Donegal GAA

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For more details concerning Donegal GAA, see Donegal Senior Football Championship and Donegal Senior Hurling Championship.
Donegal GAA
120px
Irish: Dún na nGall
Province: Ulster
Nickname(s): The Tír Conaill Men
The Forgotten County
County colours:          
Ground(s): MacCumhail Park, Ballybofey
Dominant sport: Gaelic football
Competitions
NFL: Division 1
NHL: Division 2B
Football Championship: Sam Maguire Cup
Hurling Championship: Christy Ring Cup
Ladies' Gaelic football: Brendan Martin Cup
Camogie: O'Duffy Cup
Standard kit
Regular kit
Change kit

The Donegal County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) (Irish: Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Dhún na nGall) or Donegal GAA is one of the GAA's 32 county boards in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in County Donegal. The county board is also responsible for the Donegal inter-county teams. There are currently 40 clubs under the auspices of the Donegal County Board.[1][2]

The Donegal senior football team is a major force in Gaelic football.[3] Currently regarded as one of the best teams in the sport,[4] they last won the All-Ireland Championship in 2012. Donegal players comprised most of the 2012 All Stars Team of the Year, and every single nomination for the All Stars Footballer of the Year, ultimately won by Karl Lacey.[5] In addition, having been invited to assist the Celtic soccer team in Scotland, Donegal manager Jim McGuinness became the first Gaelic football inter-county manager to have been offered a role at a professional sports team abroad.[6] McGuinness's services have also been sought by Premier League soccer teams.[7]

In terms of style, "the system" deployed by the Donegal senior football team has been likened to that of the Spanish association football team FC Barcelona.[8][9] They are also one of only five counties to have defeated Kerry in their first Championship meeting — the others being Down (1960), Derry (1958), Dublin (1893) and Cork (1889).[10]

Colours and crest

Donegal play since their foundation in green and gold kits, which are also the colours of the board's logo and of the county crest because they recall the gold of the sandy beaches of the county and the green of the well known Hills of Donegal. Despite the colours have been always the same during the years, their disposal has been very different for much of the team's history. The classic Donegal kit was indeed composed by a green shirt with a golden hoop, white shorts and green and yellow socks (identical to Kerry). In 1966 the board opted for golden shirts[11] but they turned green after only a short period, in the 80's also often with green shorts. In 1992, when they reached the semifinal against Mayo, they had to use a change kit[12] which was a yellow shirt with green sleeves and green shorts. Due to the unexpected victory against the favorite Connacht side, they decided to retain this colour combination for the final against Dublin. Donegal won their first All-Ireland title and since then they have favoured a yellow/gold shirt and green shorts.[13]

Usually Donegal wore as change kit yellow shirts or black and yellow ones (recalling Ulster GAA colours). Since they use yellow as primary colour, change kits have been green or white.

Kit evolution

Football

History

The first Donegal County Board was formed in 1905,[14] with its first football game being against Derry on 17 March 1906. Also in 1906, the county won its first major trophy, the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship, when Donegal overcame Antrim in the final, held at the Moss Road hurling field, by a scoreline of 5-15 to 0-1.[15] Donegal made their first appearance at Croke Park on Sunday 6 April 1952. The occasion was a National Football League semi-final and their opponents that day were Cork.[16]

1970s - 1980s: Ulster and Under 21 success

The county came to the fore of Ulster football in the 1970s, winning their first Ulster Senior Football Championship in 1972. The win coincided with the county's first All Star—in the form of Brian McEniff—in the second year of the award's existence. Reigning All-Ireland champions Offaly defeated the Ulster champions in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final on the way to their second consecutive All-Ireland title.

A second provincial title followed for Donegal in 1974. Galway, All-Ireland finalists in 1971 and 1973, defeated them in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final.

Donegal won a third provincial title in 1983. Again they were beaten by Galway in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final, ahead of what would become a notorious 1983 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, known as the "Game of Shame".

