Kalum King

Kalum King is a Gaelic football player from County Down. He plays for the Down senior inter-county football team and with his local club, Bryansford.

Kalum has played for the county for six seasons which began in 2004 where he played a key part in Down's promotion run in the national league that year and played for Down in 2005 as well. Following these initial two seasons Kalum took a break from the sport to concentrate on his studies at Queens University. He restarted his county career in 2010 under the management of James McCartan. The 2010 season proved to be a strong season for Kalum in that he started every game that year, gaining promotion from Division 2 and performing well during the championship run. The championship that year was somewhat of a fairytale for the team in that they progressed to the All-Ireland Final against all expectations. The 2010 Championship run began in Ballbofey against Donegal with an overtime win sealed by the classy Benny Coulter. The success of this was short lived when they played Tyrone in Casement Park a few weeks later. After a strong start Tyrone showed their class and closed the game out to put Down out of the Championship. Few gave Down much hope of progressing in the qualifiers. In Down's first match in the qualifiers they played Longford at Pairc Esler. In poor conditions Down prevailed with a 4-point victory over their opponents, with Kalum picking up 2 yellow cards for a sending-off during the game. The next game was against Offaly in Tullamore, where Kalum turned in a 'Man of the Match' performance to overturn a large first-half deficit to come away with the victory and move to the next round of the qualifiers. Sligo were the next opponents and saw Down pick up their biggest championship win in a number of years with a huge 3-20 to 0-10 win. This gave the side serious momentum for Kerry who lay in wait in the All-Ireland Quarter Finals. In July 2010 Down came against the mighty Kerry in Croke Park. Down took an control of the game early with a fantastic goal from Mark Poland, and this set the tone for the game, with Down finishing convincing winners by the end of the game. Kildare were the opponents in the semi-final, and few gave Down much hope of going any further as they had already surpassed people's expectations. In August 2010 Down faced off against Kildare in the All-Ireland Semi-Final. After Kildare made a strong start to the game edging ahead of Down, a controversial Benny Coulter goal turned the game on its head and Down lead for the majority of the game, with both sides going point for point for the remainder of the game. Leading by 2 points, Down fouled a Kildare forward just outside the penalty box. Requiring a goal the Kildare forward struck a rasping shot for the top corner of Down's net. The goal line was packed with Down players to prevent a goal. The ball was palmed to the crossbar by Kalum's left hand and kicked away to safety, thus ending one of the games of the championship with a thrilling finale. Local media termed the save as the 'Hand of God'. In the third week of September Down played Cork in what was deemed a 'David vs. Goliath' contest in that Cork had played in numerous All-Ireland Finals over the previous years and many felt that it was their time to lift the Sam Maguire. After a cagey first half Down lead by 3 points. Going into the second half, Cork made a number of key personnel changes highlighting the strength and depth of their panel and ultimately edged out the game by 1 point to win and ultimately end Down's fairytale Championship Run.

Kalum was recognised with his consistently strong performances in the championship by receiving an All-Star Nomination, as well as picking up the East Down player of the year within his own county. In following seasons he was appointed vice captain in 2012 and has been captain for various McKenna Cup and National League games highlighting his growing influence within the County.

At club level, Kalum was part of the Bryansford Championship winning side in 2003 and he closed an 11-year gap with no silverware by being part of the side that won the League title in 2014 after a thrilling match vs. Mayobridge in Kilcoo. An all county U-21 title was picked up in 2003 as well.

Outside of gaelic success has followed with various underage boxing titles with the highlight being representing Ulster boxing team in South Africa in 2008.

Honours

Down

• All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (1): 2010 (runner-up)
• National Football League Division 2 (2): 2004, 2010 (Promoted)
• All star Nominee (1): 2011
• Vice Captain of Down Senior Team (1): 2012
• Captain (Various) (1): 2012

Bryansford

• Down Senior Football Championship (1): 2003
• Down Under-21 Football Championship (1): 2003
• Down League Winner (1): 2014

References