------------------------------------Connacht Senior Football Championship:--------...
—brought on to either unsettle the opposition, or rally his teammates. This backfired when he was sent off within a minute of coming on as a substitute in the Ulster Final replay
Ulster Senior Football Championship
For information on this years competition, see Ulster Senior Football Championship 2011-2010 Draw:-2009 Draw:-2008 Draw:-Top winners:* All-Ireland winning years in bold.-Roll of honour:Notes:* 1907 No final result in records...
replay.
In the All-Ireland semi-final against Armagh
Armagh GAA
The Armagh County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Armagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Armagh...
(who were meeting Tyrone for the third time that year), Canavan scored with the last kick of the game, winning the match for Tyrone. Kevin McStay, a former Mayo
Mayo GAA
The Mayo County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Mayo GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Mayo and the Mayo inter-county teams.-History:...
player, described it as the point of the season, despite the free kick being from a relatively straightforward position.
He retired from inter-county football following this performance with a sixth All Star, ending a sixteen-year tenure in Senior championship football. He said of his decision, "I have spent enough time on the treatment table", referring to the instances where he played while carrying potentially career-threatening injuries, as he had done in 1996 and 2003. Canavan's appearance in the 2005 final (his last game for Tyrone), was his forty-ninth Championship match.
Club career
After retiring from inter-county football, he continued to play at club level for Errigal Ciarán until 2007. During the seventeen years he played he won six Tyrone Senior ClubTyrone Senior Club Football Championship
The Tyrone Senior Football Club Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Tyrone clubs...
titles and two Ulster Club Championships
Ulster Senior Club Football Championship
The Ulster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football club competition played between the top clubs in Ulster. The trophy awarded to the winners is the Seamus McFerran Cup...
, and in 2006, he won his first Tyrone All Star for his performances in the club championship.
In December 2008, he moved into management for the first time, by taking charge of Errigal Ciaran, leading them to win the Tyrone All County League final in 2009.
Disciplinary problems
His career features many examples of indiscipline, including on-pitch scuffles with other players. which at times threatened to overshadow his achievements. Jack O'ConnorJack O'Connor (GAA)
Jack O'Connor is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player. He played football with his local club Dromid Pearses from the 1970s until the early 2000s and is currently in his second term as manager of the Kerry senior inter-county team...
, Kerry's
Kerry GAA
The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry...
manager in the 2005 All-Ireland final, suggested in his autobiography that Canavan tackled Colm Cooper
Colm Cooper
Colm ‘Gooch’ Cooper is an Irish sportsperson. He plays Gaelic football with his local club Dr. Croke’s and has been a member of the Kerry senior inter-county team since 2002. Cooper is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation.-Club:Cooper helped Dr. Crokes win the 2000 Kerry...
off the ball, preventing him getting into a goal-scoring position, a claim backed up by The Sunday Tribune journalist, Kieran Shannon.
Management career
Canavan was appointed manager of FermanaghFermanagh GAA
The Fermanagh County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Fermanagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. The county board is also responsible for the Fermanagh inter-county teams-History:...
in November 2011 on a three-year term to be reviewed annually, with trainer Kieran Donnelly and selector Enda Kilpatrick joining him.