In 1987, Donegal won the All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship, a success which provided the basis for future prosperity in the county. It was Kerry they baet in the final.[17]

1990s: Sam Maguire Cup

In 1990, Donegal defeated Armagh in the Ulster Senior Football Championship Final. Eventual All-Ireland Finalists Meath beat them in the 1990 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final. However, Donegal would win the Ulster Senior Football Championship Final again in 1992. As a result of this victory an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final against Mayo beckoned. Donegal overcame the men from Mayo to set up a 1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final meeting with raging-hot favourites Dublin.

Donegal's greatest footballing accomplishment yet was realised on 20 September 1992 when they defeated the highly fancied Dublin by a scoreline of 0–18 to 0–14 to take the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time. Brian McEniff, serving in his second spell as Donegal manager, pulled the strings. Man of the Match Manus Boyle scored 0–9 (four from play), while Gary Walsh pulled off a great save from Vinny Murphy at the end.

This was the zenith of this great Donegal team who contested five successive Ulster Senior Football Championship Finals between 1989 and 1993. The Donegal team of this era also contested the final of the National Football League three times in a four-year period (1993 v. Dublin, 1995 v. Derry, 1996 v. Derry) without success. McEniff soon stood down as manager.

Martin McHugh wanted to take charge of Donegal after McEniff left the job. However, he was prevented from doing so by the Donegal County Board in a snub that would be echoed in Jim McGuinness's numerous later attempts to get the same job—McGuinness was, however, ultimately successful; after being rejected by the Donegal County Board on several occasions he would go on to be Donegal's most successful manager since McEniff. McHugh was hurt by his rejection, saying: "I thought there was another All-Ireland in Donegal and that's why I went for that job. I thought there was another All-Ireland there, and there was a lot of good players coming too. But anyway, that's the way it worked out".[18]

2000s: National Football League

Mickey Moran was appointed manager on a three-year term in August 2000, succeeding Declan Bonner.[19] During his tenure selector Michael Houston quit after a public falling out with Moran.[20] Moran's first year in charge of Donegal was a disappointing one, but 2002 was more successful, leading Donegal to the Ulster final (where they were beat by Armagh) and then to the All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin.[21][22] However, in September 2002 he informed the county board he would not be staying for the third year of the term.[21]

File:Michael Murphy pen vs John Deighan - USFC 08.jpg
Michael Murphy scores a penalty in 2008 Ulster Senior Football Championship

Brian McIver was appointed manager in 2006. His tenure saw a slight improvement in the fortunes of the team as he led them into Division 1 of the National Football League. However, the county had been without a trophy for 15 years. They had contested the 1993 and 1998 Ulster Senior Football Championship Finals, but lost to Derry on both occasions. Defeat to Armagh in the same contest in 2002, 2004 and 2006 meant another decade passed without a Championship trophy. They contested the 2006 Division 2 Final, but lost to Louth. The famine came to an abrupt end in 2007 when the senior football team won the National Football League title for the first time in the county's history. Donegal overcame Mayo at Croke Park on Sunday 22 April 2007 with a score line of 0–13 to 0–10. On-route to the final Donegal defeated Cork, Mayo, Tyrone, Dublin, Kerry, Fermanagh and Kildare while drawing with Limerick.

McIver stood down as manager after the 2007 Championship; however, he was reinstated before the beginning of the 2008 Championship. In 2008, at a County Board meeting, a motion of no confidence was tabled by the Saint Eunan's and Gaoth Dobhair clubs; as a result McIver felt compelled to resign.[23][24] Declan Bonner and Charlie Mulgrew were appointed "Joint Managers" when John Joe Doherty of the Naomh Columba club was said to have rejected the opportunity to become manager. However, Doherty entered negotiations before Bonner and Mulgrew were rubber stamped. He was later offered the job for a second time, which he accepted. Bonner and Mulgrew had contested that the procedure which led to the installing of John Joe Doherty as football manager in the county was flawed. The duo's case was heard November 2008 but had taken 13 days of deliberation for the DRA to reach a verdict. John Joe Doherty was appointed manager at the November county board meeting.[25]

2010s: Sam Maguire Cup again

Donegal defeated Kildare in the 2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in Jim McGuinness's first season in charge.

