Tony "The Tiger" Scullion (born 6 February 1962) is a former

dual player Dual player or dual star is a term used in Hiberno-English to describe someone who competes in multiple sports — for example, in Victorian Ireland, cricket and hurling. The term today in Gaelic games typically describes a male player who plays ...

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, th ...

who played

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

and

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of pla ...

with

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. Th ...

in the 1980s and 1990s. He is chiefly known as a footballer and was part of Derry's 1993 All-Ireland Championship winning side, also winning

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in early May. The final is us ...

s in 1987 and 1993. With Derry footballers he usually played in the full-back line and is regarded as one of the best full-backs of his generation. Scullion played club football and hurling with St Colm's GAC Ballinascreen. Scullion is among the few players who won four All Stars over the course of their career and was named full back on the Irish News Team of the Decade in 2004. The public voted him onto the All-Time Derry Football Team via an online poll in 2007. He has recently applied for the vacant Derry Senior football manager's job. Previous clubs he has managed include Ballinascreen, Kildress and Eglish. He was

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

assistant manager to Joe Kernan for the 2008

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

Personal life

Born in Moneyneany,

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulste ...

, Northern Ireland, Scullion attended the local St Eoghan's Primary School, before going to secondary school at St Colm's,

Draperstown Draperstown ()Toner, Gregory. ''Place-Names of Northern Ireland'', p. 85. Queen's University of Belfast, 1996; is a village in the Sperrin Mountains in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the civil parish of Ballinascreen and ...

. After a further year at Magherafelt Technical College, he went on to work as a labourer for 13 years. Tony's son Anton Scullion, 20 years old, is studying Accountancy in the University of Ulster Jordanstown and achieved top in his course in the academic year 2017–18. He is looking to follow in his father's footsteps, saying in the ''Derry Post'': "I hope to achieve a championship medal with my County like Da and go one step further by winning a John McGlaughlin with my club." Anton is currently a key figure in the Ballinascreen Senior squad; however, he also believes his true calling is in NBA and professional gaming. He now works as Football Development Officer for the Ulster Council.

Football career

Scullion was a late developer and never played minor football for Derry. He was asked into the U-21 team in his last year. The side went on to win the U-21 1983 Ulster Championship and went on to be runners up to Mayo in the

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 ...

after a replay. Playing at full-back, Scullion was man of the match in both the 1987 and 1993

finals. Derry defeated Donegal in the 1993 decider in torrential rain at Clones and he is famed for his diving block in the match. Derry went on to win the 1993 All-Ireland Championship after a semi-final victory over

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and final defeat of Cork. With Derry, Scullion also collected three

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 ma ...

medals in 1992, 1995 and 1996. Scullion (like Derry Team-mate

Anthony Tohill Anthony Tohill (born 2 August 1971) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for the Derry county team in the 1990s and early 2000s. He is a former chief executive of the Mid Ulster District Council. Early life and family Tohill was b ...

) won four

GAA 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 playe ...

(a record for an Ulster defender, in 1987, 1992, 1993 and 1995 (despite Derry only playing two games that year). Along with Armagh's Martin McQuillan, Scullion won an incredible six consecutive Interprovincial Championship/Railway Cup medals with

between 1989 and 1995. Only one other player ever won six Railway Cups in a row - Cork's

Christy Ring Nicholas Christopher Michael Ring (30 October 1920 – 2 March 1979) was an Irish hurler whose league and championship career at senior level with the Cork county team spanned twenty-four years from 1939 to 1963. He established many champions ...

. He was runner up on three occasions for Ballinascreen in the

Derry Senior Football Championship The Derry Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top sixteen Derry GAA clubs. The winners receive the John McLaughlin Cup and qualify to represent Derry in the Ulster Senior Club Football Champio ...

Hurling career

Scullion was also a keen

for both Ballinascreen and Derry. He played in five

Derry Senior Hurling Championship The Derry Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Derry GAA clubs. The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1887. Slaughtneil are the title holders (2022) def ...

finals and was man of the match in the 1989 final, despite never winning a final. He played for the Derry hurling team between 1983 and 1991. He was part of the Derry side which were runners up to

Down Down most often refers to: * Down, the relative direction opposed to up * Down (gridiron football), in American/Canadian football, a period when one play takes place * Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing * Downland, a ty ...

in the 1988 All-Ireland B final.

Honours

Football

County

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 ...

- Winner (1): 1993 *

- Winner (3): 1992, 1995, 1996 *

- Winner (2): 1987, 1993 *

- Runner up: 1985, 1992 *

Dr McKenna Cup The Dr McKenna Cup is an annual Gaelic football competition played between counties and universities in the province of Ulster. It is the secondary Gaelic football competition based in Ulster behind the Ulster Senior Football Championship, an ...

- Winner (1): 1993 *

- Runner up: 1983 *

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

- Winner (1): 1983

Club

- Runner up: 1990, 1992, 1994 *Derry Reserve Football Championship - Winner 2001 *Derry Senior Football League Title - Winner 1994

Province

- Winner (6): 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995

Individual

* All Star - Winner (4): 1987, 1992, 1993, 1995 * All Star - Nominated (runner up): 1996, more? * Irish News Ulster All Stars Team of the Decade (1995-2004) - Winner * Irish News Ulster GAA All-Star - Winner 1995 *Derry Senior football captain:1989,1995 *Captain Derry National League winning side:1995 *Captain Ulster Railway Cup winning side: 1991 *Represented Ireland in two International Rules series: 1987, 1990 *Father of Anton Scullion. *Godfather of Catherine Louise McGlade *Brother of John 'Pele' Scullion (the better footballer) and Danny 'The Great' Scullion *Father of the Occupational Therapist Ciara Scullion.

Hurling

County

*All-Ireland Senior 'B' Hurling Championship - Runner up: 1988

Club

- Runner up: Five times 1989, 1997, Year?, Year?, Year? *Underage awards Note: The above lists may be incomplete. Please add any other honours you know of.

References

External links

''Hogan Stand'' article on Tony ScullionUlster GAA profile (as Football Development Officer)Interview with Irish Abroad's Séamas Mac Giolla Fhinnéin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scullion, Tony 1962 births Living people Ballinascreen Gaelic footballers Ballinascreen hurlers Derry inter-county Gaelic footballers Derry inter-county hurlers Dual players Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football)