Sligo county hurling team


The Sligo county hurling team represents Sligo in hurling and is governed by Sligo GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the Nicky Rackard Cup and the National Hurling League. It formerly competed in the abolished Connacht Senior Hurling Championship, finishing as runner-up in 1900 and 1906.
Sligo's home ground is Markievicz Park, Sligo. The team's manager is Stephen Sheil.
The team has never won the Connacht Senior Championship, the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League.

History

Sligo is traditionally a weak team at senior level. Despite this, the hurlers have attained noticeably more success than their football counterparts, with the county's most notable early achievement being
Sligo won the All-Ireland Minor 'C' Hurling Championship in August 1986, defeating Tyrone by four points at Croke Park.
Sligo won the 2005 National Hurling League Division 3 title.
Sligo, under the management of Mickey Galvin, won its first All-Ireland hurling title at senior level by defeating Louth in the 2008 Nicky Rackard Cup final. The team did not achieve promotion however, losing a play-off to Roscommon.
The under-16 team won the 2012 All-Ireland "C" hurling title by defeating Tyrone at the Monaghan Centre of Excellence.
2018 had both senior and minor teams bring national silverware back to the Land of the Shells. Sligo won a senior All-Ireland title for the first time since 2008. The men, jointly managed by Daithí Hand and Darragh Cox in their first senior hurling management role, defeated Lancashire in the 2018 Lory Meagher Cup final, with a last-minute Kevin Gilmartin goal sealing the victory. Benny Kenny's under-17 squad, a few weeks later, defeated Donegal to become All-Ireland Celtic Challenge Cup Champions in the Michael Feery Cup, also defeating Mayo, Roscommon and others along the way.
The county team won a second consecutive senior title in 2019 under Hand, Peter Galvin and coach Colum O'Meara. Having been promoted to the Nicky Rackard Cup, the team topped Group 2, eliminating favourite Mayo, in a drawn game after beating Tyrone and Louth in previous games.
Following on from a 2–21 to 2–17 victory over Warwickshire at Celtic Park, Sligo advanced to the 2019 Nicky Rackard Cup final at Croke Park.
Facing a heavily tipped Armagh side, Sligo became champions with a Conor Griffin point, a Gerard O'Kelly-Lynch goal and a 73rd-minute point by young substitute Kieran Prior. The scoreline at the game's conclusion was 2–14 to 2–13; though the team was four points behind Armagh as the game entered injury-time, the two lates points and the goal meant Sligo secured a one-point victory. James Weir, at 19 years of age and the youngest ever All-Ireland winning captain, lifted aloft the Nicky Rackard Cup
Hand and fellow management team member Peter Galvin tendered their resignations on the evening of 14 September 2020, less than one month before the team was scheduled to contest a National League final and make its debut in the Christy Ring Cup. Confusion over efforts to register two players from Galway with Sligo heritage and the involvement of one of their coaches with a club, unbeknownst to Hand and Galvin, were cited as partly contributing to this unexpected decision. The county board did not report their departures until 20 September. The coach, later named as Colum O'Meara, then applied to become Hand's successor; O'Meara, a native of Killimor, County Galway, had joined the Sligo set-up as coach ahead of the 2019 season after parting ways with Longford.
Padraig Mannion ultimately succeeded Hand as Sligo manager in late 2020.

Panel

INJ Player has had an injury which has affected recent involvement with the county team.

RET Player has since retired from the county team.

WD Player has since withdrawn from the county team due to a non-injury issue.

Management team

Managerial history

  • Mickey Galvin: 2008, e.g. Lory Meagher Cup
  • Daithí Hand and Darragh Small: 2018
  • Daithí Hand: 2019–20
  • Padraig Mannion: 2020–2023
  • Stephen Sheil: 2023–

Players

Records

Awards

Gary Cadden2nd

Competitive record

Head-to-head Championship record

Every championship result since the restructuring of the hurling championships in 2005.

As of 17 August 2022.
County teamFirst meetingLast meetingProvince
Armagh510420%20072019Ulster
Cavan320167%20082018Ulster
Derry30030%20202022Ulster
Donegal20110%20052006Ulster
Fermanagh650183%20052018Ulster
Fingal210150%20082011Leinster
Kildare10010%20222022Leinster
Lancashire5500100%20152018Britain
Leitrim320167%20152017Connacht
London20020%20102022Britain
Longford10010%20142014Leinster
Louth930633%20062019Leinster
Mayo20110%20192022Connacht
Meath10010%20092009Leinster
Monaghan420250%20092014Ulster
Offaly10010%20212021Leinster
Roscommon410325%20082021Connacht
Tyrone630350%20052019Ulster
Warwickshire530260%20082019Britain
Wicklow1100100%20222022Leinster

Sligo has not played the following teams in the championship since 2005:
ProvinceNo.Counties
Connacht1Galway
Leinster6Carlow, Dublin, Kilkenny, Laois, Westmeath, Wexford
Munster6Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford
Ulster2Antrim, Down

Honours

National

Provincial