Peter Canavan facts for kids
Canavan lifting the Sam Maguire Cup in 2003
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Gaelic football | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Born | 9 April 1971 Ballygawley, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland |
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| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Nickname | Peter 'The Great', 'Petrol Pete' God |
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| Occupation | Teacher | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
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1990–2007
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Errigal Ciarán | ||
| Club titles | |||
| Tyrone titles | 6 | ||
| Ulster titles | 2 | ||
| Inter-county(ies)** | |||
| Years | County | Apps (scores) | |
|
1989–2005
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Tyrone | 49 (9–191 {218}) | |
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Ulster titles | 5 | ||
| All-Irelands | 2 | ||
| NFL | 2 | ||
| All Stars | 6 | ||
| **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of (22:03, 21 December 2006 (UTC)). | |||
Peter Canavan (born 9 April 1971) is a famous former Gaelic football player from Ireland. He also worked as a manager and a sports commentator.
Peter played for the Tyrone county team. He is known as one of the most successful players in Gaelic football history. He won many awards, including two All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medals. He also earned six All Star Awards, which is more than any other player from Ulster. Peter also helped Tyrone win four Ulster titles and two National Leagues.
From 1998 to 2000, Peter played for Ireland in the International Rules Series. Many experts, like John Haughey from the BBC, consider him one of the best players of the last twenty years. In 2009, he was even named one of the "125 Most Influential People in GAA History."
Peter scored 218 points in the Ulster Senior Football Championship, which is the fourth highest ever. Early in his career, he scored so many points that people thought Tyrone depended too much on him. For example, in the 1995 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, he scored 11 of Tyrone's 12 points.
After he stopped playing, Peter became a manager. He managed the Fermanagh county team from 2011 to 2013.
Contents
- Peter Canavan's Early Life and Family
- Peter Canavan's Youth Career in Gaelic Football
- Peter Canavan's Early Senior Career (1993–1998)
- Peter Canavan on the International Stage (1998–2000)
- Peter Canavan's Later Senior Career
- Other County Successes
- Peter Canavan's Club Career
- Peter Canavan's Managerial Career
- Peter Canavan's Media Career
- Peter Canavan's Administrative Role
- Peter Canavan's Individual Awards
Peter Canavan grew up in Glencull, near Ballygawley, in County Tyrone. He was the tenth of eleven children in his family. His older brother, Pascal, also played Gaelic football with him for Tyrone in the 1990s.
Peter is married to Finola, who is the sister of his former teammate Ronan McGarrity. They have four children: Aine, Claire, Darragh, and Ruairí. For most of his career, Peter worked as a physical education teacher at Holy Trinity College in Cookstown. Gaelic games are amateur sports, so players often have other jobs. While teaching, he helped Owen Mulligan improve his scoring skills. They were often called 'master and student' by commentators.
In 2003, just before Tyrone's Ulster final against Down, Peter's father, Seán, passed away. Peter was very surprised because he thought his father was getting better. He decided to play in the match, feeling that his father would have wanted him to.
Peter has had asthma since he was a child. He worked hard to manage it throughout his playing career. He once said, "I thought to myself, this is something that I am just going to have to put up with." Later, better medicine helped him have a "better quality of life."
To play for a county team, Peter had to deal with a rule from the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). There was a disagreement in his local area, Errigal Ciarán, where two clubs claimed to represent the parish. One club, Errigal Ciaran Naomh Malachai, was new and had not registered correctly. This meant their players were not recognized as GAA members.
To be able to play for the Tyrone minors (under-18 team), Peter registered with a hurling club called Killyclogher, even though he didn't play hurling. Before this, he had only played football at school. Two years later, the two clubs in his parish joined together as Errigal Ciaran.
In 1988, Peter won the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship (MFC) with Tyrone. This is a tournament for players under 18. The team then lost in the All-Ireland MFC semi-final to Kerry. Many players from this minor team, like Adrian Cush and Ciaran Corr, later played together on the senior team in the 1990s.
Peter was the captain when Tyrone won two All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship titles in 1991 and 1992. He had also been on the team that lost the 1990 final, again to Kerry. During his four years as an Under-21 player, Peter scored 13 goals and 53 points for Tyrone. (In Gaelic football, a goal is worth 3 points, so 13 goals and 53 points equals 92 points in total.) By the time he was 20, he was already a regular player for the senior team.
