Davy FitzGerald

Infobox GAA player
code= Hurling
sport = Hurling


name = Davy FitzGerald
irish = Daithí Mac Gearailt
fullname = David FitzGerald
placeofbirth = Sixmilebridge
countryofbirth = County Clare
height =
nickname = Davy
bday=2
bmonth=8
byear= 1971
dyear=
dday=
dmonth=
county = Clare
province = Munster
club = Sixmilebridge
clposition = Goalkeeper
clubs =
clyears =
clapps(points) =
clcounty =
clprovince=
clallireland =
counties = Clare
icposition = Goalkeeper
icyears = 1990-2006
icapps(points) = 60 (2-0)
icprovince = 3
icallireland = 2
allstars = 3
clupdate =
icupdate =

David 'Davy' FitzGerald (born 2 August, 1971 in Sixmilebridge, County Clare) is an Irish hurling manager and player. He plays hurling with his local club Sixmilebridge and was the goalkeeper on the Clare senior inter-county team from 1990 until 2006. FitzGerald is widely regarded as one of the greatest hurling goalkeepers of all-time.cite web|url=http://www.hoganstand.com/Clare/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=92138|title=Fitzgerald hangs up his hurl|publisher=Hoganstand.com|date=2007-01-01|accessdate=2008-05-06] He is currently the manager of the Waterford senior inter-county team.

FitzGerald's status as one of Clare's all-time hurling greats is self-evident. In a senior inter-county career that lasted for seventeen years he won two All-Ireland titles, three Munster titles and four Railway Cup titles. He has also been the recipient of three All-Star awards from nine nominations.

FitzGerald is often regarded as one of the more controversial hurlers of his generation. He was renowned for his fiery and animated performances during games and has a lot to say in the course of a match. He does not discriminate between own defenders, opposing forwards and match umpires when savaging them with his comments. He is, however, considered one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, and in the Clare folk memory now rivals Tommy Daly of Tulla for the accolade of Clare's best ever custodian.

Playing career

Club

FitzGerald plays his club hurling with his local Sixmilebridge club in Clare. He has much success with the side, winning virtually every honour available at club level. In 1989 FitzGerald was just breaking onto the senior team when 'the Bridge' won the Clare SHC. Three years later in 1992 and 1993 he was a full member of the team when Sixmilebridge captured back-to-back county titles. Two years later in 1995 FitzGerald claimed another county title, before winning his first Munster club championship. On St. Patrick's Day, 1996 he captured his first, and to date his only, All-Ireland club medal. Another county title followed in 2000, which itself was converted into another Munster title. FitzGerald captured his last county medal in 2002.

Inter-county

FitzGerald made his senior debut for Clare in a National Hurling League game against Down in February 1989. He was 17 years-old at the time. The following year he became the number one choice for goalkeeper on the senior team, making his Munster Championship debut against Limerick in 1990. At the time Clare hurling was in the doldrums, however, within a few years FitzGerald's side would become one of the most feared teams in the championship. In 1993 and 1994 Clare suffered back-to-back Munster final defeats to Tipperary and Limerick respectively, however, in 1995 Clare came from nowhere to win their first Munster title since 1932. In the game against Limerick FitzGerald ran the length of the pitch to take a penalty. Following his conversion of the penalty FitzGerald ran the length of the pitch again to defend his goal-line. This goal was included in RTÉ's Top 20 GAA Moments television programme in 2005. In the subsequent All-Ireland final against Offaly FitzGerald, who was earning a reputation as one of the most reliable goalkeepers, fumbled a Michael Duignan goal into the back of his net shortly before half-time. In spite of that mistake Clare won the day and FitzGerald collected his first All-Ireland medal.

In 1996 Clare dramatically lost their Munster and All-Ireland titles in a first-round meeting with Limerick. Clare were back in 1997 with FitzGerald winning a second Munster title following a defeat of Tipperary. In the subsequent All-Ireland final Clare and Tipp met again, however, it was FitzGerald's side who collected the title following a one-point victory. In winning the 1997 All-Ireland final Clare beat Cork, Kilkenny and Tipperray - the big three of hurling. In doing so they became only the second team ever, along with Waterford in 1959, to achieve this. In 1998 FitzGerald claimed his third Munster medal, however, following a bizarre three-game battle with Offaly in the All-Ireland semi-final, Clare, the red-hot favourites to retain the title, were knocked out of the championship.

