James Nallen (born 1973 in

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th-century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. Wi ...

) is an Irish former

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er who played for the Mayo county team. He is the team's record appearance holder with 132. He has worked as Chief Technical Officer at

NUI Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

's School of Physics

. His brother

Tom Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tom'' (1973 film), or ''The Bad Bunch'', a blaxploitation film * ''Tom'' (2002 film) ...

and their uncle

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also played for Mayo and Crossmolina.

Playing career

Nallen played in five

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

(SFC) finals, including an All-Ireland SFC final replay against

Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

in 1996, and won two

All Stars An all-star is an individual with a high level of performance in their field. All-star or All Star may also refer to: Awards * GAA GPA All Stars Awards, annual awards given to practitioners of Gaelic games ** Camogie All Stars Awards ** Ladies' ...

, in 1996 and 2004. He won a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

medal in 2001. However, he never won an All-Ireland SFC medal. He retired from inter-county football in 2010. At club level Nallen won

Mayo Senior Football Championship The Mayo Senior Football Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Connacht Gold Mayo Senior Football Championship'', is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top Mayo GAA clubs. As of 2024, Ballina Stephenites GAA ...

titles in 1995, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2006, as well as

Connacht Senior Club Football Championship The Connacht Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played between senior clubs in Connacht, with one qualifying from each of the five individual county championships. The winners of the Connacht football champ ...

titles in 1999, 2000, 2002, and an

All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament which began in season 1970–71. It is the top-tier competition for the senior football clubs of Ireland and London. The current champions are Cuala of D ...

title in 2001. Nallen has been a selector for Mayo. He spent three seasons working as part of James Horan's management team. He served as "runner" during games.

References

1973 births Living people All Stars Awards winners (football) Claregalway Gaelic footballers Crossmolina Gaelic footballers Gaelic football backs Gaelic football selectors Mayo county football team non-playing personnel Mayo inter-county Gaelic footballers People associated with the University of Galway People from Castlebar {{Galway-Gaelic-football-bio-stub