Peter Canavan was already well-known in Tyrone because of his success with the Under-21 team. He started to make a big impact in the Ulster Senior Football Championship in 1994. Tyrone lost to Down, who went on to win the All-Ireland SFC that year. Peter was the top scorer in Ulster and earned his first All Star award at age 23.
1995 All-Ireland Final Performance
In the 1995 championship, Peter Canavan was a key player for Tyrone. He scored many points in each game. For example, he scored 8 points against Derry in the Ulster SFC semi-final. He also scored 1 goal and 7 points against Galway in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final.
Tyrone reached their second All-Ireland SFC final in 1995, playing against Dublin. Dublin had not won a championship title since the 1980s. In a tough match, Peter scored 11 of Tyrone's 12 points. However, Tyrone still lost the game. Many Tyrone fans remember this game because a point that would have tied the match was not allowed. The referee, Paddy Russell, thought Peter had touched the ball on the ground. Peter, however, said he managed to hit the ball in the air.
Peter was the top scorer in Ireland that year, with a total of 1 goal and 38 points. He also won the first-ever GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year award. Because Peter scored so much more than his teammates, some people thought Tyrone relied too much on him.
1996: Dealing with Injury
For the 1996 championship, Peter Canavan became the captain of the Tyrone team. He was the top scorer in Ulster for the third year in a row and received his third All Star award. Tyrone reached the All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Meath. Peter was one of six Tyrone players who got injured in that game. Some Tyrone fans believed Meath played too roughly. Peter's injury was so bad that he felt its effects for over a year. There was even talk that he might have been playing with a broken foot.
During a time when the Tyrone senior team was not as strong, Peter Canavan played for Ireland in the first International Rules Series in 1998. They played against Australia. In 1999, he was made vice-captain for the tour to Australia. Ireland won convincingly, with Peter scoring 11 points in the first game in Adelaide, South Australia.
In 2000, during the first game, Australia's Jason Akermanis gave Peter a bloody nose just 20 seconds into the match. Peter was sent off in the second game after a fight with Akermanis. He was banned for one match, which would have been played the next year. Because of this, he decided not to play in the next series.
In five games, Peter scored 37 points. He was one of the few Irish players who made a strong impression on the Australian fans.
Tyrone was a favorite to win the 2002 All-Ireland SFC. They had won their first National Football League title that spring. However, they lost a qualifying match to Sligo, even though Peter scored six points. This defeat shocked him so much that he thought about retiring from county football.
Despite the loss, he won his fourth All Star award that year. He was the only Tyrone player to do so, making him Tyrone's most awarded player on the All Star list. He passed Eugene McKenna, who was his manager at the time.
2003: All-Ireland Championship Victory
In 2003, Peter Canavan finally won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as captain of Tyrone. This removed his old nickname, 'the greatest player never to win an All-Ireland'. When he went to lift the trophy at Croke Park, he was visibly nervous. After getting the trophy, he gave an emotional speech. He talked about how he used to watch other Ulster teams win the Sam Maguire Cup with envy. He said, "to eventually win it is something else."
His performance in the final was amazing because he was the top scorer with five points. This was despite having an ankle injury from the previous match. He was not expected to play, and doctors advised him not to. He started the final but was taken off before half-time. During the break and even into the second half, he received treatment for his ankle, including pain-killing injections.
With ten minutes left in the game, manager Mickey Harte brought him back onto the field. This was likely because Peter was the only player on the team who had played in an All-Ireland SFC final before. This moment, where he returned to the game, is seen as one of the greatest moments in the GAA in the last forty years.
In the drawn Ulster SFC final against Down, Peter played just a week after his father's death. In his autobiography, he said he feared Tyrone would lose by a huge amount if they didn't stop Down's attacks. When Tyrone was given a penalty, Peter took the kick because Stephen O'Neill, the usual penalty-taker, was on the bench. He scored the goal, later calling it "the most important [kick] of my career." He felt that if Tyrone had lost badly, they might not have recovered to play in the 'back door' qualifier series.
