Austin Gleeson (born 27 June 1995) is an Irish hurler who plays for Waterford Senior Championship club Mount Sion and at inter-county level with the

Waterford senior hurling team The Waterford county hurling team represents Waterford in hurling and is governed by Waterford GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Seni ...

. He usually lines out as a centre-forward but can also be deployed as a centre-back. He is one of two hurlers to ever win young hurler of the year and hurler of the year in the same year, with him winning the honours at the age of 21 in 2016. He is the younger brother of

Jessica Gleeson Jessica Gleeson (born 23 October 1993) is an Irish footballer who plays as a defender for Women's National League club DLR Waves. She previously played for Wexford Youths and Shelbourne. Since making her debut in 2015 she has been a member o ...

, the Republic of Ireland women's national team

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player.

Playing career

De La Salle College

Gleeson first came to prominence as a hurler with De La Salle College. He played in every grade of hurling before eventually joining the college's senior hurling team and lined out in several

Harty Cup Harty may refer to: * Harty (surname), a list of people * Harty baronets, an extinct title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom * Harty, Swale, Kent, England, a village * Harty, a community in the township of Val Rita-Harty, Ontario, Canada * Dr ...

campaigns.

Waterford Institute of Technology

As a student at the

Waterford Institute of Technology The Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT; ) was an Institutes of technology in the Republic of Ireland, institute of technology, located in Waterford, Ireland. The institute had six constituent schools and offered programmes in business, engi ...

, Gleeson joined the senior hurling team during his second year. On 1 March 2015, he was selected at left wing-forward when WIT faced the

University of Limerick University of Limerick (UL) () is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972, as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in Septemb ...

in the Fitzgibbon Cup final. Gleeson spent much of the game at full-forward and score a point from a sideline cut in the 0-21 to 3-12 draw. He retained his position for the replay on 11 March but was forced off with a hamstring injury after just four minutes in the 2-18 to 1-14 defeat.

Mount Sion

Gleeson joined the Mount Sion club when he was 8-year-old and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels, winning championship medals in the under-14 and under-16 grades. He made his first appearance for the club's senior team during the 2012 Waterford Championship On 5 October 2014, Gleeson lined out at centre-back when Mount Sion faced

Ballygunner Ballygunner (), is a civil parish in County Waterford, Ireland. It lies on the southern outskirts of Waterford city. The placename is derived, in part, from the Old Norse masculine personal name ''Gunnarr''. Ballygunner contains several townl ...

in the Waterford Senior Championship final. He ended the game on the sideline after receiving two yellow cards in the 2-16 to 0-09 defeat.

Waterford

Minor and under-21

Gleeson first lined out for

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

as a member of the minor team during the 2012 Munster Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 2 May when he was introduced as a 45th-minute substitute in a 1-20 to 3-13 defeat of

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

. Gleeson was again eligible for the minor grade in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and joined the starting fifteen as a centre-back. On 14 July, he scored 0-03, including two frees, in a 2-19 apiece draw with

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

in the

Munster final Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

. Gleeson retained his position at centre-back for the replay on 23 July, however, he ended on the losing side following a 1-20 to 4-08 defeat. On 8 September, he scored a point from a free when Waterford defeated

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

by 1-21 to 0-16 in the All-Ireland final. Gleeson joined the Waterford under-21 team in advance of the 2014 Munster Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 16 July 2014 and top scored for Waterford with 0-07 in a 3-18 to 0-16 defeat by

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

. After a disappointing 2015 Munster Championship, Gleeson was selected for the under-21 team for a third successive season in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. On 27 July, he scored 0-05 from centre-back and claimed the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

award after a 2-19 to 0-15 defeat of Tipperary in the

. On 10 September, Gleeson won an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

medal after scoring 0-02 from centre-back in a 5-15 to 0-14 defeat of Galway in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. He ended the season by being named in the centre-back position on the Team of the Year.

Senior

Gleeson was added to the Waterford senior panel prior to the start of the 2014 National League. He made his first appearance for the team on 23 March 2014 when he lined out at left corner-forward in a 4-22 to 0-14 defeat by

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

. Gleeson made his Munster Championship debut on 25 May 2014 when he scored 1-02 from left wing-forward in a 1-21 apiece draw with Cork. On 3 May 2015, Gleeson was named at centre-back but played much of the game at right wing-back when Waterford faced Cork in the National League final. He scored 0-02 and collected a winners' medal following the 1-24 to 0-17 victory. On 12 July 2015, Gleeson scored 0-02 from right wing-back when Waterford were beaten for the fourth time in six seasons by Tipperary in the

. He ended the season by being nominated for an

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

. On 1 May 2016, Gleeson was at centre-back when Waterford lined out in the National League final. He scored 0-02 before being substituted in the 63rd minute as Waterford drew 0-22 apiece with Clare. Gleeson switched to centre-forward and scored 0-03 in the replay, which Waterford lost by 1-23 to 2-19. On 10 July, he scored 0-02 from left corner-forward when Waterford suffered a 5-19 to 0-13 defeat by Tipperary in the

. Gleeson ended the season by becoming only the second player ever to win the Hurler of the Year and Young Hurler of the Year awards in the same year. He also claimed the centre-forward berth on the All-Star team. On 3 September 2017, Gleeson was named at centre-forward when Waterford faced

in the All-Ireland final. He ended the game as a runner-up following Galway's 0-26 to 2-17 victory. Gleeson ended the season by securing a third successive All-Star nomination. Gleeson's 2018 season was blighted by a series of injuries. A pulled quad hampered him during the early rounds of the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

while he also suffered an infected cut on his ankle. Just before the start of the Munster Championship he sustained a hamstring injury after playing just 14 minutes of a club game with Mount Sion. On 31 March 2019, Gleeson was named at midfield but lined out at centre-forward when Waterford faced Limerick in the National League final. He scored 0-02, including a point from a sideline, in the 1-24 to 0-19 defeat.

Career statistics

Honours

;Mount Sion *Waterford Junior Football Championship (2): 2018, 2021 ;Waterford *

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

(1):

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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

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Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Munster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-c ...

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All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship) is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Associ ...

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;Awards *

All Stars Hurler of the Year The GAA–GPA All-Star Hurler of the Year is a hurling award presented to the player voted as best in the country by all the players from around Ireland. It began in 1995 and honours the achievements of a hurler of outstanding excellence. K ...

(1): 2016 *

All Stars Young Hurler of the Year The Gaelic Athletic Association/Gaelic Players Association Young Hurler of the Year (known for sponsorship reasons as the PwC GAA/GPA Young Hurler of the Year, or simply the Young Hurler of the Year) is an annual award given to the player aged 21 ...

(1): 2016 *

GAA GPA All Stars Awards The Gaelic Athletic Association-Gaelic Players' Association All Stars Awards (often known simply as the All Stars) are awarded annually to the best player in each of the 15 playing positions in Gaelic football and hurling. Additionally, one play ...

(1): 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gleeson, Austin 1995 births Living people Alumni of Waterford Institute of Technology Irish engineers Mount Sion hurlers Waterford inter-county hurlers Waterford IT hurlers 21st-century Irish sportsmen GAA/GPA Young Hurlers of the Year