Brian Fenton (born 2 March 1994) is a Gaelic footballer who plays for the

Raheny Raheny () is a northern suburb of Dublin, Ireland, halfway from the city centre to Howth. It is centred on a historic settlement, first documented in 570 CE ( Mervyn Archdall). The district shares Dublin's two largest municipal parks, Saint An ...

club and for the Dublin county team. He was the 2018 and 2020

All Stars Footballer of the Year The Gaelic Athletic Association & Gaelic Player's Association All Stars Footballer of the Year — known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodafone Footballer of the Year — is a Gaelic football award. It is presented annually to the footballer wh ...

Education and family

His father (Brian senior), is from Spa, outside Killarney. The family home is in Raheny. Initially training as a

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patien ...

, Fenton studied for a Masters in Business Management so that he could embark on a new career selling hospital and clinic equipment as a medical sales representative with Tekno Surgical. He bought his own house in

Killester Killester () is a small residential largely affluent suburb of Dublin, Ireland on the Northside of the city in the Dublin 3 and Dublin 5 postal districts. It was the site of a church and convent or monastery centuries ago, and later a small vill ...

. After the five-in-row, Fenton went on holiday to

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the reg ...

with his girlfriend for a few days.

Playing career

Inter-county

Fenton was a member of the Dublin team that won an

All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship The GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the EirGrid GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association ( ...

in 2014. In 2015 Fenton made his senior debut, starting a national league game against Monaghan where he quickly scored a goal in a strong win. He won the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

and the

Leinster Senior Football Championship The Leinster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship and shortened to Leinster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GA ...

with Dublin, starting both games in midfield. Fenton was named as the ''Man of the Match'' in the 2015 All-Ireland Final, as Dublin defeated

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...

on a 0-12 to 0-9 scoreline. Fenton won the League title with Dublin in 2016 against Kerry in the final, scoring a point in the game. He was a key performer in Dublin retaining the Sam Maguire cup in 2016 which Dublin won after defeating Mayo by a single point after a replay. He won his second All Star award in as many seasons and named on the shortlist for Footballer of the Year, which was ultimately won by Mayo's

Lee Keegan Lee Keegan (born 25 October 1989) is a Gaelic footballer who plays as a defender for Westport and, formerly, for the Mayo county team. Many regard Keegan as his county's greatest ever footballer. He is also the highest scoring defender of all ...

. In 2017 Fenton was part of the Dublin team defeated in the National League final by Kerry, losing on a scoreline of 0-20 to 1-16. Despite this, he was crucial in Dublin retaining their Leinster title while beating a record held since the 70's by winning 7 championships in a row. Dublin retained their All Ireland title defeating Mayo in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

again by a single point after

Dean Rock Dean Rock (born 26 February 1990) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who has been a senior member of the Dublin county team since 2013. He has represented Dublin at all grades, Minor, Junior, U21 and Senior. He is a noted free taker and scored the ...

kicked a match winning free kick late in injury time. Fenton also scored a point to help Dublin over the line on a scoreline of 1-17 to 1-16. Fenton continued his success with Dublin in 2018, winning the National Football League, the Leinster and All-Ireland Championships. He was awarded an All Star and named the Footballer of the Year for his performances. On 14 September 2019, Fenton was a key player in Dublin's conquerage of Kerry to win the elusive five Sam Maguires in a row, which had never been done by any team before, though some teams came close with the four-in-a-row, including Kerry (twice). During Dublin's five-in-a-row, Fenton spent more time on the field of play than any other Dublin player, starting 35 of the 37 matches in the championship. Fenton played every minute of Dublin's historic six All Ireland's in a row campaign.

Reception

Colm O'Rourke Colm O'Rourke (born 31 August 1957) is a Gaelic football manager, former player, retired secondary school principal, sports broadcaster and columnist. He has been manager of the Meath county team since 2022. O'Rourke's league and championship ...

has described Fenton as "one of the best midfielders ever".

Career Statistics

: ''As of match played 10 July 2022''

Honours

; Dublin *

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

(6): 2015,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

(8): 2015,

, 2021, 2022 *

(4): 2015,

, 2021 (Shared) *

(1): 2014 *

Leinster Under-21 Football Championship The Leinster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Leinster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highe ...

(1): 2014 ;Individual * GAA-GPA All Stars Awards (5): 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 *

(2): 2018, 2020 * All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final Man of the Match (1): 2015 * In May 2020, a public poll conducted by

RTÉ.ie RTÉ.ie is the brand name and home of Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)'s online activities, located at the URL https://www.rte.ie/. The site began publishing on 26 May 1996. According to RTÉ, it operates on an entirely com ...

named Fenton at midfield alongside

Jack O'Shea Jack O'Shea (born 19 November 1957 in Cahersiveen, County Kerry) is an Irish former sportsperson. He played Gaelic football at various times with his local clubs St Mary's in Kerry and Leixlip in Kildare. He was a member of the Kerry senior fo ...

in a team of footballers who had won All Stars during the era of ''

The Sunday Game ''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 1 ...

''.

References

External links

'Brian Fenton the complete package': Peter Canavan analyses Dublin's midfielder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenton, Brian 1993 births Living people All Stars Footballers of the Year Dublin inter-county Gaelic footballers Irish physiotherapists Irish salespeople Raheny GAA footballers Sportspeople from Dublin (city) Winners of six All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football) People educated at St. Fintan's High School