During the 2003 Championship, Peter scored a total of 1 goal and 48 points (51 points in total). He had also won the National League that spring. All of these achievements earned him his fifth All Star award. Some of his best performances that year included scoring eight points in the replayed first-round match against Derry. In the replayed Ulster SFC final, Peter scored 11 points.
Peter became the first GAA star to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster. He was also voted BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year. This is a regional award related to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. People across Ireland sent emails to support him for the national award, even though Gaelic games are not widely known in Great Britain.
After the 2003 final, Peter gave the captaincy to Cormac McAnallen. However, Cormac, who was 24, sadly passed away shortly after becoming captain. This tragedy deeply affected the team, and they were unable to defend their All-Ireland SFC title.
2005: Final Championship Success
Peter Canavan was often used as an 'impact substitute' during the 2005 Championship. This meant he was brought on to either surprise the other team or encourage his own teammates. However, this plan did not work in the Ulster SFC final replay. He was controversially sent off within a minute of coming on as a substitute.
In the All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Armagh, Peter scored with the very last kick of the game. This won the match for Tyrone. Kevin McStay, a former Mayo player, called it the point of the season, even though the free kick was from a fairly easy position.
Manager Mickey Harte chose Peter to start the All-Ireland SFC final. Peter scored Tyrone's only goal, and Tyrone won the game with a score of 1–16 to 2–10.
After this amazing performance, Peter retired from county football. He ended his 16-year career in Senior championship football with his sixth All Star award. He explained his decision by saying, "I have spent enough time on the treatment table." He was referring to times when he played even with injuries that could have ended his career, like in 1996 and 2003. Peter's appearance in the 2005 final, his last game for Tyrone, was his 49th Championship match.
Other County Successes
Peter Canavan was part of the Tyrone teams that won the National Football League title in 2002 and 2003. He also played in the 1994 final against Derry. He won other competitions too, including five Railway Cups, two Vocational Schools titles, and one Dr McKenna Cup.
After retiring from county football, Peter continued to play for his club, Errigal Ciarán, until 2007. During his 17 years playing for the club, he won six Tyrone Senior Club titles and two Ulster Club Championships. In 2006, he won his first Tyrone All Star award for his great performances in the club championship.
In December 2008, he became a manager for the first time, taking charge of Errigal Ciaran. He led them to win the Tyrone All County League final in 2009.
Peter Canavan was named manager of Fermanagh in November 2011. His first game against Antrim saw Fermanagh win by 2 goals and 11 points to 1 goal and 6 points.
He stepped down as Fermanagh manager in September 2013.
However, Peter did not stay out of management for long. He was appointed manager of Cavan Gaels in December 2013. He led them to win their first Senior Championship in three years in October 2014. They defeated Kingscourt Stars in the final by just one point. This was seen as a huge success for Peter and the Cavan Gaels Club.
After helping Cavan Gaels win the Oliver Plunkett trophy, he became a selector for the Tyrone under-21 team in 2015. He was part of the management team with Feargal Logan (manager) and Brian Dooher. They guided the under-21s to win the Ulster U21FC final against Donegal. They then went on to win the All-Ireland U21FC title, defeating Tipperary in the final.
When Mickey Harte left as Tyrone senior manager in 2020, Peter decided not to take the job because of family commitments. He did not join Logan and Dooher, who later became Harte's replacements.
Peter Canavan has written articles for the Gaelic games magazine, Hogan Stand, and the Northern Ireland edition of The Daily Mirror. In 2008, he started working for TV3 as a football expert for their live GAA match broadcasts.
He is now a Gaelic football analyst for the BBC and RTÉ. He also used to work for Sky Sports.
In January 2025, Peter Canavan joined the Football Review Committee. This committee includes former inter-county referee Maurice Deegan. Peter took over from previous members Michael Murphy and Malachy O'Rourke when they were no longer available.
- In May 2020, a public poll by RTÉ.ie named Peter Canavan in the half-forward line of a special team. This team featured footballers who had won All Stars during the time of The Sunday Game TV show. He was listed alongside Pat Spillane and Diarmuid Connolly.
- Also in May 2020, the Irish Independent newspaper ranked Peter Canavan at number three on its list of the "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years."