In 2010, after a disappointing Championship, in which Donegal lost at home to Down after extra-time, and to Armagh in Crossmaglen by nine points in the first round of the All-Ireland Qualifiers, John Joe Doherty resigned from his post as senior football manager.[26] The only candidate to replace him was a man called Jim—Jim McGuinness. Upon his appointment on 26 July 2010,[27] McGuinness brought Kevin Cassidy and Michael Hegarty out of retirement, introduced many players from the U-21 side he had taken to the 2010 All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship Final, and introduced structure and discipline, a feature that many observers[who?] claimed was lacking in many talented Donegal teams between 1993 and 2011.

McGuinness's first major success as senior manager was to win the National Football League Division 2 when they beat Laois in Croke Park by 2–11 to 0–16 points.[28] They went through the league season unbeaten, except for the last league match proper, when they lost to Laois.[29] Before the Division 2 Final, they had topped the Division 2 league and were guaranteed promotion with four wins, two draws, and one loss.[30]

After this victory, expectations for the county were high, with many pundits predicting that Donegal would win the Ulster Championship.[31] Donegal beat Antrim 1–10 to 0–07 in the preliminary round.[32] This was the team's first Championship win since 2007. This set up an away match against Cavan from which Donegal once again emerged victorious, by a scoreline of 2–14 to 1–08. Donegal beat Antrim 1–10 to 0–07.[33] A more ominous test against Tyrone would follow this Cavan victory. The new defensive system developed by Jim McGuinness would be put to the test against a Tyrone team which perfected the blanket defense tactic on the way to three All Ireland victories in the 2000s. Donegal fought their way to a 2–06 to a 0–09 win.[34]

This set up an Ulster Final meeting against a heavily fancied Derry, which one week prior to Donegal's victory over Tyrone, put 3–14 past an Armagh team which had just overcome Down, the 2010 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship runners-up.[35]

File:Donegal Mayo.jpg
Donegal faces Mayo in the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, won by Donegal

On 17 July 2011, in Clones, Donegal played in their first Ulster final in five years and their sixth Ulster Final since 1992. In front of a crowd of 28,364 Donegal beat Derry by 1–11 to 0–08 points. This was only the third time in the history of the Ulster Senior Football Championship that a team which played the preliminary round would win the Final. Armagh did it in 2005, and Cavan did it 66 years earlier. All the more impressive is that Donegal did not concede more than nine scores per match on the way to the final and held Antrim, Tyrone and Derry to only three points each in the second halves of their respective matches. As of 22 July 2011, the county has the lowest average conceding rate in the country at 8.75 points per game.[36] On 30 July 2011, Donegal travelled to Croke Park to play Kildare in their first All-Ireland quarter-final in two years. The game began quite poor in the first half but the second half proved to be more tense as sub Christy Toye scored the only goal of the game. However, Kildare brought the game level to drag it to extra-time. As Donegal still looked to be behind, two late points from Christy Toye before a long range kick from Kevin Cassidy sealed the Ulster champions in front deep into injury-time. Just as Kildare thought about forcing a replay the final whistle blew to guide Donegal to their first All Ireland semi-final since 2003. The semi-final against Dublin, which Dublin eventually won 0-8 to 0-6, was to be regarded as one of the lowest scoring but most absorbing Championship duels in living memory.[37]

On 22 July 2012, Donegal retained the Ulster title for the first time in its history with a 2-18 to 0-13 victory over Down.[38] On 5 August 2012, they defeated Kerry. The first ever Championship meeting between the sides at senior level, it was only the second time in history that Kerry had been defeated at this stage.[39] Ahead of their next match against Cork, nobody outside the county gave Donegal a chance, and Cork went into the game as heavy favourites to win the title itself (even though this was only the semi-final). Donegal endeavoured to swat aside a lacklustre Cork side with ease and progressed to their first title decider since 1992.[40] Tyrone's Mickey Harte, attempting to analyse the game for the BBC, expressed his shock: "To be honest, I could not see that coming. Donegal annihilated Cork, there is no other word for it."[41] Martin McHugh, a member of the successful 1992 side, said it was the best ever performance by any Donegal team including his own.[42] Donegal emerged victorious from the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final on 23 September 2012 to take the Sam Maguire Cup for the second time, with early goals from Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden.[43]

