View source for Ger Power

{{Short description|Irish hurler and Gaelic footballer}}
{{for|the Cork hurler|Ger Power (hurler)}}
{{BLP sources|date=March 2008}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox Gaelic games player
| code           = Football
| sport          = Gaelic football
| image          = 
| name           = Ger Power
| irish          = Gearóid de Paor
| fullname       = Gerard Power
| feet           = 5
| inches         = 8
| occupation     = Civil servant
| county         = Kerry
| province       = Munster
| club           = [[Austin Stacks]]
| clposition     = Midfield
| clubs          = [[Austin Stacks]]
| clyears        = 1970s – 1990s
| clapps(points) = 
| clcounty       = 5
| clprovince     = 1
| clallireland   = 1
| counties       = [[Kerry county football team|Kerry]]
| icposition     = Left wing-back\wing-forward
| icyears        = 1972–1988
| icapps(points) = 52 (14–34)
| icprovince     = 11
| icallireland   = 8
| nfl            = 5
| allstars       = 6
| clupdate       = 
| icupdate       =
| birth_date     = {{Birth date and age|1952|6|27|df=yes}}
| birth_place    = [[Annacotty]], [[County Limerick]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]
}}
'''Ger Power''' (born 27 June 1952) is an [[Irish people|Irish]] former [[Gaelic football]]er who played for the [[Austin Stacks]] club and at senior level for the [[Kerry county football team|Kerry county team]] between 1973 and 1988. Power [[Captain (Gaelic games)|captain]]ed Kerry to the [[All-Ireland Senior Football Championship|All-Ireland]] title in 1980.

==Early life==
Ger Power was born in [[Annacotty]], [[County Limerick]] in 1952. He was little over a week old when his father, [[Jackie Power]], who worked for [[CIÉ]], was transferred to [[Tralee]] in [[County Kerry]]. Jackie was a great hurler with [[Limerick GAA|Limerick]] in the 1930s and 1940s, winning three [[All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship|All-Ireland]] medals in 1934, 1936 and 1940. He later played [[hurling]] with Kerry and was a huge influence on his son's sporting career. Ger Power began his inter-county career with the Kerry under-16 hurling team, however, he soon realised that [[Gaelic football|football]] was the most important sport to Kerry people.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

==Playing career==
===Club===
Power played his club football with [[Austin Stacks]] in [[Tralee]]. He showed exceptional talent from a young age and played a key role when the club won an under-16 county championship. Power subsequently won seven [[Kerry Senior Football Championship|Kerry SFC]] titles with the club throughout the 1970s and 1980s. One of these county titles was converted into an [[All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship|All-Ireland]] title in 1977.

He also played hurling with the club and won a Minor County Championship in 1967.

===Inter-county===
Power played with Kerry's minor football team for two years and was captain of the side when they lost to [[Galway GAA|Galway]] in the 1970 All-Ireland final. Power was a substitute on the Kerry senior team that lost in a replay to [[Offaly GAA|Offaly]] in the All-Ireland final of 1972. He played with the under-21 side for three years, winning an [[All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship|All-Ireland]] medal in 1973. Two years later in 1975 Power had a very successful year with the Kerry senior team. He captured his very first [[Munster Senior Football Championship|Munster Championship]] and [[All-Ireland Senior Football Championship|All-Ireland]] medals at senior level, under the new management of the legendary [[Mick O'Dwyer]]. It was the beginning of a glorious era for Kerry football and Power played a key role in orchestrating much of the success.

In 1976 Power won his second Munster title; however, [[Dublin GAA|Dublin]] gained revenge for the previous year by defeating Kerry in the All-Ireland final. 1977 was another frustrating year as Kerry won another Munster title but lost out to Dublin yet again, this time in a thrilling All-Ireland semi-final. By 1978 Kerry were ready for success. They easily won another Munster title and breezed into the All-Ireland final to face [[Dublin GAA|Dublin]]. The game itself is remembered for [[Mikey Sheehy]]'s cheeky goal which he scored by lobbing the ball over the head of [[Paddy Cullen]]. The final score was 5–11 to 0–9 and Power had secured a second All-Ireland medal. In 1979, Kerry once again faced up to Dublin in the All-Ireland final; however, Power missed the game because of a hamstring injury. In spite of this he was playing the best football of his career and scored a massive 2–6 against [[Cork GAA|Cork]] in the Munster final.

