Kevin McCloy (born 26 October 1978) is a

dual player Dual player or dual star is a term used in Hiberno-English to describe someone who competes in multiple sports — for example, in Victorian Ireland, cricket and hurling. The term today in Gaelic games typically describes a male player who plays ...

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...

who plays

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 ...

for the Derry county team, with whom he has won a

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 ...

title. He also won an All Star for his performances in the 2007 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. McCloy plays his club football for Erin's Own's Lavey. As a dual player, he also plays

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

for Lavey, and has in the past also hurled for Derry - winning an

Ulster Senior Hurling Championship The Ulster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Ulster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurling co ...

medal. He is well known for wearing his candystriped stockings above knee level. In football, he is seen as a tough, old-fashioned full back, who is also very competent with the ball in his hands going forward and a good reader of the game. Although full back is his usual position, he has said he prefers to play at

centre half back In the sport of Australian rules football, the half-back line refers to the positions of the 3 players on the field that occupy the centre half-back and left and right half-back flank positions. Centre half-back The role of the centre half-bac ...

and has done so on occasion for Derry and Lavey.

Football career

Inter-county

McCloy matured late in football terms and he never played at

Minor Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...

Under 21 Under may refer to: * "Under" (Alex Hepburn song), 2013 * "Under" (Pleasure P song), 2009 *Bülent Ünder (born 1949), Turkish footballer *Cengiz Ünder (born 1997), Turkish footballer *Marie Under (1883–1980), Estonian poet * Under (restaurant) ...

level for Derry. He joined the

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

team during the 2000/2001

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 ...

and made his Championship debut in 2001 against Antrim. McCloy missed the 2004 Championship through injury, but had an exceptional year in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. He was nominated for an All Star. McCloy had another impressive season in

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 ...

. Regular

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Kevin McGuckin Kevin "Slith" McGuckin (born 21 February 1981) is a Gaelic footballer who plays for the Derry county team, with whom he has won a National League title. McGuckin was captain of the Derry team for 2007 and is currently the vice-captain. He is ...

got injured in the latter stages of the National League and McCloy became stand-in captain on the field of play that summer until McGuckin's return. After being knocked out of the Ulster Championship by

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7 ...

at the semi-final stage, Derry advanced through the qualifiers with victories over

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 ...

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 ...

and

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medi ...

. Against Mayo McCloy shattered his little finger in three places while getting an accidental kick from

Conor Mortimer Conor Mortimer (born 23 May 1982) is a Gaelic football manager and former player. He was a corner forward and has played at senior level for the Mayo county team, Connacht provincial team in the Railway Cup and club football for Shrule-Glenc ...

. He displaced the bones so bad that they were pushed up beyond his knuckle. He played on and played against Laois two weeks later. Derry were paired with

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in the All-Ireland quarter-final. Nine days before the tie McCloy had an operation on the finger. The surgeon told him not to play contact sport for 10 weeks and if he did he would risk never having the full use of his finger again. He contacted 10 doctors to see if any would administer a painkilling injection, but they all refused. McCloy played the game and despite finishing on the losing side in a tight encounter, McCloy was awarded

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

. On 19 October 2007 McCloy was named at full back on the 2007 All Star team. The award is the fifth All Star from the Lavey club, following in the footsteps of

Anthony McGurk Anthony 'Tony' McGurk is a former Gaelic footballer who played for the Derry county team in the 1970s and 1980s. He won three Ulster Championships with the side (1970, 1975 and 1976). McGurk played club football with Erin's Own GAC Lavey, wh ...

(twice),

Johnny McGurk John McGurk (born 3 November 1965) is a former dual player of Gaelic games who played Gaelic football at senior level for the Derry county team in the 1980s and 1990s. He was part of Derry's 1993 All-Ireland Championship winning side and also ...

and

Henry Downey Henry Downey (born 27 December 1966) is a former dual player of Gaelic games, who played as a Gaelic footballer at senior level for the Derry county team in the late 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, where he usually played in at centre half back ...

. McCloy was named new Derry captain for the 2008 season. During the match against Dublin the previous year, he hit

Mark Vaughan Mark Vaughan (born 17 May 1985 in Dublin) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for the Kilmacud Crokes club and, formerly, for the Dublin county team. He made his break into the senior Dublin squad in 2005 making his first senior champions ...

with a great shoulder tackle, however the tackle left McCloy with

whiplash Whiplash may refer to: * The long flexible part of a whip * Whiplash (medicine), a neck injury ** Whiplash Injury Protection System (WHIPS), in automobiles Film and television * ''Whiplash'' (1948 film), a US film noir about a boxer * ''Whiplas ...

, hurting his other shoulder and also giving him groin problems which limited his appearances in the 2008 National League. The start of McCloy's 2008 season was an injury hit one - making just two substitute appearance in the Dr. McKenna Cup. He played seven games in the 2008 National League, three coming as a substitute. One of these substitute appearances came in the final, where he broke down injured in the warm-up, but came on later in the game. Derry defeated

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...

in the final. The league success saw Derry become favourites to win the Ulster Championship and one of the top few for the All-Ireland. However, despite a good opening victory against Donegal, Derry exited the Ulster Championship against Fermanagh at the semi-final stage and were defeated by

in the first round of the Qualifiers.

Province

McCloy was part of

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

's 2007

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

winning team.

International Rules

McCloy was asked to attend trials for the

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

team for the 2008 International Rules Series. He impressed initially and survived the initial cull of players from the squad, but did not make the final 27-man squad for the trip to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and was instead named as one of six standby players.

Hurling career

Inter-county

McCloy's first taste of inter-county action was with the Derry hurling team. McCloy won the 2000

with Derry, the county's first Ulster hurling title in 92 years. He left the hurling team when the footballers called him up the next season.

Club

With Lavey McCloy has won the

Derry Senior Hurling Championship The Derry Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Derry GAA clubs. The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1887. Slaughtneil are the title holders (2022) de ...

on 96 occasions.

Honours

Inter-county

: **Winner (1):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

: **Winner (1): 2000 *

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 ...

: **Runner up: 2005, 2008, 2011

Club

: **Winner (?): Years? * Ulster Minor Club Hurling Championship: **Winner (1): 199x * Derry Minor Hurling Championship: **Winner (?): Years?

Province

: **Winner (1): 2007

References

External links

Meet the players - Laid-back interview with BBC OnlinePlayer profiles on Official Derry GAA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCloy, Kevin 1978 births Living people Derry inter-county Gaelic footballers Derry inter-county hurlers Dual players Irish international rules football players Lavey Gaelic footballers Lavey hurlers Sportspeople from County Londonderry Ulster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers