Reports last night to that effect sent shockwaves around Dublin and in the wider Gaelic football landscape, with Fenton – only 31 – still considered one of the best footballers in the country.
A statement issued by the Dublin County Board at 9.30am this morning said that Dublin GAA “can confirm that Brian Fenton is retiring from Senior Inter-County Football after ten remarkable seasons representing Dublin”.
There is no contribution from Fenton himself in the statement, which reads: “Brian made his Senior Inter-County debut against Monaghan in the 2015 National League and his championship debut came later that year against Longford.
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“The Raheny man represented Dublin in Senior Championship football more than sixty times, including playing a central role in Dublin’s record-breaking run of 45 unbeaten championship games.
“This period delivered Dublin’s historic six in a row of All Ireland Senior Football Championship victories between 2015 – 2020, with a further All Ireland success following in 2023.
“Dublin’s talismanic midfielder also received individual recognition- winning the GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year in 2018 and 2020, as well as six All Stars.”
The news comes as a seismic shock in Dublin football circles, still smarting from the news of James McCarthy’s retirement last week.
Together, the pair formed arguably the greatest midfield of all time. But at 31, Fenton remains very much near the peak of his powers and during an expected period of accelerated change, would have been one of the key players for Dublin in 2025.
Instead, he is now the greatest loss of them all, with more expected to come now. On a very basic level, Dessie Farrell has lost both of his starting midfielders, not an area where Dublin have noted depth.
Fenton’s awesome range of skills and freakish athleticism saw him become arguably the dominant individual force in the game, doing it in a style that won universal admiration.
Twice Footballer of the Year, he was nominated on four occasions and can count himself slightly unlucky to not have won it on at least one more of those years in which he was shortlisted.
