Meath's 1988 All-Ireland team being honoured at GPA luncheon

John Donohoe

Published: Sat 1 Sep 2018, 1:55 PM

Last updated: Sat 1 Sep 2018, 3:01 PM

The Meath team that retained the All Ireland title in 1988 is being honoured by at the Gaelic Players Association Former Players Reunion Lunch today, held in Croke Park on the eve of the All-Ireland football final. Proceeds from this event go towards the GPA Former Players Benevolent Fund.
In 1988, for the second year in a row, Meath faced Cork in an All-Ireland final, and the outcome was the same, with Meath retaining the Sam Maguire.
Under the guidance of Sean Boylan, on their journey to the final, Meath beat Louth, Offaly, Dublin and Mayo, but had to play Cork twice to reclaim the title after a replay. The drawn game finished with Brian Stafford dramatically scoring an equalising point from a free awarded to David Beggy in the final minute. This was the first time since 1972 that another game was needed to decide the championship, and Meath prevailed with a scoreline of 0-13 to 0-12, in a tough game for Meath as they played most of it with only 14 men due to the early sending off of Gerry McEntee.

The GPA Former Players Reunion lunch takes place on the eve of the All Ireland Football Final. Each year at the event, one former hurler and one former footballer are recognised. Both will be presented with Lifetime Achievement awards for their outstanding contribution to both codes. This year’s hurling award recipient is Galway’s Joe Connolly and the football award recipient is Down’s Paddy Doherty.
The 2018 event will also recognise the achievements of 10 teams- hurling and football All Ireland winners through the decades from 1968-2008.
There will be approximately 500 former players with some special guests in attendance at the event. As well as honouring some of the greats of the games on their past achievements, the GPA ambition is to grow this event, expand our Alumni of former players and enhance the level of support we can provide to former players if and when needed. All profits from this event will go directly to the GPA Former Players Benevolent Fund.