Cooper and Sheehy pay tribute as Clifford chases records

David Clifford possesses a seemingly boundless list of achievements in football and he has the opportunity to add two more notable individual accomplishments in Sunday’s All-Ireland final against Mayo.

The first, and barring any late injury issue, is immensely obtainable for the Fossa genius. A tally of at least 0-03 will see him overtake Colm Cooper to become Kerry’s top championship scorer of all time.

The second, more difficult but still entirely possible, would need him to raise a green flag to draw level with Mikey Sheehy’s famous goalscoring record for the Kingdom.

Sheehy raced to 29 goals in an incredible 49 championship games. Clifford’s haul of 28 has come in 52 games. One more at Croke Park and they’ll be level at the top, grab two or more – as he has done on six previous occasions – and the Fossa man will be out on his own.

Clifford’s goalscoring prowess was long ear-marked to be a key component of his Kerry career.

In 2017, he delivered the greatest minor performance of all time as he finished with 4-04 from play in the All-Ireland final against Derry, the first goal coming after just 16 seconds.

His pass to set up Fiachra Clifford’s goal was perhaps the moment of the match while he put another on a plate for Jack Griffin, only for the Dr Croke’s man to screw wide.

In the previous year’s minor final against Galway, Clifford scored a spectacular clinching goal with eight minutes to go, although that match was nearly remembered for what would have been one of the weirdest All-Ireland final goals of all time as Kingdom goalkeeper Billy Courtney raced to get the ball at the back of his net to take a quick kick-out not realising that Johnny Maher had kept the ball in play and his fisted effort was trickling over the line. Courtney just managed to toe-poke it away at the final split-second.

Mayo have never had to deal with Clifford the minor, but he has found the net once against them at senior level. His seventh championship goal was a beautiful high finish past Rob Hennelly in the 2022 All-Ireland quarter-final.

This weekend’s opponents are one of 14 counties he has raised a green flag against with Clare (6) feeling the full force while Cork, Cavan and Kildare (all 3) and Louth, Tyrone and Meath (all 2) also conceding more than once against the Kingdom ace.

Of his previous 28, 13 have come in the first half of games and 15 in the second half. Three have come from the penalty spot, with his early goal against Dublin in this year’s semi-final counting as an effort from play following Evan Comerford’s initial save.

That was the goal that put him on the brink of matching Sheehy’s 39-year record.

The Tralee man’s final goal in 1987 was one of his most noted and came in his penultimate championship outing.

Just a matter of weeks after his leg was in a cast as he dealt with an Achilles’ issue, Sheehy jinked inside a wall of red bodies and somehow scrambled home from an impossible angle to put the Kingdom one up deep into additional time in the Munster final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, leading to Cork manager Billy Morgan, who’d come behind the goal for a look, to slump to the turf in his jeans and smart shirt.

When Brian Cody repeated the trick in the 2004 Leinster hurling semi-final when Michael Jacob slammed home a last-gasp winner for Wexford, the managerial attire had been downgraded from smart casual.

Cork still had time to earn a draw when Larry Tompkins landed a free on a day when the minor final between the great rivals – featuring a certain Maurice Fitzgerald – also ended level.

Unfortunately for Sheehy, and Fitzmaurice, the Rebels came to Killarney a week later and did the double as the first year of the 11-year Sam famine began in Kerry but when he exited the scene stage left in 1988 following an injury in a club game against Spa, his goalscoring record was one that felt impenetrable, and for nearly 40 years it has been – but Clifford’s ascension feels inevitable, even if it takes to 2027.

Back in '88 during his retirement interview with the late Michael Lyster on RTÉ’s Sports Stadium, Sheehy felt the need to bring up Fitzgerald’s name and deem him the "as good a prospect as I’ve ever seen".

Not a bad shout given the three-time All-Star's standing in the game, but another sign of Clifford’s remarkable talent is that he has 16 more championship goals than Fitzgerald in just seven more appearances.

"David is a once in a generation player, really," said Sheehy – scorer of football’s second most famous goal when he chipped Dublin goalkeeper Paddy Cullen in the 1978 All-Ireland final while he was on the field for the most memorable of all when Offaly’s Seamus Darby ended their five-in-a-row hopes in ‘82.

"I'm sure David doesn't even think about records. He just wants to think the good of the team and if he gets a chance, he'll nail it. If he sees somebody else in a better position, he'll give it to them.

