Three Meath nominees on Allstar list

For the first time since 2013 Meath will have players in the running for an Allstar with the news that Donal Keogan, Bryan Menton and Conor McGill have been nominated for an award which will be presented on Friday 1st November.
Mickey Newman was the last Meath player to receive a nomination following a hugely impressive 2013 campaign and it is 12 years since a Meath player was last honoured at the awards when Stephen Bray picked up a gong in 2007.
Keogan is considered to be a leading contender for a position in defence on the Allstar team while Menton faces stiff opposition from Dublin's Brian Fenton and Michael Darragh Macauley, Kerry's David Moran, Mayo's Aidan O’Shea and Armagh's Jarlath Óg Burns also in the running for one of the two midfield berths.
Fenton and Moran are expected to fill those two roles, but for Keogan and McGill they will fancy their chances of being honoured with Keogan in a strong position after an outstanding year in the green and gold.
Five-in-a-row history makers Dublin have been rewarded with a baker’s dozen in this year’s list of nominees and to top it off the All-Ireland champions have made it a clean sweep of nominees for the GAA GPA footballer-of-the-year award for the second season in a row, with Stephen Cluxton, Jack McCaffrey and Con O’Callaghan in contention.
Dublin are the dominant presence with 13 players in the 45 strong list of nominees who come from across 11 different counties and represent the cream of the crop from the inter-county football season of 2019.
Munster champions and beaten All-Ireland finalists Kerry have nine players down for the final consideration, with Ulster champions Donegal the next highest representation with six.
The number of exciting games and impressive performances in the 2019 football season is reflected in the breadth of the counties represented, with the full breakdown being Dublin 13, Kerry 9, Donegal 6, Mayo 4, Tyrone 3, Meath 3, Armagh 2, Roscommon 2, Cavan, Clare, and Cork 1 each.
As well as voting on the overall Player of the Year accolade, intercounty players will also be asked to vote on who they believe is the Young Footballer-of-the-Year. The 2019 shortlist for this prize sees Armagh’s Rían Ó Neill alongside Kerry’s David Clifford and Seán Ó Shea.
The PwC Allstars are chosen by a committee made up of members of the national broadcast, print and digital media. The final selection of 15 players will be made late next month and all players will be honoured at a gala black tie banquet at Dublin’s Convention Centre on Friday 1st November – an event which will be shown live on RTÉ TV.

The Allstar nominees are 

Goalkeepers - Stephen Cluxton (Dublin), Shaun Patton (Donegal), Shane Ryan (Kerry)

Defenders - David Byrne (Dublin), Jack McCaffrey (Dublin), James McCarthy (Dublin), Mick Fitzsimons (Dublin), John Small (Dublin), Paul Murphy (Kerry), Tadhg Morley (Kerry), Tom O’Sullivan (Kerry), Colm Boyle (Mayo), Paddy Durcan (Mayo), Chris Barrett (Mayo), Stephen McMenamin (Donegal),  Ryan McHugh (Donegal),  Donal Keogan (Meath), Conor McGill (Meath), Conor Moynagh (Cavan), Ronan McNamee (Tyrone), Niall Daly (Roscommon).

Midfielders - Brian Fenton (Dublin), Michael Darragh Macauley (Dublin), David Moran (Kerry), Aidan O’Shea (Mayo), Jarlath Óg Burns (Armagh), Bryan Menton (Meath).

Forwards - Ciarán Kilkenny (Dublin), Brian Howard (Dublin), Paul Mannion (Dublin), Dean Rock (Dublin),  Con O’Callaghan (Dublin), David Clifford (Kerry), Paul Geaney (Kerry), Seán O’Shea (Kerry), Stephen O’Brien (Kerry), Jamie Brennan (Donegal), Michael Murphy (Donegal), Paddy McBrearty (Donegal), Cathal McShane (Tyrone), Mattie Donnelly (Tyrone), Conor Cox (Roscommon), Rían O’Neill (Armagh), Brian Hurley (Cork), Jamie Malone (Clare).