Feature: Forward thinkers

Niall Gartland takes a look back at the top-scoring Ulster players in the history of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

1 Conor McManus (9-288)
NO Ulster footballer has scored as much in championship football as Monaghan icon Conor McManus, a three-time All-Star widely regarded as the county’s best ever footballer. Even if he carries on into 2025, it’s a safe bet he’ll never catch up with all-time leading scorer Cillian O’Connor (who has accrued 469 points) but from open play he’s been a more lethal operator over a considerable period of time than the Mayo man. He’s one of the greatest and he’s stepped up to the plate on some of Monaghan’s biggest days including the Ulster final wins of 2013 and 2015.

2 Paddy Bradley (17-202)
SECOND in line is former Derry marksman Paddy Bradley, who averaged nearly six points a game in championship football during a county career that spanned almost 15 years. He never got his hands on an Ulster Championship or better with Derry, but he still had a productive career, winning two National League titles and an All-Star in 2007 as well a couple of Railway Cups and an International Rules in 2008. He didn’t quite plough a lone furrow for Derry, but he was perhaps unfortunate to having his playing career sandwiched between their great team of the nineties and their current crop.

3 Steven McDonnell (18-197)
‘STEVIE from Killeavy’ was a lethal operator up front for the Orchard County right from the start. He kicked what turned out to be the winning point in the All-Ireland final of 2002 (their only All-Ireland SFC title – at least for a few days) and he had his best ever season in county colours the following year, deservedly bagging the Footballer of the Year award even though Armagh came out second best in the an all-Ulster All-Ireland final against Tyrone. He also played a massive role for Ireland in their International Rules matches of that era and in 2011 became the first ever player in the history of the hybrid game to score over 100 points.

4 Michael Murphy (4-223)
THE talismanic Michael Murphy is Donegal’s all-time record scorer and is also the county’s top goalscorer, with a points-per-game average even higher than Martin McHugh even though Murphy operated around the middle for much of his playing career. We could be here all day talking about his achievements, and he scored one of the great All-Ireland final goals in 2012 before lifting Sam Maguire as captain of the team that downed Mayo. Skippered his side to five Ulster titles before taking the decision to bow out at the end of 2023 and didn’t budge on that the decision despite the best efforts of returning manager Jim McGuinness.

5 Oisín McConville (11-197)
ARMAGH great Oisín McConville lined out for 15 years, winning one All-Ireland, seven Ulster Championships and a National League title in 2005. He was deadly accurate in front of the posts from frees and open play and holds the record holds the record for the highest individual score in an Ulster final, when he notched 2-7 against Down in the 1999 Ulster final. Three years later he set aside a missed penalty late in the first half of the All-Ireland final against Kerry to smash home a memorable second-half goal. Won a massive amount with his club Crossmaglen as well, it goes without saying.

6 Peter Canavan (9-192)
THERE were many years when it was one and done for Tyrone during Canavan’s playing career, and only for that he’d be higher up this list no doubt. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all-time, Canavan carried the can up front for Tyrone during the nineties, scoring 11 of the team’s overall tally of 12 points in the All-Ireland final against Dublin in 1995. The Errigal Ciaran man captained the team to the Promised Land in 2003, scoring 1-48 across their All-Ireland winning campaign. His swansong came two years later when he scored a famous goal in his final ever intercounty match, Tyrone’s All-Ireland final victory over Kerry in 2005.

7 Seán Cavanagh (9-181)
AT 2.3 points a game, Cavanagh’s scoring average is lower than everyone else’s on this list, but it has to be borne in mind that he regularly wore the number nine jersey for Tyrone. The rampaging midfielder had a long and illustrious playing career, but it was at full-forward that he won the Footballer of the Year award for a string of top class performances in the 2008 season. He scored five points from play in that year’s final against Kerry and continued to star for Tyrone for another decade, finally hanging up the boots in the wake of their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Dublin in 2017.

8 Darren McCurry (5-190)
THE ‘Dazzler’ made his intercounty debut in 2012 and while he’s always had talent to burn, it’s in more recent years that he’s firmly established himself as one of the best forwards in the country. At times under Mickey Harte he had to content himself with a place on the bench, but he’s been a nailed-on starter during the Logan-Dooher years and he won the man of the match award for his performance in the All-Ireland final against Mayo in 2021, scoring 1-2 from play.