"I’ve been watching him since he was a minor. He left his calling card that day (2017 minor final against Derry) against Conor McCluskey, a brilliant, brilliant defender.

"Since then, he's been marked by brilliant defenders and they haven't got the better of him. He’s a special player.

"He probably has the physique of a midfielder but his skill level is absolutely frightening. Off both legs - his left leg looks like his better leg, but sometimes his right leg looks every bit as good.

"His balance is good, he's very flexible. We saw with that famous photo, when his leg was way, way above his head when he's followed through. He's like a golfer."

It’s an incredible goal-scoring reel Clifford has put together, with one particular highlight for Sheehy.

"There was the one last year in the All-Ireland semi-final against Tyrone. I thought it was absolutely brilliant.

"He kind of made a dummy run out doubled back and Mike Breen gave him an absolutely lovely hand-pass.

"If you look at it, there were two defenders on him and Niall Morgan, who's one of the best keepers around, did absolutely everything that a keeper could do.

"But David, the composer, he hopped it, like ‘Gooch’ (Cooper) used to do, and finished it with his right leg.

"He’d probably say himself he's got better ones but, to me, that was the one.

"My god, the skill level was absolutely incredible. That’s my favourite one, at the moment anyway."

Like Sheehy, Colm Cooper has been watching Clifford for a decade now and has regularly been left shaking his head in disbelief.

Clare has been kind for Clifford and it has been kind for Cooper too.

It was back in August 2012, with his third point of the day, that he turned, swivelled and struck over against the Banner to take him to 18-239, and past Sheedy’s 29-205 in championship football.

When he retired from Kerry duty in April 2017, Cooper's total had increased to 23-283.

When chatting with RTÉ Sport, Cooper admits that he isn’t sure of the numbers involved, and wasn’t even aware that Clifford was so close to overtaking him - although it would be remiss not to mention that Clifford has raised 24 orange flags in championship football, and with that a bonus 24 points.

"I hope he has it done inside 15 minutes," said ‘Gooch’. "I would be over the moon if he does it.

"I'm not surprised he's going to do it. Does it mean a whole pile to him? I'm sure a medal on Sunday evening is the most important thing on his mind.

"I have no problem handing over the baton to him in terms of jumping me on a leaderboard and I'd be the first fellow to shake his hand on Sunday evening if he did it.

"From my own viewpoint it’s not something I think about a lot. The joy I get is even being spoken about in the same sentence as David Clifford and Mike Sheehy."

Clifford has long since been ear-marked for stardom. Cooper knew about his potential long before that minor final against Derry, but the eight-time All-Star said that Clifford’s class lies in the fact that he matched, and exceeded, expectations and while he is already in the conversation for best player of all time at the age of 27, he never believes he is the finished product.

"I saw him before the Kerry minors, when he was at St Brendan’s College in Killarney where I went to too," Cooper said.

"My brother Vince is involved as a game development officer and we’d chat regularly about guys coming through at schools level.

"I saw him play and said to Vince that he seems to be playing on a different planet to everyone else. Then I saw him again and he was even better. He was like an adult playing football with kids.

"His skillset speaks for itself, but I’ve always been very impressed with his temperament. He gets a lot of attention. That’s not surprising and that’s fine. I accept that and I’m sure he accepts that as well but even in tough days, he just responds so well.

"He's still learning. Just looking at him, while he has mastered it, he's still willing to learn, and he's open to things."

For all the records though, for the seventh All-Star guaranteed to come in a few months’ time, for all the player of the match silverware he has pocketed this season, only one will truly matter for Clifford – and that will be getting a third Celtic Cross.

Sheehy (8) and Cooper (5) played a round of golf together recently in Portugal with just the 13 All-Ireland titles between them. Clifford may be about to catch them up on the scoring stakes, but he’s a long way to go yet to join this three-ball when it comes to All-Ireland medals.

Today is a chance to lower the handicap at least.

David Clifford championship goals

6: Clare

3: Cork, Cavan, Kildare

2: Louth, Tyrone, Meath

1: Galway, Armagh, Monaghan Tipperary, Roscommon, Mayo, Dublin

David Clifford championship tallies

Cork: 3-47; Clare: 6-33; Tyrone: 2-35; Dublin: 1-21; Armagh: 1-21; Mayo: 1-18; Kildare: 3-10; Louth: 2-11; Donegal: 0-16; Galway: 1-13; Cavan: 3-07; Meath 2-07; Derry: 0-12; Monaghan: 1-08; Tipperary: 1-04; Roscommon: 1-03

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