2024 Donegal county football team season

Donegal county football team

2024 season
Manager	Jim McGuinness
Stadium	MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey
←  2023 2025  →

The following is a summary of Donegal county football team's 2024 season.

Personnel changes

Reports in August 2023 suggested that Jim McGuinness would be returning for a second spell as manager, with RTÉ Sport stating on 17 August that McGuinness had already met with county board officials. ^[1] On 20 August, the Donegal County Board brought forward its monthly meeting to the following evening. ^[2] At that meeting, held on the evening of Monday 21 August, the return of McGuinness as manager was announced, with Colm McFadden, Neil McGee and Luke Barrett all confirmed as being on McGuinness's backroom team. ^[3] When asked in mid-November 2023, McGuinness ruled out any further additions to his backroom team, though he said they were still searching for new players, with "close to 50 in total" having been investigated up until that time. ^[4]

The appointment made McGuinness the first holder of a UEFA Pro Licence to manage an inter-county team. ^[5] He took charge for his second term as Donegal manager at the age of 50. ^[6]

In November 2023, it was announced that James Gallagher had succeeded Declan McIntyre as goalkeeping coach, making this Gallagher's third spell in that role. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Kit

On 2 November 2023, a new jersey was launched at the Abbey Hotel. ^{[10] [11]}

Pre-season

It was announced in October 2023 that McGuinness would take his team on a seven-day long training camp in December 2023, ahead of the 2024 season beginning. ^{[12] [13]} On Saturday, 2 December 2023, the squad departed for the warm weather camp, held in Tenerife. ^{[14] [15]}

In November 2023, it was announced that Donegal would play Roscommon in a challenge match at Fr Tierney Park on 17 December, the first game since McGuinness returned as manager. ^{[16] [17]} It was also the first senior inter-county match held at the venue for nearly four years, as it had been undergoing renovations. ^[18] Proceeds were divided between the team's training fund and North West Hospice. ^{[19] [20]} Tickets were still available on the day of the game. ^[21] By half-time, Donegal had a lead of 0–9 to 0–2. ^[22] By full-time, Donegal had a lead of 2–12 to 2–6. ^[23]

Competitions

Dr McKenna Cup

Main article: 2024 Dr McKenna Cup

The McKenna Cup group draw was held in the Armagh City Hotel in Armagh on Wednesday evening, 13 December 2023, with Donegal appearing in Section A. ^{[24] [25]}

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Donegal [lower-alpha 1]	2	2	0	0	15	13	+2	2	Advance to semi-final
2	Armagh [lower-alpha 1]	2	1	0	1	17	16	+1	2
3	Tyrone	2	0	0	2	29	32	−3	0

Source: Ulster GAA
Notes:

1. Donegal received no points for their win over Armagh as they fielded an ineligible player; Armagh did not get the points as they did not make an appeal. For the purposes of points difference, the game was not counted. ^[26]

Fixtures

Donegal v Armagh

3 January 2024Round 1	Donegal	3-16 - 1-06 (Overruled)	Armagh	Ballybofey
19:30 IST (UTC)				Stadium: MacCumhaill Park

Tyrone v Donegal

7 January 2024Round 2	Tyrone	1-10 - 0-15	Donegal	Omagh
13:00 IST (UTC)				Stadium: O'Neills Healy Park

National Football League Division 2

Main article: 2024 National Football League (Ireland)

Donegal were to begin with a Saturday night home fixture against Cork, which was the first fixture to be announced, on 27 October 2023. ^[27] This was, however, moved to the Sunday afternoon, the followng day, when all fixtures were announced on 6 December 2023 (see below).

On 6 December 2023, the GAA announced that all Division 2 Round 7 games would be played separately from the Round 7 games in Division 1, 3 and 4, on Saturday, 23 March 2024, at 19:00, including Donegal v Meath at MacCumhaill Park. ^[28] The rest of the fixtures were also confirmed on 6 December 2023. ^[29]

Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Armagh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to NFL Division 2 Final and promotion to 2025 NFL Division 1
2	Cavan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Cork	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Donegal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Fermanagh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Kildare	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Louth	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to 2025 NFL Division 3
8	Meath	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: January 2024. Source: GAA.ie
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Fixtures

Donegal v Cork

28 January 2024 (2024-01-28)Round 1	Donegal	v	Cork	Ballybofey
13:45 IST (UTC+1)				Venue: MacCumhaill Park

Cavan v Donegal

4 February 2024 (2024-02-04)Round 2	Cavan	v	Donegal	Cavan
16:00 IST (UTC)				Venue: Breffni Park

Donegal v Fermanagh

17 February 2024 (2024-02-17)Round 3	Donegal	v	Fermanagh	Letterkenny
14:00 IST (UTC+1)				Venue: O'Donnell Park

Armagh v Donegal

25 February 2024 (2024-02-25)Round 4	Armagh	v	Donegal	Armagh
15:00 IST (UTC+1)				Venue: Athletic Grounds

Donegal v Louth

3 March 2024 (2024-03-03)Round 5	Donegal	v	Louth	Ballyshannon
14:00 IST (UTC+1)				Venue: Fr Tierney Park

Kildare v Donegal

16 March 2023 (2023-03-16)Round 6	Kildare	v	Donegal	Carlow
17:00 IST (UTC+1)				Venue: Dr Cullen Park

Donegal v Meath

23 March 2024 (2024-03-23)Round 7	Donegal	v	Meath	Ballybofey
19:00 IST (UTC+1)				Venue: MacCumhaill Park

Ulster Senior Football Championship

Main article: 2024 Ulster Senior Football Championship

The draw for the 2024 Ulster Championship was made on 21 October 2023. ^{[30] [31]}

