The Clare county football team represents Clare in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Clare GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Munster Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.
Clare's home ground is Cusack Park, Ennis. The team's manager is Mark Fitzgerald.[3]
The team last won the Munster Senior Championship in 1992, but has never won the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League.
Widely considered to be a Top 8 team.
Clare has won two Munster Senior Football Championship (SFC) titles. The county competes in Division 2 of the National Football League.
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Clare won its first Munster SFC in 1917, defeating Cork on a scoreline of 5–04 to 0–01. This was after losing deciders in 1912 and 1915 to Kerry and in 1916 to Cork. Clare then faced Galway in the 1917 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) semi-final and won by a scoreline of 2–01 to 0–05. However, in the 1917 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, Clare narrowly lost to Wexford by a scoreline of 0–09 to 0–05. Wexford had won the All-Ireland SFC in 1915 and 1916 and would complete a four-in-a-row in 1918.
Due to 1 sided defeat to Kerry by 6–10 to 0–2 in Ennis in the 1953 Munster semi-final it was decided that they would not be part the 1954 championships.
A low point for the county team was the so-called "Milltown Massacre" in 1979. During a game played in Milltown Malbay, Clare lost to Kerry by a scoreline of 1–9 to 9–21, a difference of 35 points.[4] Tommy Tubridy, the father of David, played in that game.
Clare football's greatest day since 1917 arrived in 1992 when, under the stewardship of Mayo native John Maughan, the county won its second Munster SFC by defeating Kerry in the final at the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick, by a scoreline of 2–10 to 0–12. This victory was aided in no small part by two second half goals from Colm Clancy and Martin Daly. This victory was also historic in that it is the only year from 1936 to 2020 (when Tipperary won) that neither Kerry nor Cork won the Munster SFC. Clare's luck would run out however, and in the 1992 All-Ireland SFC semi-final, the team lost to Dublin by a scoreline of 3–14 to 2–12. Full back on the team of 1992 was Seamus Clancy, brother of full-forward Colm, and he was rewarded for his performances in the 1992 championship with a place on the All-Star team of that year.[5]
Collins led Clare from Division 4 to Division 2 of the National Football League.[6][7][8]
Clare qualified for a 2016 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final by defeating Roscommon.[9]
The team qualifed for another All-Ireland quarter-final in 2022 after beating Roscommon again; they lost to Derry in the quarters.[10][11]
Clare has its own supporters' club, which is separate from the supporters' club of the county hurling team.[12]
Clare squad vs Derry in the All-Ireland Quarter-Final at Croke Park on 25 June 2022
Clare have a history of appointing "foreign" managers, with John Maughan, from Mayo, proving to be the most successful; Maughan led Clare to the 1992 Munster SFC (a first in 75 years). Other outsiders to manage Clare include Frank Doherty (Galway) and the Kerrymen Donie Buckley (who managed jointly with Michael Brennan from Galway), John Kennedy, John O'Keeffe, Mick O'Dwyer and Páidí Ó Sé.[17] However, Colm Collins (from Clare GAA club Cratloe) began managing the team in 2013 and lasted so long that RTÉ called him "an icon of stability" in 2022, in contrast to less successful managerial appointments elsewhere.[18]
Clare has one All Star.
Runners-up (1): 1917
Winners (2): 1991 Winners (1): 2004 Winners (2): 1992, 1995 Winners (2): 1987, 2016 Winners (1): 1982 Winners (1): 1929 Winners (2): 1917, 1992 Runners-up (14): 1912, 1915, 1916, 1919, 1925, 1929, 1936, 1937, 1941, 1949, 1997, 2012, 2023, 2024 Winners (13): 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2008, 2019 Winners (1): 1933–34 Winners (1): 1925 Winners (3): 1929, 1930, 1953Clare have won one All-Ireland and three Munster titles at minor level. They won the first of their three Munster Minor Football Championships defeating Waterford in 1929. Clare then proceeded to qualify for the inaugural All-Ireland Minor Football Final. In the final they faced Longford and prevailed by 5–03 to 3-05, to crown Clare All-Ireland Minor Champions. Clare defeated Tipperary in the 1930 Munster final to retain their provincial crown. The Banner County had to wait until 1953 for another Munster title. On this occasion Clare defeated Cork in the decider.
All-Ireland Minor Football Championship Final appearances
According to Clare FM, former Banner goalkeeper Joe Hayes has replaced ex-Kerry All-Ireland winning 'keeper Declan O'Keeffe as goalkeeping coach, while Brian Carson returns as head coach after being previously involved in 2018 and '20. He replaces Gerry McGowan. There is also a new assistant coach in Mark Doran from Down. Another man returning to the set-up is Limerick native Michael Cahill, who will act as strength and conditioning coach. Declan Downes and Enda Coughlan are set to continue as selectors under Collins