James Masters

James Masters (born 13 July 1982 in Cork, Ireland) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for the Nemo Rangers club and at senior level for the Cork county team from 2005 until 2010.

Biography James Masters was born in Cork in 1982. He was educated locally at Coláiste Chríost Rí on the south side of the city. It was here that he first came to prominence as a hurler and a footballer on various school teams. In 2001, Masters was the star player for the coláiste when he scored nine points against St Colman's College to win the county colleges' title. He later studied at the Garda Síochána College in Templemore and currently works as a Garda in Crookstown.

Playing career

Club Masters played his club hurling and football with the Nemo Rangers club in Cork. He joined the senior panel in the early 2000s; however, he had to wait several years before he would make a big impact, due to the presence of stalwarts Joe Kavanagh and Colin Corkery playing in his favoured position. In 2002 Nemo reached the final of the provincial club championship. Masters came on as a substitute in that game as the club trounced Monaleen of Limerick by 4–15 to 0–6. It was Masters's first Munster Club SFC winners' medal. Despite his contributions, Masters played no part in Nemo's subsequent All-Ireland Club SFC victory on St Patrick's Day, 2003.

Two years later, in 2005, Masters had established himself on the full-forward line with Nemo. He won his first county senior championship title on the field of play that year as Muskerry were defeated by ten points. Masters later secured a second Munster club title; however, Nemo missed out on the ultimate success. In 2006 Nemo retained their county title, with Masters securing a second county championship medal. The club made it three-in-a-row in 2007, before claiming the Munster club title also. It was Masters's third winners' medal in the provincial series. The subsequent All-Ireland club final pitted Nemo against St Vincent's of Dublin. Masters was on the losing side on that occasion.

In 2008, Nemo and Masters made it four county championship titles in-a-row.

Inter-county Masters first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Cork minor football team in 2000. That year, as captain of the team, he won a Munster winners' medal in that competition following a 1–13 to 0–14 defeat of arch-rivals Kerry. Cork later qualified for the All-Ireland MFC final, with Mayo providing the opposition. A close game followed; however, at the full-time whistle Cork were the champions by 2–12 to 0–13. Not only did Masters collect an All-Ireland minor winners' medal that day but he also had the honour of collecting the cup on behalf of his county.

By 2001, Masters was too old to play in the minor grade; however, he was an automatic choice for the Cork under-21 team. That year he won a Munster title in that grade following a 1–12 to 0–8 defeat of Limerick. Cork were subsequently defeated in the All-Ireland semi-final. Masters had no further success with the county under-21 footballers.

In 2005, Masters became a full member of the Cork senior football team. That year he lined out in his first Munster SFC final. Reigning All-Ireland SFC champion Kerry provided the opposition on that occasion; however, Cork were beaten by 1–11 to 0–11. Cork remained in the championship following this defeat; however, both Cork and Kerry later met again in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final. That game turned into an absolute rout. Kerry won easily by 1–19 to 0–9.

In 2006, Cork lined out against Kerry in the Munster SFC final once again. That game ended in a 0–10 apiece draw. The replay saw a much fresher Cork team defeat Kerry by 1–12 to 0–9. Masters proved the hero of the day, as he scored 1–7. The quirks of the championship saw Cork face Kerry again in the subsequent All-Ireland SFC semi-final. In a similar pattern to previous encounters Cork failed to beat Kerry at Croke Park. A 0–16 to 0–10 resulted in Masters's side being defeated.

In 2007, Cork narrowly lost their Munster crown to Kerry. In spite of the 1–15 to 1–13 defeat Cork still had another chance to claim the All-Ireland SFC title. Cork later did well in the All-Ireland series and finally qualified for the championship decider. The opponent, however, was Kerry. While the first half was played on an even keel, 'the Kingdom' ran riot in the second half and a rout ensued. At the full-time whistle Cork were trounced by 3–13 to 1–9.

In 2008, Cork gained a modicum of revenge on Kerry when sides met in the Munster SFC final. Kerry were cruising by eight points at the interval; however, Cork stormed back in the second-half. Kerry could only muster three points as Cork secured a 1–16 to 1–11 victory. It was Masters's second Munster SFC winners' medal. Both sides met again in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final; however, after a draw and a replay Kerry advanced to the championship decider.

