Tyrone’s Niall Sludden has announced his intercounty retirement.
The 2021 All-Ireland winner has become the third starting player from that triumphant Sam Maguire side to step away from the Tyrone squad, following Ronan McNamee’s retirement last October and Conor McKenna’s decision to return to Australia to reignite his AFL career.
Sludden made his Tyrone senior debut in the McKenna Cup victory in January 2016 and went on to make 116 appearances for the county, scoring 7-92.
The Dromore clubman won an All-Ireland minor title with Tyrone in 2010, when they beat Cork in the final. However, he had to be patient to become a fixture on the senior side, but when he did break through Sludden became an integral part of the team.
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He won three Ulster senior titles during his time with the Red Hands but 2021 was his standout season when he helped Tyrone claim All-Ireland glory, scoring 0-2 in the final win against Mayo. Sludden finished the year as an All Star, selected at wing forward on the team of the season.
His ability to cover a huge amount of space and willingness to work for the good of the team made him a key figure in Tyrone’s last All-Ireland victory,
However, he featured sporadically during 2023 and his only appearances in the championship were against Monaghan and Armagh.
Tyrone’s season gets up and running with a McKenna Cup clash against Donegal in Healy Park on Sunday, when Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan will be going up against Jim McGuinness.
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