[1] McManus won his first All-Ireland medal as a part of the Galway Minor team that beat Cork in the 1976 final.
He won the university title again the following year in 1980/81 as Captain, as well as finishing as Top Scorer and winning the Player of The Tournament Award.
McManus joined the Galway senior team during the 1976/77 National League campaign, making his Championship debut in 1977, aged 19.
McManus was also a part of the Galway team that were beaten by Dublin in the 1983 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.
Gay McManus began his football career with Galway playing at full-forward for the Minor team who were defeated in the Connacht final of 1975.
McManus made his senior debut for Galway in the 1976/77 season of the National Football League, just off the back of his All-Ireland Minor success.
Galway would bounce back from their All-Ireland defeat of 1983, going on to reach the final of the 1983/84 NFL, but would fall short to Kerry 1-11 to 0-11.
After Galway failed to reach Connacht finals in 1988 and 1989, it was now high time for McManus to finish up his career after thirteen seasons.
From captaining the side in 1982 to leading from the front as Galway's top scorer on many occasions, he is undeniably one of the best forwards of that era.