Paul Earley (born 3 July 1964) is a former Irish sportsman who played Australian rules football for Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Gaelic football for the Roscommon county team.[1]

Paul Earley
Personal information
Irish name Pol Ó Mochóir
Sport Gaelic football
Position Forward
Born (1964-07-03) 3 July 1964 (age 60)
County Roscommon, Ireland
Club(s)
Years Club
1980s–2000s
Michael Glavey's
Club titles
Roscommon titles 0
Inter-county(ies)
Years County Apps (scores)
1982–1994
Roscommon 37 (2–31)
Inter-county titles
Connacht titles 2
All-Irelands 0
NFL 0
All Stars 1
Paul Earley
Personal information
Full name Paul Earley
Date of birth 3 July 1964
Original team(s) Roscommon
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 85 kg (187 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1984 Melbourne 1 (1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1984.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Earley was the first player recruited from Ireland to play a VFL match, beating Sean Wight who was also listed by Melbourne at the time.[1] He made his only appearance in Melbourne's last game of the 1984 VFL season, when they lost to Richmond by 28 points at the MCG.[1]

Due to family reasons, Earley returned to Ireland at the end of the year and rejoined Roscommon, with whom his elder brother, Dermot Earley Snr, played. He was named as a full-forward in the 1985 GAA All Stars team and represented Ireland in the 1987 International Rules series. The former VFL footballer then played in Roscommon's 1990 and 1991 Connacht Championship winning teams. Earley later managed both Allenwood and Celbridge.

Earley has worked as a commentator for Setanta Sports. Since 2014, he has worked as a commentator for Sky Sports.[2]

On 4 February 2013, Earley was announced as the new manager of Ireland.[3] His tenure with Ireland was reasonably successful - he is most noted for leading the country to record-breaking victories over Australia to win the 2013 International Rules Series title.[4][5][6] He returned to the coaching role for the 2014 test match, though oversaw an Irish squad which fell 10 points short of a star-studded Australian team.[7]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c Cowley, Michael (24 October 2009). "The Irishman who blazed a trail across world". The Age. Archived from the original on 30 November 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  2. ^ "Paul Earley vows to be ready for Sky Sports' GAA debut after cycling crash". 25 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Paul Earley named new Irish International Rules manager". RTÉ Sport. RTÉ. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Paul Earley hails Ireland's ruthless streak against Australia". RTÉ Sport. RTÉ. 27 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Ireland 57–35 Australia". RTÉ Sport. RTÉ. 19 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  6. ^ "Ireland 116–37 Australia". RTÉ Sport. RTÉ. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  7. ^ "Australia defeat Ireland to win International rules test". AFL.com.au. Australian Football League. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  • Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
edit