Congratulations to John Kelly on Winning the SuperValu search for Ireland's Most Dedicated Fan Competition in association with the Irish Sun and 2FM

John who was told the great news live on 2FM on Friday morning hopes to use the prize money to fund new flood lights and improvements to the dressing rooms for Nurney GAA Club. John will also receive an amazing VIP package including accommodation for the All Ireland Football Final in September.

John has been the heart and soul of Nurney GAA club all his life and was nominated by his family who describe him as “the most dedicated GAA fanatic in the world let alone the country!”. Since 2003, John has faced a number of difficulties including renal failure, a kidney transplant and transplant rejection, a triple bypass, and leg amputation. However this has never stopped him attending a Kildare or Nurney club match, even escaping from Beaumont Hospital on numerous occasions to attend club and county matches! While John was discussing his set dialysis days, his only issue was that he needed Saturdays and Sundays off to attend matches, which the hospital facilitated , lucky for him!

John’s family have fond memories of their yearly holiday to Sligo, when they’d arrive in Sligo on  a Saturday only to leave again Sunday morning to drive to Croke Park for a Kildare championship match!  John’s proudest moment was when Kildare captain, Glen Ryan picked up the Delaney Cup and sang the ‘Curragh of Kildare’ in Croke Park in 1998.  That year, Kildare went on to play in the All Ireland final but sadly lost. But this has never stopped John having faith that Kildare will do it yet!

Since the start of this competition John and his family have been getting help from Emmet McConville's team in his local SuperValu, practically living there in an effort to get as many votes as possible. We are told this hasn't been a hard task given John's popularity in the area, thanks to his dedication and tireless support for club and county.

All of us here in SuperValu would like to offer our congratulations to John who is a deserving winner and is indeed Ireland's Most Dedicated GAA Fan!