Management history

Template:Donegal Gaelic football team managers

Dates Name Notes All-Ireland Titles Ulster Titles National League Titles
Columba McDyer
1972-1974 Brian McEniff Player-Manager
1972, 1974
1975-1976 John Hannigan
1983 Brian McEniff
1983
1990 Tom Conaghan
1990-1994 Brian McEniff
1992
1990, 1992
1994-1997 PJ McGowan
1997-2000 Declan Bonner
2000-2002 Mickey Moran
2003-2005 Brian McEniff
2005-2008 Brian McIver
2007
2008-2010 John Joe Doherty
2010-2014 Jim McGuinness
2012
2011, 2012, 2014
2014–Present Rory Gallagher

In July 2010, Jim McGuinness, the then under-21 manager, was appointed as county senior manager, succeeding John Joe Doherty.[44] McGuinness guided the county's under-21 side to the All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship final in 2010. He was appointed to the senior management on a four-year term, with a review after two years. His first year in charge brought Donegal the National Football League Division 2 title, promotion to Division 1, the county's first championship win in four years, the county's first provincial title in 19 years, and made Donegal the third team in the history of the GAA to win a Provincial Title from the Preliminary Round. His second season brought a second consecutive provincial title, also achieved from the Preliminary Round, as well as a defeat of the mighty Kerry at Croke Park and with the win over Cork on 26 August to secure a place in the 2012 All Ireland Football Final, it looks like Jim won't have to worry about that review after all.

Honours

File:Donegal County Flag, they are the Champions.jpg
The Donegal flag displayed on the day the county won the National Football League for the first time in 2007

All Stars

Multiple winners

Other awards

Player of the Year

Donegal Player of the Year[47] 1960 Seamus Hoare 1961 1962 Frankie McFeely 1963 Brendan McFeely 1964 Paul Kelly 1965 P.J. Flood 1966 P.J. Flood 1967 John Hannigan 1968 Brian McEniff 1969 Declan O Carroll 1970 John Boyle

Current football squad

No. Player Position Club
1 Paul Durcan Goalkeeper The Four Masters
2 Paddy McGrath Right Corner Back Ardara
3 Neil McGee Full Back Ghaoth Dobhair
4 Eamon McGee Left Corner Back Ghaoth Dobhair
5 Ryan McHugh Right Half Back Chíll Chartha
6 Anthony Thompson Centre Back Naomh Conaill
7 Frank McGlynn Left Half Back Glenfin
8 Neil Gallagher Midfield Glenswilly
9 Martin McElhinney Midfield Naomh Mícheál
10 Christy Toye Right Half Forward Naomh Mícheál
11 Odhrán Mac Niallais Centre Forward Ghaoth Dobhair
12 Mark McHugh Left Half Forward Chíll Chartha
13 Patrick McBrearty Right Corner Forward Chíll Chartha
14 Michael Murphy (c) Full Forward Glenswilly
15 Colm McFadden Left Corner Forward Naomh Mícheál
No. Player Position Club
16 Mark Anthony McGinley Substitute Naomh Mícheál
17 Eamonn Doherty Substitute Naomh Adhamhnáin
18 Declan Walsh Substitute Malainn
19 Martin O'Reilly Substitute Seán MacCumhaill's
20 David Walsh Substitute Naomh Bríd
21 Hugh McFadden Substitute Na Cealla Beaga
22 Leo McLoone Substitute Naomh Conaill
23 Gary McFadden Substitute Glenswilly
24 Eoghan Gallagher Substitute Na Cealla Beaga
25 Ciarán McGinley Substitute Chíll Chartha
26 Daniel McLaughlin Substitute Naomh Mícheál

Squad as per Donegal v Galway, 2015 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Qualifier, 1 August 2015

Hurling

C.L.G. Ghaoth Dobhair grounds in Machaire Gathlán

History

Though hurling clubs are present in Donegal, there has been limited success for Donegal's hurlers at inter-county level. Donegal have three senior and four junior Ulster hurling titles, the last senior win coming in 1932.

