Paudie Clifford

Paudie Clifford
Personal information
Native name
Pádraig Ó Clúmháin (Irish)
BornSeptember, 1997
OccupationBusiness Development Executive
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Sport
SportGaelic football
PositionHalf forward
Club
Years Club
2015 – Present
2018 – Present
Fossa
East Kerry (Divisional)
Club titles
Kerry titles 4
College(s)
Years College
2015 – 2018
2018 – 2019
Cork IT
University College Cork
College titles
Sigerson titles 1
Inter-county*
Years County Apps (scores)
2020 – Present
Kerry 31 (2–46)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles 5
All-Irelands 2
NFL 3
All Stars 4
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of match played 27 July 2025.

Paudie Clifford (Irish: Pádraig Ó Clúmháin) is an Irish Gaelic footballer. He is centre back and captain of Fossa, half forward for regional side East Kerry and at senior level for the Kerry county team. He is the older brother of fellow Kerry footballer David Clifford.[1]

Club

Clifford plays for the Fossa GAA club in County Kerry and for divisional side East Kerry GAA.

He won the 2016 Kerry Junior Football Championship and the 2022 Kerry Premier Junior Football Championship with Fossa. Clifford would also win both the Munster Junior Football Championship and the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship with Fossa in 2022.

He is also a four-time winner of the Kerry Senior Football Championship with East Kerry GAA

Kerry

Junior

As a member of the Kerry junior team, Clifford won the 2018 All-Ireland Junior Football Championship and Munster Junior Football Championship.

2020

Clifford made his senior debut for Kerry in 2020.

2021

Kerry won the 2021 National League and the 2021 Munster Senior Football Championship.

He won his first All Star award at Centre Forward. He was also chosen on The Sunday Game Team of the Year.

2022

Clifford's Kerry team won every competition they entered in 2022. The 2022 McGrath Cup was followed with the 2022 National Football League and the 2022 Munster Senior Football Championship.

On 24 July, Kerry won the 2022 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, giving the county their 38th title and Clifford his first.

Clifford won his second All Star award at Wing Forward. He also was chosen on The Sunday Game Team of the Year.

2023

Clifford helped Kerry win the 2023 Munster Senior Football Championship. Clifford's Kerry would reach the 2023 All-Ireland Senior Football Final, however Kerry would lose to Dublin by two points.

Clifford won his third All Star award at Wing Forward. He also was chosen on The Sunday Game Team of the Year.

Clifford would also captain East Kerry to win his fourth Kerry Senior Football Championship.

2024

Clifford won his fourth Munster Senior Football Championship.

2025

Clifford's Kerry team won every competition they entered in 2025. Clifford would play in every game of the 2025 National Football League scoring 1-12.

Clifford would miss the 2025 Munster Senior Football final after receiving a red card in the semi-final.

Clifford won his second All-Ireland Senior Football Championship scoring 0-03 in the win against Donegal. Clifford would receive praise for his performance in the final as he had racked up 76 possessions of the ball in the game.[2]

Clifford won his fourth All Star award at Wing Forward. He also was chosen on The Sunday Game Team of the Year.

Third-level

During his time in third level college in Cork, Clifford lined out with both Cork Institute of Technology and University College Cork.

With UCC GAA, he was part of the college's 2019 Sigerson Cup winning side.[3]

Career statistics

As of match played 27 July 2025
Team[4] Year National League Munster All-Ireland Total
Division Apps Score Apps Score Apps Score Apps Score
Kerry 2020 Division 1 1 0-00 1 0-00 - 2 0-00
2021 4 1-05 3 0-06 1 0-02 8 1-13
2022 8 0-10 2 0-04 3 0-04 13 0-18
2023 6 1-05 2 1-01 6 1-09 14 3-15
2024 6 0-10 2 0-02 5 0-08 13 0-20
2025 8 1-12 1 0-02 5 0-08 14 1-22
Total 33 3-45 11 1-15 20 1-31 64 5-88

Honours

Fossa
East Kerry
Kerry
University College Cork
Individual

References

  1. ^ "Three All Star awards for Kingdom". Irish Independent. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Paudie Clifford: 'To be called a one-man team is nearly disrespectful, it's kind of personal'". www.independent.ie. 28 July 2025. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
  3. ^ McKenna, Conor (20 February 2019). "UCC beat 14-man Mary's to take 22nd Sigerson Cup title". RTÉ.ie.
  4. ^ "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: Championship Appearances :: Paudie Clifford". terracetalk.com. Retrieved 27 November 2025.