Brian Roper (born 1974/5) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er who has lived in Ireland most of his life, and who played for Aodh Ruadh and the Donegal county team. Roper preferred to play centre-forward, but tended to play at wing-forward for Donegal. Brian McEniff described him as one of the best forwards in the country for the best part of a decade and a half. He won an

Ulster Under-21 Football Championship The Ulster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Ulster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest in ...

. However, he never won the

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in early May. The final is usu ...

during his career.

Early life

His family own a

monumental masonry Monumental masonry (also known as memorial masonry) is a kind of stonemasonry focused on the creation, installation and repairs of headstones (also known as gravestones and tombstones) and other memorials. Cultural significance In Christian cu ...

firm. His father P. J. would attend underage matches where he would umpire, be a linesman or kit collector. Roper attended De La Salle College Ballyshannon, where he won the McLarnon Cup and received a Colleges All Star, and was mentored by future county teammate

Noel Hegarty Noel Hegarty is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Naomh Columba and the Donegal county team. He played as a defender. According to ''The Irish Times'', centre back was his best position. Hegarty made his championship debut for ...

. When he was fifteen years of age he injured his knee ligaments while playing

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

on the beach at

Rossnowlagh Rossnowlagh () is a seaside village in the south of County Donegal, Ireland. It is about north of Ballyshannon and southwest of Donegal Town. The area's long beach, or if measuring from the cliffs to Carrickfad (long rock in Irish, which jut ...

near his family home and was unable to play sport for a year. Shortly afterwards, his father died suddenly due to a

brain haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

Playing career

Club

Roper won three

Donegal Senior Football Championship The Donegal Senior Football Championship (abbreviated as Donegal SFC) is an annual football competition organised by Donegal GAA and contested by the highest-level clubs, to determine the best team in County Donegal. Since 2016, it has been known ...

s and one League with Aodh Ruadh. His first Donegal SFC was in 1994 before he was called into the senior county team.

Inter-county

Roper won an

medal with Donegal in 1995. P. J. McGowan was the manager to introduce Roper to the Donegal senior team. He made his championship debut against Down in

Clones Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to: Places * Clones, County Fermanagh * Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland Biology * Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...

, scoring a point in a one-point loss. Though, upon his retirement, the '' Donegal Democrat'' said Roper's championship debut came in 1996 against Antrim in Ballybofey, having made several appearances in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

earlier that year. The paper said P. J. McGowan called himself,

Damian Diver Damian Diver (born 1973/4) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Ard an Rátha and the Donegal county team. He played at half-back for his county. He made 120 appearances, 36 of which were championship, for the team between 199 ...

Adrian Sweeney Adrian Sweeney is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for CLG An Clochán Liath, An Clochán Liath and the Donegal county football team, Donegal county team. Considered one of the finest forwards of his generation, he often played alon ...

, Peter McGinley, Dessie McNamara and Martin Coll into the county senior squad following the county's 1995

winning campaign. Roper missed the 1998 Ulster Senior Football Championship final with a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

injury. He played in the 2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final against

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

, scoring a point. He was a member of the Donegal team that won the

in 2007, scoring three points in the final against

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

. As a result of this he was honoured by both the Opel GPA awards and the Vodafone Allstars. He retired from the county team in 2009 with a record number of appearances. His last game was the 2009 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final loss to

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Management career

In November 2017, he became part of

Gary McDaid Gary McDaid is a Gaelic football manager, referee and former player. He has three DSFCs: twice as manager (2011, 2013) and once as coach to Michael Canning (2016). Club While overseeing Glenswilly, he has led that team to two Donegal Senior F ...

's backroom team when McDaid became the first manager of the new Donegal under-20 football team.

Personal life

His other interests include

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

and the English association football club

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Honours

;Donegal *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Dr McKenna Cup The Dr McKenna Cup is an annual Gaelic football competition played between Counties of Ireland, counties and List of universities in Northern Ireland, universities in the province of Ulster GAA, Ulster. It is the secondary Gaelic football comp ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

: 1995 ;Aodh Ruadh *

: 1994, 1997, 1998 * League X1: ? ;Individual * All Star Footballer of the Month: April 2007 *

GPA Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

Footballer of the Month: April 2007

References

External links

Brian Roper
at gaainfo.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Roper, Brian 1970s births Living people American Gaelic footballers Aodh Ruadh Gaelic footballers Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic football forwards People educated at De La Salle College Ballyshannon