Donegal has a residue of pre-GAA hurling. The Burt Hibernians brought Donegal the 1906 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship, defeating Antrim by 25 points to one. Burt later played in Derry. In 1923 Donegal fielded a team of three natives augmented with Gardaí and customs officers from hurling counties to win their second Ulster Senior Hurling Championship. When they lined out for the semi-final, wearing blue jerseys against Limerick on a cold, miserable day in Croke Park, numbers were worn by the players for the first time to help the spectators to distinguish them. They trailed 5–4 to nil at half-time and lost 7–4 to 0–1.

Donegal were National Hurling League Division Three champions in 2001.[48]

Donegal currently compete in Division 2B of the NHL and in the Christy Ring Cup.[49] They reached the final of the 2006 Nicky Rackard Cup, only to be defeated by Derry. They reached the final of the 2009 Lory Meagher Cup, only to be defeated by Tyrone. They won the 2011 Lory Meagher Cup, and then the 2013 Nicky Rackard Cup, their first, beating Roscommon in the final by 4 points. These games were all played at Croke Park.[50][51][52][53]

Honours

All Stars

Nicky Rackard Cup All Star Awards
  • 2006 - Danny Cullen (Setanta), Aiden Begley (Aodh Ruadh)
  • 2007 - Ger O'Dwyer (Setanta)
  • 2008 - Mickey McCann (Burt)
  • 2012 - Ardal McDermott (Burt), Lee Henderson(Sean MacCumhaills)
  • 2013 - Christy McDermoot (Burt), Danny Cullen (Setanta), Sean McVeigh (St Eunans), Lee Henderson(Sean MacCumhaills)
  • 2014 - Justin McGee (Sean MacCumhaills), Paul Sheridan
  • 2015 - Ronan McDermott (Burt), Jamsie Donnelly (Sean MacCumhaills)
Lory Meagher Cup All Star Awards
  • 2009 - Jamsie Donnelly (Sean MacCumhaills)
  • 2010 - Paul O'Brien (Burt), Mark Patton (Four Masters), Ardel McDermott (Burt)
  • 2011 - Enda McDermott (Burt), Joe Boyle (Burt), Niall Campbell (Burt), Colm Breathnach (St Eunans)

Management

Camogie

History

Donegal competed in the Ulster Senior Championship from the 1930s, hosting Antrim in Letterkenny in 1945. They succeeded in fielding a league team in the 1980s, drawing on the groundwork at Loreto, Letterkenny which fielded successful colleges teams. The Pan Celtic games of 2006 rejuvenated camogie in Donegal and the county returned to competition in the Ulster Junior Championship in 2008.[56]

Under Camogie's National Development Plan 2010–2015, "Our Game, Our Passion,"[57] it has been announced that Donegal, Kerry, Mayo and Monaghan are to receive a total of 14 new clubs by 2015.[58]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ County Colours | About County | Provinces & Counties | About the GAA | GAA.ie
  12. ↑ Mayo traditionally play in green and red with white shorts.
  13. ↑ Donegal
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Craig, Frank. "Jim could have walked away - McGuinness: 'I had offers'". Letterkenny Post, 20 September 2012, pp. 44-45.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ [1]. RTÉ. 9 May 2011.
  30. ↑ [2]. RTÉ. 2011.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ [3]. RTÉ. 12 June 2011.
  34. ↑ [4]. RTÉ. 26 June 2011.
  35. ↑ [5]. BBC. 19 June 2011.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. ↑ National Development Plan 2010–2015, Our Game, Our Passion information page on camogie.ie, pdf download (778k) from Camogie.ie download site

External links

News links

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