Ray "Cossy" Cosgrove is an Irish

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, born in

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 ...

. He attended St. Benildus College in Kilmacud. He plays his club football for

Kilmacud Crokes Kilmacud Crokes ( ir, Cill Mochuda Na Crócaigh) is a large Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Stillorgan, Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Background Kilmacud GAA club was formed in 1959 following a historic public meeting in Saint ...

and played for the Dublin senior football team between 1996 and 2008. He will be most remembered for his incredible performances in the 2002 scoring an amazing 6–23 in a season which saw Dublin lift their first Leinster title since 1995.

Playing career

Kilmacud Crokes

At club level, Cosgrove's performance were at a high level. In 2002 when he won the 2002 Adult FL Division 1 title with Kilmacud Crokes, although he received a red card 12 minutes into the second half. This incident did not affect the score, and

turned out winners against a resilient

Ballyboden St. Enda's Ballyboden St Enda's (''CLG Baile Buadáin Naomh Éanna'' in Irish) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Knocklyon, South Dublin, Ireland. The Club serves the Rathfarnham, Knocklyon, Ballycullen, Ballyboden, Ballyroan, Firhouse a ...

side. Cosgrove was also part of Kilmacuds team in 2004 when they won the

Dublin Senior Club Football Championship The Dublin Senior Football Championship (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the '' Go-Ahead'' Dublin Senior Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the top Dublin GAA clubs. The winners of the ...

and 2005 when they also won the

Leinster Senior Club Football Championship The Leinster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played on a knockout basis between the senior club championship winners of the competing counties in Leinster. The current holders of the Leinster title are Ba ...

. He was man of the match in the 2005 county final scoring 0–5 from play and scored 1–10 in the first round of the Leinster Club Championship against St. Peters Dunboyne in Navan. He received the 2005 award for AIB Leinster player of the year. Cosgrove won his first Dublin Senior Championship in 1998 and also won championships in 2008 Oliver Plunketts. He was a member of the team that won the All Ireland Club Championship in March 2009 when they beat Crossmaglen Ranger. He won his 5th Dublin Snior Club championship in 2010.

Dublin

Cosgrove got his first chance for

in the 1999 Leinster final. Unfortunately, having been brought on as a sub, he was substituted himself soon after. He did not get another game until 2002, when fellow clubman

Tommy Lyons Tommy Lyons is an Irish former Gaelic football manager and player from County Mayo who managed two inter-county teams. He was also a regular panellist/analyst on RTÉ's ''The Sunday Game''. Although born in County Mayo, Lyons considers himself ...

took over as manager. Cosgrove started at full forward in the

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

quarter-final of 2002 against

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

. In the semi-final against Meath, he scored 2–3 while being marked by

Darren Fay Darren Fay (born 11 April 1976 in Meath) is a former Gaelic footballer who played for the Meath county team. He is regarded as the latest in a long line of accomplished Meath full-backs, following the likes of Mick Lyons, Jack Quinn, Pa ...

. Dublin recorded their first victory over Meath in 7 years and reached the Leinster final where they beat

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

to win their first Leinster championship since 1995. Cosgrove also scored 3 goals against Donegal in the All-Ireland quarter final that went to a replay. Dublin got knocked out in the semi-final to eventual All-Ireland final winners,

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 ...

. In that game, Dublin were one point down when they won a free kick deep in injury time. Cosgrove elected to kick the ball from his hands, rather than off the ground, and hit the post. He scored 0–6 in that match and won his second RTÉ Man of the Match award of 2002 following on from the one against Meath. His performances won him the Vodafone Footballer of the Month for August, awarded for his individual performances that month. Cosgrove was rewarded with his performances with a place on the 2002 All Star team at full forward. The total of 6–23 meriting him Top Scorer in the Championship having played 6 games. He was awarded The Daily Star newspaper GAA Sports Personality of the Year for 2002. He also played in the

International rules football International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was develope ...

tour of Autumn 2002. He was Dublin's top scorer gain in 2003, when he won his second Leinster medal. Cosgrove made his first Championship start with Dublin for three years on 25 June 2006 against

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 medie ...

in the Leinster Senior Football Championship Semi-final. He scored a total of 1–03 and received the

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

Man of the Match Award for his performance. His form in the final against

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

did not reach expectations and although he started brightly against

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

, scoring a point, he tired in the second half and he was eventually replaced. Cosgrove made a similarly bright start against Mayo, this time scoring two points. When he was replaced Dublin led by 7 points. In May 2008 Cosgrove retired from inter-county football.

National League appearances

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosgrove, Ray Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Dublin inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic footballers who switched code Gaelic football forwards Irish international rules football players Kilmacud Crokes Gaelic footballers Leicester Celtic A.F.C. players Republic of Ireland association footballers Association footballers not categorized by position