Gary Fahey is a former All-Ireland winning Gaelic footballer who captained Galway in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Playing primarily in a full-back position, he won five Connacht Senior medals and two All-Ireland medals. Fahey’s intercounty career began in 1992 when he joined the Galway panel after playing a role for the Sigerson Cup winning UCG team. Seán Óg De Paor was captain that year when the Galway college defeated Queen's University Belfast in Pearse Stadium, Galway. Fahey made his debut in the summer of 1992 when he came on as a substitute in a defeat against Mayo in Castlebar. It wasn't until 1995 that Galway finally won the Connacht title under Bosco McDermott. They defeated Mayo in Tuam Stadium: their first provincial title in 8 years. Galway narrowly lost to Tyrone in the All-Ireland semi-final. Mayo defeated Galway in both the 1996 and 1997 Connacht campaigns where they also lost both subsequent All-Ireland finals. John O'Mahony, who had brought Connacht titles to both Mayo and Leitrim, was announced as the new Galway manager in September 1997 after Val Daly's sole year in charge. The Mayo native then presided over what was to be a glorious period in Galway football with Fahy a central cog in the team. In the 1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championshipfinal, the team defeated Kildare in the All-Ireland final to end 32 years of anguish. Gary Fahey played at full-back that day and his tussle with Kildare’s Karl O'Dwyer was a feature of the final. Their 1–13 to 2–06 win was the catalyst for a strong season for Galway, who followed up with victories over Leitrim, Roscommon in the Connacht final and Derry in the semi-final. Fahy had soldiered on the panel for six years before that All-Ireland victory and in the next 4 year’s he would play in some of the biggest games in Galway's history. In 1999, a hamstring injury kept him out of the Connacht Final. He returned for the 2000 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship season where Galway re-claimed the Connacht title after defeating Leitrim before losing to Kerry in the All-Ireland Final after a replay. According to Fahye, "The 2000 final was the one that got away because we had the chances at the end of the first game to take the title." Galway began the 2001 championship season with a defeat to Roscommon. However, through the new 'back-door' system, they embarked on a run of victories over Wicklow, Cork, Armagh, Roscommon and Derry before meeting Meath in the All-Ireland final. Galway beat Meath in the final by nine points to make up for the previous year against Kerry and in the process Fahey collected his second All-Ireland medal. He also had the honour of lifting the Sam Maguire trophy as captain. Galway won the Connacht title again in both 2002 and 2003 but fell short when it came to All-Ireland glory. John O'Mahony departed in 2004 and Fahy retired from inter-county football shortly after.
