Davy Fitzgerald Gaelic games player
David "Davy" Fitzgerald (born 2 August 1971) is an Irish former hurler who played as a goalkeeper for the Clare senior team. He is now a hurling manager, currently in charge of Clare.Born in Sixmilebridge, County Clare, Fitzgerald first excelled at hurling whilst at school at St. Flannan's College. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen when he first linked up with the Clare minor team, before later lining out with the under-21 side. He made his senior debut in the 1989-90 National Hurling League. Fitzgerald went on to play a key part for Clare during the team's most successful era, winning two All-Ireland medals and three Munster medals. He was an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion.Fitzgerald represented the Munster inter-provincial team on a number of occasions throughout his career, winning three Railway Cup medals in 1996, 1997 and 2005. At club level he is an All-Ireland medallist with Sixmilebridge. He also won two Munster medals and six championship medals.Cited by many of his hurling peers as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all-time, Fitzgerald won three All-Star awards.Fitzgerald made 60 championship appearances for Clare, more than any other player in the county's history. After an eighteen month absence from the game, he announced his retirement from inter-county hurling on 31 March 2008.Even as a player, Fitzgerald became involved in team management and coaching at club level. After coaching every grade of Sixmilebridge team from juvenile to senior, he later had an unsuccessful tenure in charge of Nenagh Éire Óg. Fitzgerald subsequently became director of hurling at the Limerick Institute of Technology, and guided the team to two Fitzgibbon Cup titles.Fitzgerald's first managerial role at inter-county level was with Waterford in 2008. His appointment was somewhat controversial, in that he came in midway through the season after a number of players had called for the resignation of previous incumbent Justin McCarthy. He led Waterford to the All-Ireland final that season, however, the team faced a 23-point defeat by three-in-a-row champions Kilkenny. Fitzgerald stepped down as manager in 2011, having secured the Munster crown the previous year.Just one month later Fitzgerald was appointed Clare manager. In the 2012 season, his first full season in charge, Fitzgerald guided the team to promotion to the top flight of the National Hurling League. The following year, Clare survived a league relegation battle with Cork, before later claiming their first All-Ireland title in seventeen years following a thrilling draw and a replay victory over Cork.