Victories for Kerry over [[Roscommon GAA|Roscommon]] and [[Offaly GAA|Offaly]] in the respective All-Ireland finals of 1980 and 1981 brought Power's All-Ireland medal tally up to five. In 1980, he was captain of the side; however, he had to retire early from the game due to injury. In 1982, he collected his eighth consecutive Munster Championship medal and the scene was set for Kerry to become the first team in the history of the game to win five consecutive All-Ireland football titles. Once again, Power's side faced Offaly in the All-Ireland final. Kerry had the upper hand for much of the game and were leading by two points with two minutes left to be played. The game, however, was not over as Offaly substitute [[Séamus Darby]], who had entered the game almost unnoticed, produced possibly the greatest match-winner of all-time when he scored a late goal. Kerry failed to score again to level the match and Offaly went on to win their third All-Ireland title ever.

In 1983, Kerry were denied a record-breaking ninth consecutive Munster title by Cork. Power's side were down but not out, as they reclaimed the provincial title the following year, before securing back-to-back All-Ireland victories over their old rivals Dublin in 1984 and 1985.  In 1986, Power collected his third consecutive All-Ireland title with an 8-point victory over [[Tyrone GAA|Tyrone]]. It was his seventh All-Ireland medal overall. In all Power collected eleven Munster Championship medals. He played in nine All-Ireland finals, ending up on the winning side on eight occasions.<ref name="renamed_from_125_on_20101120134703">{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/the-125-greatest-stars-of-the-gaa-2650-1935902.html|title=The 125 greatest stars of the GAA: 26–50|date=6 November 2009|work=[[Irish Independent]]|access-date=20 November 2010}}</ref> Power also enjoyed playing [[Railway Cup]] football with [[Munster GAA|Munster]], winning inter-provincial titles in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1982. His honours also include four [[National Football League (Ireland)|National Football League]]s in 1974, 1977, 1982 and 1984 and six [[GAA GPA All Stars Awards|All Stars Awards]], winning All Stars at three different positions: half-back, half-forward and corner-forward.<ref name="renamed_from_125_on_20101120134703"/>

===Post career===
After retiring Power became trainer of the [[Limerick senior football team]] during the 1990s. He was also part of the back-team with [[Austin Stacks]]. He has also trained the [[Kerry senior hurling team]] with [[John O'Keeffe (Gaelic footballer)|John O'Keeffe]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| before = [[Tim Kennelly]]
| title  = [[Kerry county football team|Kerry Senior Football Captain]] 
| years  = 1980
| after  = [[Jimmy Deenihan]]
}}
{{succession box
| before = [[Tim Kennelly]]<br/>([[Kerry county football team|Kerry]])
| title  = [[List of All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winning captains|All-Ireland SFC]]<br/>winning [[Captain (Gaelic games)|captain]]
| years  = [[1980 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship|1980]]
| after  = [[Jimmy Deenihan]]<br/>([[Kerry county football team|Kerry]])
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Navboxes
|title=Kerry squads
|bg=green
|fg=yellow
|list1=
{{Kerry Football Team 1972}}
{{Kerry Under 21 Team 1973}}
{{Kerry NFL Team 1974}}
{{Kerry Football Team 1975}}
{{Kerry Football Team 1976}}
{{Kerry Football Team 1978}}
{{Kerry Football Team 1979}}
{{Kerry Football Team 1980}}
{{Kerry Football Team 1981}}
{{Kerry NFL Football Team 1982}}
{{Kerry Football Team 1982}}
{{Kerry NFL Team 1984}}
{{Kerry Football Team 1984}}
{{Kerry Football Team 1985}}
{{Kerry Football Team 1986}}
}}
{{Austin Stacks Football Team 1977}}
{{Navboxes
|title=Awards
|bg=gold
|list1=
{{1975 All Stars}}
{{1976 All Stars}}
{{1978 All Stars}}
{{1979 All Stars}}
{{1980 All Stars}}
{{1986 All Stars}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Power, Ger}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:All-Ireland–winning captains (football)]]
[[Category:All Stars Awards winners (football)]]
[[Category:Austin Stacks Gaelic footballers]]
[[Category:Austin Stacks hurlers]]
[[Category:Dual players]]
[[Category:Gaelic football backs]]
[[Category:Gaelic football forwards]]
[[Category:Irish civil servants]]
[[Category:Kerry county hurling team]]
[[Category:Kerry inter-county Gaelic footballers]]
[[Category:Kerry inter-county hurlers]]
[[Category:Limerick county football team non-playing personnel]]
[[Category:Munster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers]]
[[Category:Winners of eight All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football)]]
[[Category:20th-century Irish sportsmen]]