The following few seasons proved difficult for FitzGerald and Clare as Cork and Tipperary re-emerged as the kingpins of Munster. In 2002 Clare were defeated in the first-round of the provincial championship, however, by using the expanded qualifier system FitzGerald's team qualified for the All-Ireland final. Kilkenny provided the opposition on that occasion, however, 'the Cats' won the day. In 2005 Clare faced Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final. At half-time Clare were well on top, however, an enormous fight-back by 'the Rebels' resulted in a one-point defeat for FitzGerald's team. In 2006 Clare reached the All-Ireland semi-final once again, however, Kilkenny emerged victorious on that occasion.

In 2007 FitzGerald sensationally walked away from the Clare senior hurling team after disagreements with the new manager Tony Considine. [cite web|url=http://www.hoganstand.com/Clare/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=71930|title=Fitzgerald to quit?|publisher=Hoganstand.com|date=2007-28-01|accessdate=2008-05-06] There was speculation that he may return, however, FiztGerald announced on numerous occasions that he would not return. As a result of this he played no part in the 2007 championship and was replaced as goalkeeper by Philip Brennan. In March 2008 FitzGerald returned to the Clare senior hurling team under new manager Mike McNamara. He played a challenge match against Kilkenny, however, a serious finger injury hampered his style of play. After this unsuccessful return he eventually decided to retire from inter-county hurling on 1 April 2008.cite web |url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2008/0331/fitzgeraldd.html |title=Fitzgerald retires from Clare hurling |work=RTÉ website |accessdate=2008-04-01] Because of this he was denied the chance to equal and surpass Christy Ring's record of 64 appearances in championship games.

Throughout his career FitzGerald was nominated for nine All Stars and has received the award three times (1995, 2002 and 2005). [cite news |first=Kieran |last=Shannon |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Pride and passion of the keeper |url= |work=Sunday Tribune |publisher= |date=2008-04-06 |accessdate=2008-04-06 ] He claimed the top prize in the Poc Fada competition on two occasions. In 2005 FitzGerald published his autobiograpy, "Passion and Pride".

Provincial

FitzGerald has also lined out with Munster in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He made his debut in 1993 and went on to capture four Railway Cup medals in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2005.

Managerial career

Even during his playing days FitzGerald became heavily involved in coaching and managing teams. Since the early 1990s he has coached virtually every team from juvenile to senior with his own native Sixmilebridge club. He has also taken charge of the Limerick Institute of Technology hurling team, guiding them to two Fitzgibbon Cup titles in 2005 and 2007. In August 2007 FitzGerald emerged as a shock contender for the Tipperary hurling manager post following the departure of Michael 'Babs' Keating. While FitzGerald did express an interest the job eventually went to Liam Sheedy.

2008: Waterford manager

Following Justin McCarthy's resignation as manager of the Waterford senior hurling team following a defeat by Clare, FitzGerald's name was one of those mentioned as a possible successor. At the time he was the manager of the Nenagh Éire Óg club team in Tipperary, however, he was ratified as manager for the duration of the championship on June 9, 2008. His first game in charge ended in a 21 point victory over Antrim in the second round of the All-Ireland qualifiers. FitzGerald's side were less impressive in their next game. A 2-18 to 0-18 defeat of Offaly gave them a safe passage into the All-Ireland quarter-final, however, much work was needed. Wexford were next up and, while many commentators expected Waterford to win easily, the game was another close affair. At time it looked as if Wexford could pull away and win the game, however, Waterford fought back to secure a one-point win in a score line of 2-19 to 3-15. The subsequent All-Ireland semi-final saw Waterford take on Munster rivals Tipperary, It was Waterford's sixth All-Ireland semi-final appearance in a decade, however, they had lost the previous five encounters. Waterford got off to a great start scoring six points without reply. Tipp came back into the game and both sides exchanged tit-for-tat scores for much of the second half. In the end Waterford were able to break their semi-final hoodoo and qualify for a first All-Ireland final since 1963. The final however proved to be a huge let final as Waterford slumped to 3-30 to 1-13 defeat to the three-in-a-row Kilkenny team managed by Brian Cody making it the biggest losing margin in the history of the championship.

References

Fitzy is the best

Teams