Billy Lee’s most used Limerick Championship XV

Billy Lee’s reign came to an end on Tuesday as he stepped down from his role.

In his six years in charge of the Limerick Senior Footballers, Billy Lee took the team from the doldrums to a Munster final and a place in the second tier of the National Football League.

From his appointment in late 2016 to the announcement of his decision to step down on Tuesday afternoon, Lee took charge of 38 League games and 15 in the championship.

Focusing on the championship games, Limerick only had a pair of clashes in his first two years in charge before their first win in Munster in seven years when they defeated Tipperary. Two more followed in 2019, defeats to Cork and Westmeath.

There were two each in the pandemic restricted years of 2020 and 2021 while Lee and co competed in four in the most recent championship, including a Munster final.

Over the course of those fifteen clashes, Lee used 48 different players with just four featuring in all. Donal O’Sullivan, Sean O’Dea and Darragh Treacy started in each of the games while Iain Corbett was introduced as a sub against Clare in 2018.

Seventeen players featured in over half those championship games under Lee. Cillian Fahy and Brian Fanning started in each of their 13 appearances while Paul Maher, Gordon Brown (9 starts, 3 subs) and Peter Nash featured in twelve apiece (8 starts, 4 subs).

Adrian Enright started in ten of his eleven appearances for Lee while James Naughton (6 starts, 4 subs) and Josh Ryan (5 starts, 5 subs) played ten games under the Newcastle West native.

There were nine appearances for Seamus O’Carroll (6 starts, 3 subs), while Hugh Bourke (8 starts), Cian Sheehan (6 starts, 2 subs), Mike Donovan (5 starts, 3 subs) and Killian Ryan (2 starts, 6 subs) all featured in eight championship games for Lee.

Billy Lee’s most used Limerick Championship XV

1. Donal O’Sullivan (15 starts)
2. Sean O’Dea (15 starts)
3. Brian Fanning (13 starts)
4. Paul Maher (9 starts, 3 subs)
5. Cian Sheehan (6 starts, 2 subs)
6. Iain Corbett (14 starts, 1 sub)
7. Gordon Brown (9 starts, 3 subs)
8. Darragh Treacy (15 starts)
9. Cillian Fahy (13 starts)
10. James Naughton (6 starts, 4 subs)
11. Peter Nash (8 starts, 4 subs)
12. Adrian Enright (10 starts, 1 sub)
13. Hugh Bourke (8 starts)
14. Josh Ryan (5 starts, 5 subs)
15. Seamus O’Carroll (6 starts, 3 subs)
16. Mike Donovan (5 starts, 3 subs)
17. Killian Ryan (2 starts, 6 subs)