GALWAY FOOTBALLERS HAVE suffered a massive blow with injury forcing Michael Meehan to quit inter-county football.
The 29-year old, who burst on the scene when captaining St Jarlath’s College to All-Ireland colleges glory in 2002 and made his senior championship debut a year later, has been plagued by injuries.
The star attacker underwent an operation in November to sort out a problem to his ankle which has dogged Meehan for the past few seasons.
Galway managed Alan Mulholland said that recovery took longer than expected but there were hopes at the start of the league that Meehan would make it back for the concluding stages of the competition.
However, that has not materialised and Meehan has now decided to opt out and while Meehan has not ruled out a return after a lengthy period of rest, it is deemed extremely unlikely he will return for this year’s championship.
Meehan, who was joined on the Galway team by brothers Declan, Tomas and Noel and who inspired Caltra to win the All-Ireland club title the only year they won the Galway championship, won three Connacht senior titles.
He also won two All-Ireland U-21 titles and probably produced his most stunning display when he kicked 0-10 in an All-Ireland quarter-final when they were pipped by Kerry at Croke Park in 2008.
Galway manager Alan Mulholland said that Meehan had been a star player for Galway for over a decade.
“But we can understand his frustration and fully support his decision to give his injury a complete rest. Hopefully, he will make a full recovery,” said Mulholland.
