Joe Cooney

Joseph Cooney (born 17 March 1965) is an Irish former hurler who played as a centre-forward at senior level for the Galway county team.

Born in Bullaun, County Galway, Cooney first played competitive hurling during his schooling at St Raphael's College. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen when he first linked up with the Galway minor team, before later joining the under-21 side. He made his senior debut during the 1983 championship. Cooney immediately became a regular member of the starting fifteen and won two All-Ireland medals, three Connacht medals and three National Hurling League medals. He was an All-Ireland runner-up on four occasions.

As a member of the Connacht inter-provincial team on a number of occasions, Cooney won four Railway Cup medal. At club level he is a two-time All-Ireland medallist with Sarsfields. In addition to this he has also won three Connacht medals and five championship medals.

Cooney's brother, Jimmy, was also an All-Ireland medallist with Galway while his son, Joseph, also lined out with Galway.

His career tally of 10 goals and 102 points ranks him as Galway's fifth highest championship scorer of all time.

Throughout his career Cooney made 35 championship appearances. He announced his retirement from inter-county hurling on 24 January 2001.

During his playing days, Cooney won five All-Star awards in six seasons as well as being named Texaco Hurler of the Year in 1987. He has been repeatedly voted onto teams made up of the sport's greats, including at midfield on the Club Hurling Silver Jubilee Team and at centre-forward on the Galway Hurling Team of the Millennium and the Supreme All-Stars team. Cooney was also chosen as one of the 125 greatest hurlers of all time in a 2009 poll.

In May 2020, the ''Irish Independent'' named Cooney at number eleven in its "Top 20 hurlers in Ireland over the past 50 years". Provided by Wikipedia