Kevin McManamon

Kevin McManamon (born 9 December 1986) is a Gaelic footballer from Dublin who plays for the St Jude's club and has been a senior member of the Dublin county team since 2010.

McManamon made his senior debut in O'Byrne Cup against Wexford.[2] In 2010 during the league he was selected as one of the top young players as well being part of the Under 21 Dublin team that won the All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship.[3]

In the 2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, McManamon played a significant role in the semi final and final. In the semi final against Donegal, he came as a substitute with 20 minutes left in the match and scored a vital point.[4]

In the final, he also came on with 20 minutes to go and scored a goal to reduce the margin between the teams at the time from 4 points to a single point. Dublin went on to win the match by a single point and the Irish Independent named him as their man of the match.[5][6]

As is career begins to wind down, Kevin has developed a strong interest in Sports Psychology and has worked with such organisations as the winning Templeogue Basketball team and the Irish Amateur Boxing Team. This move has surprised many as previously he was quoted saying that 'all psychologists are bloody mad themselves'.

As a youngster, Kevin was a big fan of the TV show Kenan and Kel which led him developing a liking for Fanta Orange, he also particularly liked popcorn and could be seen in his youth in Cypress Downs on a regular basis singing 'Oh, yeah yeah, a Corn'

Another one of his favourites were Moro bars but it is thought that he fell out of love with them after they moved to the Boost brand.

Kevin is also a keen darts player but his love affair with the sport has had its ups and downs particularly the time a dart thrown by Kevin got lodged in his childhood friend Ronan 'Nugget' McLoughlin's foot.

Kevin is also a keen traditional Irish musician, growing up he idolised Shane MacGowan and loved nothing more than a glass of apple beer.

Growing up in Cypress Downs, sport was always a feature of Kevin's childhood as was a particularly fierce rivalry with neighbour Ed 'Edmundo McInerno' McInerney. The two represented two very different subcultures in the Templeogue estate with Edmundo representing Manortown United soccer and Templeogue College whereas Kevin was St Judes GAA & Mac Daras. This rivalry came to a head on St Patricks Day circa 2003 in an infamous game of 3 and in which Kevin prevailed. Kevin credits his performance here with arming him with the required tools to deliver for Dublin in Croke Park on the biggest stage.