Shane Curran (footballer)

Shane Curran (born 8 April 1971)[1] is an Irish sportsperson from Castlerea, County Roscommon. He is the former inter-county Gaelic football goalkeeper for Roscommon, and his club St Brigid's. He played association football as well with Athlone Town FC.

This article is about the Irish footballer and businessman. For the Irish entrepreneur and computer scientist, see Shane Curran (entrepreneur).

Shane Curran
Personal information
Sport Gaelic Football
Position Goalkeeper
Born (1971-04-08) 8 April 1971
Castlerea, County Roscommon, Ireland
Club(s)
Years Club
 Castlerea St Kevin's
St Brigid's
Club titles
Roscommon titles 3
Connacht titles 1
All-Ireland Titles 1
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
1991–2005
 Roscommon
Inter-county titles
Connacht titles 1

Curran's career spanned four decades, with performances at minor, senior and club levels in 1989, 1990, 2003, 2004 and 2013. He also captained the Roscommon Junior Team to All Ireland success in 2000. He won two Connacht club senior football medals, in 2011 and 2012.

Curran was featured in an episode of TG4's Laochra Gael documentary series in January 2021.[2]

Sports

Football

With Roscommon, he won a Connacht Minor Football Championship medal in 1989. He made his senior championship debut with Roscommon as a forward in 1991, however, he was injured early on in the game. He played in the 1992 Connacht Senior Football Championship but couldn't help his side from a heavy loss to Mayo. He drifted away from intercounty football for the next few seasons after the loss, but played in both the 1994 and 1997 championships.

He returned to the senior set-up in 2001 making his first championship appearance in four years in the Connacht Senior Football Championship opening round game against New York. He was sent off during the game and failed to regain the starting spot as Roscommon won a first Connacht title since 1991.

In 2003, he was made captain of the side by new manager Tommy Carr. While Roscommon lost out to Galway in Connacht, they beat Cork and Leitrim in the qualifiers. After two games needing extra time against Offaly and Kildare, Roscommon qualified for an All-Ireland quarter-final with Kerry. It was Roscommon's first game in Croke Park since 1991, and despite scoring three goals they came up short on a 1-21 to 3-10 scoreline.

Curran was also the goalkeeper with Athlone Town FC in the League of Ireland. He retired from association football in 1997 to devote his sporting time to Gaelic football.

Business

Since retiring from inter-county football, Curran has set up a number of businesses. He was commissioned by the GAA games department to contribute to the development of a kicking tee for use in Gaelic football. His design became the one most goalkeepers went on to use.[3] Curran was "involved in producing the Puntee", for use by goalkeepers in kick-outs, as a means of "reducing goalkeeping injuries".[4]

Curran also co-founded a flood defense company, Global Flood Solutions, in 2009.[5][6] This company has entered into several contracts internationally.[6]

Politics

Curran stood unsuccessfully in the 2016 general election as a Fianna Fáil candidate in the Roscommon–Galway constituency.[7][8] He received approximately two thousand first presence votes (4%), and was eliminated on the seventh count.[9]

Honors

Gaelic football
St Brigid's (club)
Roscommon (inter-county)
Individual
  • All Star nominee: 2003
  • GPA Player of the Month (1): May 2004
  • Roscommon Senior Player of the Year (1): 2003
  • Captained Roscommon: 2003–2004
  • Holds championship record for being the only goalkeeper in GAA history to score 1 goal and 1 point in a championship match and finish top scorer. He received the Irish Independent "May Player of the Month" for the same achievement.

Soccer
  • Athlone Town Player of the Year (1): 1995
  • Leinster Senior league Medal (1): 1995

References
  1. "Curran, Shane". Hoganstand.com. 5 March 1993. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  2. "Shane Curran set for 'Laochra Gael' spotlight on TG4 this week". westmeathindependent.ie. Westmeath Independent. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  3. Keys, Colm (24 September 2022). "Static nature of modern game can be sorted with a minor tweak". Irish Independent. It was the former St Brigid's and Roscommon goalkeeper who devised the template for the kicking tee that most custodians now use...
  4. "'Let goalkeepers tee it up'". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  5. "How I made it: Shane Curran". thetimes.co.uk. The Times. 22 May 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  6. "Man who saved for Roscommon wants to save Roscommon". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2021. In 2009, Curran co-founded Global Flood Solutions which has won international contracts to deal with flood relief
  7. "2016 General Election - Constituency: Roscommon-Galway". elections.independent.ie. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  8. "Former GAA star Curran to run for Fianna Fáil". rte.ie. 4 February 2016.
  9. "General Election: 26 February 2016 - Roscommon Galway". electionsireland.org. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
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