Kevin Nolan (Gaelic footballer)

Kevin Nolan (born 19 September 1988)^[1] is a Gaelic footballer who formerly played for Kilmacud Crokes and the Dublin county team.

On the field of play, Nolan won a Sigerson Cup with DCU; an All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship with Kilmacud Crokes; a National Football League and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship with Dublin, winning the man of the match award for his performance in the final of the latter.^[2]

Early life

Nolan was raised in the Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown suburb of Monkstown.^[2] He attended Holly Park for his education.^[2] He played association football with St Joseph's Boys in Sallynoggin.^[2] English association football clubs Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers expressed an interest and invited him to go to England for trials.^[2] He left that sport due to making progress with the Dublin minor football team.^[2]

He played his last game with Crokes in 2018, when he moved to County Monaghan and began playing for Cremartin.^[2]

Nolan won a Sigerson Cup with DCU.^[2]

He made his championship debut for Dublin against Wexford in the final of the 2008 Leinster Senior Football Championship.^[4]

He won five further Leinster Senior Football Championships with Dublin: in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Nolan was named the man of the match in the 2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, as Dublin won their first title in sixteen years.^[5] He was part of the half-back line with James McCarthy and Ger Brennan, and also scored during the final.^[2]

However, injury and a medical condition limited his further development as a player.^[1]

Jim Gavin called time on Nolan's inter-county career by omitting him from the Dublin panel before the start of the 2015 Championship.^[1]

Nolan later moved from his base in Lucan^[1] to County Monaghan (close to Castleblayney)^[2] and married Lorna^[2] (to whom he became engaged in 2017)^[1] in April 2019.^[2] He previously suggested an openness to playing for the Monaghan county football team.^[1] This never came to be.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Boyle, Donnchadh (6 September 2017). "Dublin's 2011 All Ireland winning man-of-the-match open to playing for Monaghan". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Scully, Niall. "It was such a special time in my life". Decades of the Dubs: 2010–2014. The Herald. pp. 14–15. Kevin Nolan grew up in Monkstown. He went to school at Holly Park... He was a fine soccer player with St Joseph's Boys, Sallynoggin. He had trials with Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers... He was playing for the Dublin minor footballers... It was becoming more difficult to juggle both sports... These days, Kevin is living in Monaghan, just outside Castleblayney. He go marred[sic] to Lorna last April. He played his last game with his beloved Crokes last year. He's now playing with Cremartin. "Just across the road from the house. Lorna's (Kevin's wife) brothers play for the club... He works as a PE teacher.
^ "10880". Word on the Hill.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "10014". Word on the Hill.
^ "Cluxton the hero as Dublin win All-Ireland". RTÉ Sport. 18 September 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2011.