Bryan Cullen

Bryan Cullen (born 7 April 1984) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played as a left wing-forward at senior level for the Dublin county team. Cullen announced his retirement on 9 January 2015. He stated 'I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Dublin managers Tommy Lyons, Pillar Caffrey, Pat Gilroy and Jim Gavin and especially to all the Dublin players past and present that I had the pleasure of sharing the pitch with.'

Cullen made his first appearance for the team during the 2003 championship and has become a regular player over the last few seasons. During that time he has won two All-Ireland winner's medals and six Leinster winner's medals. In 2011 Cullen captained the team to the All-Ireland title, beating Kerry in the final.

At club level, Cullen plays with Skerries Harps.

Cullen is also studying for a PhD at Dublin City University.

Playing career

Inter-county At Minor level, Cullen was part of the Dublin side that won the 2001 Leinster Minor Football Championship. With the Dublin Under 21 team, he won the Leinster Under 21 Championship three times, Dublin advanced to face Kildare in the semi-final of the Leinster championship. Dublin became won against the lilywhites with a controversial free in the dying minutes of the game. Cullen scored a point in the game and continued his unbeaten run in the championship as team captain in a game that finished on the scoreline 1–12 to 1–11. Cullen continued his trend of a point a game against Wexford in the Leinster final. Dublin won the 2011 Leinster senior football championship with a disappointing performance against a strong Wexford side. The game finished with James McCarthy's goal proving the difference between the sides. The game finished 2–12 to 1–12.

In a repeat of the previous years quarter final, Dublin were drawn against Tyrone. Unlike last year, Dublin pulled off a hugely convincing victory over Tyrone with Diarmuid Connolly dominating the scoring and Cullen continuing his trend of a point a game. Dublin won the game by a margin of seven points with the Croke park clash ending 0–22 to 0–15. Dublin progressed to the semi-final against a very defensive Donegal side. Cullen scored again and Dublin won the game in a low-scoring affair ending sixteen years of absence from the all-Ireland final. The semi final against Donegal finished 0–08 to 0-06 and was a game that led to a final against a much fancied Kerry team. Cullen captained Dublin to all-Ireland victory at a packed Croke Park. With seven minutes remaining, Kerry were leading by four points and a victory looked all but certain for the Kingdom. Once substitute Kevin McManamon scored a goal for Dublin, it was clear that Dublin were not beaten. In the dying minutes of the game, goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton kicked a free over the bar to give Dublin a dramatic victory against a stunned Kerry side. The game finished 1–12 to 1-11 giving Cullen the honour of being the first Dubliner to lift the Sam Maguire cup since 1995.

Two years later, goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton succeeded Cullen as Dublin captain in 2013.

International Rules Cullen has represented Ireland in the International Rules Series in 2004, 2005 and 2008 which Ireland won in 2004 and 2005. He was not selected for the team that lost to Australia in 2010.

Province Cullen has played for Leinster in the Railway Cup.

School / college Cullen was captain of DCU when they won the Sigerson Cup for the first time ever in 2006. In doing so, Cullen became the first Dublin player to captain a Sigerson winning team.

Honours All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (2): 2011, 2013 Leinster Senior Football Championship (9): 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 (c), 2012 (c), 2013, 2014 National Football League (2): 2013, 2014 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship (1): 2003 Leinster Under-21 Football Championship (3): 2002, 2003, 2005 Sigerson Cup (2): 2006, 2010 Dublin Intermediate Football Championship (1): 2011 Leinster Minor Football Championship (1): 2001 International Rules (1): 2008

Coaching career

Leinster Rugby After the 2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, Cullen was offered the role of coaching Leinster Rugby's academy players.

Personal life Cullen married to Cork native, Ailis McSweeney in January 2013, who is the current holder of the Irish record for the 100m sprint.