Hugh Niblock (September 1949 – 18 February 2022) was a

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 played for the

Magherafelt Magherafelt (, �mˠaxəɾʲəˈfʲiːlt̪ˠə is a small town and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,805 at the 2011 Census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county and is the social, econo ...

and St Gall's clubs and at senior level for the Derry county team. He usually lined out as a forward.

Career

Niblock first played Gaelic football at juvenile and underage levels with the

club. He progressed onto the club's senior team and won a Derry SFC title in 1975, in what was the club's first ever championship success at inter-county level. Niblock first appeared for the Derry minor football team in 1967 before later joining the under-21 side. As a member of the

Derry senior football team The Derry county football team represents Derry GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the Gaelic sport of football. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football C ...

, he won Ulster Championship titles in 1970 and 1975. Niblock subsequently became involved with the St. Gall's club in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Personal life and death

Niblock was born in

in September 1949. His family had a strong association with sport, with his uncle,

Frank Niblock Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

, lining out for Derry when they won the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

in 1947. Niblock's brother, Mickey, was a contemporary on the Derry team, while his nephew, David Niblock, won a Munster Championship title with

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 ...

. Niblock qualified as a teacher and spent the majority of his working life in St Patrick's College in

. Niblock died on 18 February 2022, at the age of 72.

Honours

;Magherafelt *

Derry Senior Football Championship The Derry Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top sixteen Derry GAA clubs. The winners receive the John McLaughlin Cup and qualify to represent Derry in the Ulster Senior Club Football Champi ...

: 1978 ;Derry *

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 ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niblock, Hugh 1949 births 2022 deaths Derry inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic football forwards Magherafelt Gaelic footballers

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

St Gall's Gaelic footballers