In 2009, Cork defeated Kerry in a replay of the provincial semi-final, thus securing a place for Masters's side in a fifth consecutive Munster SFC final. Limerick provided the opposition on that occasion, and, while many expected the game to be a foregone conclusion, Cork had to fight tooth-and-nail for every ball. For a while it looked as if Limerick would claim an historic victory; however, at the full-time whistle Cork got out of jail and won by just a single point. It was Masters's third Munster SFC winners' medal.

Masters decided to withdraw from the Cork panel in March 2010, citing his lack of game time as the reason. Masters had become a more peripheral figure in the Cork set up throughout 2009 with the emergence of younger players such as Colm O'Neill reducing him to the role of a substitute.

Province Masters also lined out with Munster in the inter-provincial football competition. He first played with his province in 2005; however, Munster were defeated by Ulster at the semi-final stage.

Career statistics Club TeamSeasonCorkMunsterAll-IrelandTotalAppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScoreNemo Rangers2003-0410-01——10-012004-0522-05——22-052005-0662-4031-1211-05104-572006-0772-4021-06—93-462007-0862-2930-1620-15112-602008-0961-3020-05—81-352009-1030-12——30-122010-1140-1221-0310-0671-212011-1220-05——20-052012-1331-05——31-052013-1460-15——60-152014-1542-14——42-142015-1670-1621-07—91-23

Inter-county

Championship record List of Appearances# Date Venue Opponent Score Result W/L Competition 1 12 June 2005 Cusack Park, Ennis Clare 0–5 0–18 : 0–6 W Munster SFC semi-final 2 10 July 2005 Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork Kerry 0–3 0–11 : 1–11 L Munster SFC final 3 30 July 2005 O'Moore Park, Portlaoise Sligo 1–1 3–13 : 0–11 W All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers R4 4 7 August 2005 Croke Park, Dublin Galway 0–3 2–14 : 2–11 W All-Ireland SFC quarter-final 5 28 August 2005 Croke Park, Dublin Kerry 0–2 0–9 : 1–19 L All-Ireland SFC semi-final 6 11 June 2006 Gaelic Grounds, Limerick Limerick 0–8 0–9 : 0–5 W Munster SFC semi-final 7 9 July 2006 FitzGerald Stadium, Killarney Kerry 0–7 0–10 : 0–10 D Munster SFC final 8 16 July 2006 Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork Kerry 1–6 1–12 : 0–9 W Munster SFC final replay 9 5 August 2006 Croke Park, Dublin Donegal 0–3 1–11 : 1–10 W All-Ireland SFC quarter-final 10 20 August 2006 Croke Park, Dublin Kerry 0–5 0–10 : 0–16 L All-Ireland SFC semi-final 11 20 May 2007 Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork Limerick 1–7 2–14 : 0–7 W Munster SFC quarter-final 12 3 June 2007 Gaelic Grounds, Limerick Tipperary 2–7 2–18 : 0–10 W Munster SFC semi-final 13 1 July 2007 FitzGerald Stadium, Killarney Kerry 0–4 1–13 : 1–15 L Munster SFC final 14 21 July 2007 O'Moore Park, Portlaoise Louth 0–5 W All-Ireland SHC Qualifiers R4 15 4 August 2007 Croke Park, Dublin Sligo 0–4 1–11 : 0–8 W All-Ireland SFC quarter-final 16 16 September 2007 Croke Park, Dublin Kerry 0–3 1–9: 3–13 L All-Ireland SFC final 17 8 June 2008 Gaelic Grounds, Limerick Limerick 0–0 2–9 : 0–12 W Munster SFC semi-final 18 6 July 2008 Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork Kerry 0–1 1–16 : 0–11 W Munster SFC final 19 10 August 2008 Croke Park, Dublin Kildare 0–1 2–11 : 1–11 W All-Ireland SFC quarter-final 20 24 August 2008 Croke Park, Dublin Kerry 1–0 3–7 : 1–13 D All-Ireland SFC semi-final 21 31 August 2008 Croke Park, Dublin Kerry 0–1 L All-Ireland SFC semi-final replay 22 24 May 2009 Fraher Field, Dungarvan Waterford 0–2 2–18 : 1–7 W Munster SFC quarter-final 23 7 June 2009 FitzGerald Stadium, Killarney Kerry 0–0 1–10 : 0–13 D Munster SFC semi-final 24 13 June 2009 Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork Kerry 0–1 1–17 : 0–12 W Munster SFC semi-final replay 25 5 July 2009 Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork Limerick 0–1 2–6 : 0–11 W Munster SFC final 26 20 September 2009 Croke Park, Dublin Kerry 0–0 1–9: 0–16 L All-Ireland SFC final