Marc Ó Sé (born 25 April 1980) is an Irish sportsman. A teacher by profession, he works in the CBS in Tralee County Kerry, he played Gaelic football for the Kerry county team from 2002 until 2016 and played with his local club team An Ghaeltacht until 2018. He has played right across the back line for Kerry. His older brothers, Darragh and Tomás, also represented Kerry.

Marc Ó Sé
Personal information
Irish name Marc Ó Sé
Sport Gaelic football
Position Right corner-back
Born (1980-04-25) 25 April 1980 (age 44)
Tralee, Ireland
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Occupation Secondary school teacher
Club(s)
Years Club
1997–2018
An Ghaeltacht
Club titles
Kerry titles 2
Munster titles 1
Inter-county(ies)*
Years County Apps (scores)
2002–2016
Kerry 88 (1–18)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles 10
All-Irelands 5
NFL 3
All Stars 3
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 20:26, 13 October 2016.

Playing career

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Early years: 2002–2005

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In his rookie season of 2002, Ó Sé impressed throughout the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in a Kerry team under the management of his uncle Páidí. In the final of that year he marked Diarmuid Marsden of Armagh. Marc was given a torrid time as Kerry let what looked like a certain win with 25 mins to go slip and lost by a single point, 1-12 to 0-14.[citation needed]

In 2003, Kerry reached the All-Ireland semi-final, but again suffered disappointment. After a terribly below par performance against a Tyrone team who used what analyst Pat Spillane (himself of Kerry origin) called "puke football" to suffocate Kerry,[1]

2004 was a busy year for Ó Sé. First he lost the All Ireland Club Championship with his club. He then won the National League beating Galway in a cracking game by a single point. He starred in the 2004 campaign showing great defensive awareness and beautiful on the ball skill.[2] Kerry won the title, defeating Mayo 1-20 to 2-09 in what was described as a 'rout'.[3] Ó Sé's brother Tomás won the player of the year award, but despite his fine performances Ó Sé did not win an All-Star.[4]

In 2005, Ó Sé continued to perform for Kerry who this time were narrowly defeated by Tyrone. Many people from around the country felt the fact that Kerry had not been tested in the championship in almost a year and a half, and the fact that this was Tyrone's 10th game of a gruelling campaign as key factors in the final result. Again Ó Sé was overlooked in the All Star selection despite a sterling campaign.[citation needed]

Middle years: 2006–2009

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Kerry bounced back in 2006. The team defeated Galway in the final of the National League again in a far less impressive game as the corresponding fixture 2 years earlier. Kerry were shocking in the Munster Championship, in which they were nearly defeated by minnows Waterford and eventually defeated in a replay against Cork. However, this proved to be a false dawn for the rest of Ireland as Kerry regrouped. They beat Longford in the qualifier and were written off for their quarter final against Armagh. Armagh and Tyrone were perceived as Kerry's bogey teams in recent years and Armagh were expected to deal with Kerry in a similar fashion as Tyrone had done the previous year. As it happened, Kerry produced a masterful second half display achieved a 10-point turnaround. Marc was immense and scored 2 glorious points from the back, many experts said that there were few forwards in the game who could have taken their scores as well. Kerry gained revenge against Cork in the Semi-Final before handing Mayo and even more severe beating than they had two years earlier. Kerry had the game wrapped up after only 10 minutes with a score of 2-04 to 0-00 and despite a mini revival by Mayo, Kerry won comprehensively, 4-15 to 3-05. Marc won an All-Star award in 2006.[5]

In 2007, Ó Sé won the Munster championship with Kerry. The team advanced to the All-Ireland series, and reached the final, in which they beat Billy Morgan's Cork side 3-13 to 1-9.[6] It was Kerry's 35th all-Ireland. Marc's performances were recognised as he won an All-Star and was named Texaco Footballer of the Year.[7] His brothers Darragh and Tomás were also included, making it the first time three brothers had been selected for the All-Star team.[7]

In 2008, Ó Sé reached the National League and Munster finals with Kerry, but lost both. The team went on to reach their fifth consecutive All-Ireland final, but lost to Tyrone by four points.[8]

In 2009, Ó Sé won the All-Ireland again.

Later years: 2010–2014

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He won his fifth All Ireland medal in 2014 when Kerry defeated Donegal.

In October 2016, Ó Sé announced his retirement from Inter-county football.[9] In total Ó Sé won five-All-Ireland titles and 10 Munster titles and the Player of the Year in 2007 along with three All Star awards.[10]

Career statistics

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Team Season National League Munster All-Ireland Total
Division Apps Score Apps Score Apps Score Apps Score
Kerry 2002 Division 1A 7 0-02 3 0-00 6 0-00 16 0-02
2003 6 1-00 1 0-00 2 0-01 9 1-01
2004 4 0-01 4 0-00 3 0-01 11 0-02
2005 4 0-01 3 0-02 3 0-01 10 0-04
2006 9 0-00 4 0-00 4 0-02 17 0-02
2007 7 0-01 2 0-01 3 0-00 12 0-02
2008 Division 1 8 0-00 2 0-00 5 0-00 15 0-00
2009 4 0-01 2 0-00 6 0-00 12 0-01
2010 5 0-00 4 0-01 1 0-00 10 0-01
2011 5 0-00 3 0-00 3 0-00 11 0-00
2012 8 0-00 1 0-00 4 0-01 13 0-01
2013 7 0-00 3 0-02 2 0-00 12 0-02
2014 5 0-00 2 0-00 4 0-01 11 0-01
2015 0 0-00 3 0-00 2 0-00 5 0-00
2016 7 0-03 1 0-00 2 0-00 10 1-23
Total 86 1-09 38 0-06 50 0-07 174 1-22

Honours

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Team

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Kerry

Individual

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Awards

References

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  1. ^ Haughey, John (26 September 2003). "Ulster occupy All-Ireland stage". BBC News. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  2. ^ Western People - 2004/09/29: Final marks: rating the teams Archived 2011-06-22 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Kerry v Mayo Classics: 2004 SFC final". RTÉ News. 16 September 2006.
  4. ^ Football All Stars 2000's | Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Official Website - GAA.ie Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "O'Se dynasty grows ever stronger". The Irish Times.
  6. ^ "Kerry 3-13 Cork 1-09". RTÉ News. 16 September 2007. Archived from the original on 2 August 2009.
  7. ^ a b "Kerry dominate football All Stars". RTÉ News. 19 October 2007. Archived from the original on 29 March 2008.
  8. ^ "Tyrone 1-15 Kerry 0-14". RTÉ. 21 September 2008. Archived from the original on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  9. ^ "5-time All-Ireland winner Marc Ó Sé calls time on his inter-county career". The 42. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  10. ^ "5 All-Irelands, 10 Munsters and 3 All Stars: Kerry legend Marc Ó Sé announces retirement from inter-county football". Irish Independent. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  11. ^ "The final XV". RTÉ Sport. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.