Andy McCallin

Andy McCallin was a Belfast, Northern Ireland born dual county player for Antrim and Limerick in both hurling and Gaelic football.

Early career

McCallin is the only Antrim footballer that has received an All Star Award for his county which he received in the inaugural year, 1971. Despite this accolade, he was also well known as an excellent hurler for Antrim. His fame began in 1969 when he played a pivotal role in collapsing Roscommon in the All-Ireland Under 21 Football final. Antrim won with a scoreline of 1-8 to 0-10 with the victory over Roscommon, bringing Antrim its first national football title. Playing at corner-forward, McCallin finished the game with a magnificent scoring tally of 1-5.

1971 proved to be his most successful year at senior level. He became the first Antrim player since Kevin Armstrong in 1946 to represent Ulster in both football and hurling. Also in 1971, Andy was on the Ulster side that defeated Connacht in the Railway Cup football final. This proved to be his only inter-provincial title.

Club career

At club level he won eight senior football championship medals for St. John’s as well as two senior hurling championship medals. He also won an Ulster club hurling championship medal with St John's. While McCallin was still in his twenties he took up his first management role. As a manager, he won three consecutive titles with county minors with St John's in 1972, 1973 and 1974. With this experience behind him, he became the manager of the Antrim minor team between 1977 and 1980 until he left his native county to settle in Limerick where he played with Mungret. McCallin became a regular on the Limerick football team and amazingly played one game for Limerick in the Oireachtas Cup against Kilkenny. In 1984, he became the manager of the Limerick senior football team, this proved to be an unsuccessful period in his career.

In 1987 Andy returned to his native Antrim, choosing to live in Cushendall in the Glens of Antrim. He played hurling with Cushendall and football with Glenravel and went on to represent Antrim masters in 1999. He is now retired from both football and hurling but is managing the senior football team in his beloved St John's for the 2008 season.

He is also plays golf of a handicap of 6.

External links

* [http://www.hoganstand.com/Antrim/ Antrim on Hoganstand.com]
* [http://www.hoganstand.com/Antrim/Profile.aspx National and provincial titles won by Antrim teams]
* [http://www.hoganstand.com/Antrim/Titles.aspx Club championship winners]
* [http://antrim.gaa.ie/ Official Antrim GAA site]
* [http://www.hoganstand.com/Antrim/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=306 Article dedicated to McCallins achievements]