John Fenton (born 11 December 1955) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a midfielder and forward for the Cork senior team. Born in Midleton, County Cork, Fenton first played competitive hurling during his schooling at Midleton CBS. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen when he first linked up with the Cork minor team, before later joining the under-21 side. He made his senior debut during the 1975 championship. Fenton subsequently became a regular member of the starting fifteen and won two All-Ireland medals, seven Munster medals and two National Hurling League medals. The All-Ireland-winning captain of 1984, he was an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion. As a member of the Munster inter-provincial team on a number of occasions, Fenton won three Railway Cup medals. At club level he is a one-time All-Ireland medallist with Midleton. In addition to this he has also won two Munster medals and three championship medals. Throughout his career Fenton made 31 championship appearances. His retirement came following the conclusion of the 1987 championship. Fenton is widely regarded as one of the greatest hurlers of his era. During his playing days he won five consecutive All-Star awards. In a 2009 poll Fenton was chosen as one of the 125 greatest hurlers of all-time. Playing career Club Fenton first came to prominence with Midleton when he was thirteen years-old as a member of the club's minor team. He began his playing career as a goalkeeper before later being deployed at midfield. In 1978 he enjoyed his first major success when he captured a championship medal in the intermediate grade as Midleton defeated Newtownshandrum by 1-12 to 1-10. Five years later Fenton was captain of the Midleton senior team that bridged a forty-five year gap to qualify for the championship decider. The opponents, St. Finbarr's, were appearing in their fifth successive decider and were hoping to secure fourth championship in-a-row. A 1-18 to 2-9 victory gave Midleton their first title since 1916, while Fenton, who collected his first championship medal, also had the honour of lifting the cup. He later collected a Munster medal following a 1-14 to 1-11 defeat of Borris-Ileigh in the provincial decider. Two-in-a-row proved beyond Midleton, while the club also lost the decider to Blackrock in 1985. The following year Midleton were back in the decider, however, Fenton was relegated to the substitutes' bench as the club