No football All-Stars for Galway senior footballers
AHEAD of this year's Connacht Football Final, you would have got some odds on Mayo ending up with six All Stars and Galway ending up with none.
For Mayo who didn't even reach the provincial decider at Hyde Park last May on a day Roscommon’s late charge saw them overhaul champions Galway who were seeking a fifth Connacht title on the trot.
But a reflection of how the counties’ fortunes changed dramatically over the following weeks came with yesterday’s announcement of the 2026 Gaelic football All Stars.
Mayo’s unlikely ending of a 75-year All-Ireland famine sees them pick up six All Stars, with Enda Hession, Sam Callinan, Jack Carney, Ryan O’Donoghue, Darragh Beirne and Kobe McDonald all honoured.
After tumbling to Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final, Galway had just two nominations – Salthill Knocknacarra’s duo John Maher and Rob Finnerty – but neither made the final 15.
Uachtarán CLG Jarlath Burns said: “An incredible football season that was crammed full of memorable twists and turns has a legacy in this All-Star football team, one that reflects just
how competitive our game is now.
“Mayo have had their season rightly rewarded, and with eight counties represented and 11 first-time winners, there will be clubs all over Ireland that wake up and share in this fantastic news and feel that they have played a part in this success. It will be an extraordinary honour and privilege to be able to present my own club’s first-ever All-Star award to Jarly Óg and Silverbridge.
“The All-Stars are the pinnacle in individual achievement, and we are enormously thankful to PwC for their continued support of this great institution in Irish sport.”
PwC All-Stars Football 2026 (*previous winning years in brackets)
1. Shane Murphy (Kerry)
2. Sam Callinan (Mayo)
3. Jason Foley (Kerry) (2022, 2025)
4. Enda Hession (Mayo)
5. Ronan Wallace (Westmeath)
6. Dara McDonnell (Louth)
7. Jarlath Óg Burns (Armagh)
8. Conn Kilpatrick (Tyrone)
9. Jack Carney (Mayo)
10. Niall Scully (Dublin) (2020)
11. Ryan O’Donoghue (Mayo) (2021)