Bracket

Preliminary round v t e

Quarter-Finals

Semi-Finals

Final

Down

Antrim

Quarter-final winner

Quarter-final winner

Fermanagh

Armagh

Semi-final winner

Semi-final winner

Derry

Donegal

Quarter-final winner

Quarter-final winner

Tyrone

Monaghan

Preliminary winner

Cavan

Fixtures

2024

Quarter-final

Derry	v	Donegal

References

1. McCoy, Niall (17 August 2023). "McGuinness in mix for sensational Donegal return". RTÉ Sport . Retrieved 17 August 2023.
2. "Donegal hastily arrange meeting for manager update". RTÉ Sport. 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023. In an update this afternoon, Donegal asked delegates to attend the hastily arranged meeting on Monday at 7.30pm to discuss 'an update on the deliberations of the Senior Football Manager's Selection Committee'.
3. "Donegal confirm return of Jim McGuinness as manager". RTÉ Sport. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
4. McLaughlin, Gerry (19 November 2023). "McGuinness rules out any late additions to Donegal managerial backroom team: McGuinness' confirmation ends fresh speculation that Karl Lacey might have come on board following Kilcoo's elimination from the Ulster club championship by Scotstown" . Retrieved 19 November 2023.
5. Haughey, John (22 August 2023). "Can McGuinness' second coming rejuvenate Donegal?". BBC Sport . Retrieved 22 August 2023.
6. "Donegal confirm stunning return of Jim McGuinness as manager". The42.ie. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
7. Ferry, Ryan (9 November 2023). "Gallagher to return as goalkeeping coach". Donegal News . p. 72. James Gallagher is set for a third stint as the goalkeeping coach with the Donegal senior football team. The Meenlaragh native was not involved in 2023 with Declan McIntyre taking on the role.
8. Craig, Frank (9 November 2023). "James Gallagher set to return as Donegal goalkeeping coach: Gallagher previously served under both Rory Gallagher and Declan Bonner and the Meenlaragh man looks set for another stint working with the Donegal senior goalkeepers". DonegalLive.ie. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
9. "James Gallagher returns to Donegal as goalkeeping coach". Highland Radio. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
10. "New Donegal jersey launched at the Abbey Hotel". Donegal News . 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
11. "Donegal's Oisin Gallen hopes new jersey brings 'fresh start'". Highland Radio. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023. Donegal GAA launched the new county jersey for the 2024 season today at The Abbey Hotel in conjunction with O'Neills.
12. "McGuinness to start Donegal's 2024 preparations with seven-day training camp". Hogan Stand . 6 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
13. Comack, Tom (4 October 2023). "McGuinness to begin Donegal preparations for 2024 with week-long training camp". DonegalLive.ie. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
14. "Donegal panel set to jet off to Tenerife". Donegal News . 30 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
15. "Donegal squad to jet off to Tenerife tomorrow". Hogan Stand . 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
16. "Donegal supporters' first chance to see Jim McGuinness's team in action is confirmed". 27 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
17. "Donegal to begin new reign under McGuinness with Roscommon friendly in Ballyshannon". 27 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
18. Collins, Charlie (17 December 2023). "Donegal beat Roscommon in Jim McGuinness' return as manager" . Retrieved 17 December 2023.
19. "New-look Donegal beat Roscommon in challenge match". Ocean FM. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
20. Cooney, Ian (16 December 2023). "Roscommon name team for challenge game against Donegal". Roscommon Herald . Retrieved 16 December 2023.
21. "Donegal v Roscommon friendly game this afternoon". 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
22. "McGuinness's Donegal defeat Rossies in challenge match". Donegal News . 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
23. Foley, Alan (17 December 2023). "Live updates: Donegal v Roscommon challenge match in Ballyshannon" . Retrieved 17 December 2023.
24. "Donegal drawn with Tyrone and Armagh in McKenna Cup". Highland Radio. 13 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
25. "Donegal to face Tyrone and Armagh in McKenna Cup". Donegal News . 13 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
26. "Blow for Donegal ahead of National League as Jim McGuinness hit with eight-week ban over ineligible player". Independent.ie. 8 January 2024.
27. Keys, Colm (27 October 2023). "Allianz League openers revealed as Dublin to take on Monaghan at Croke Park". Irish Independent . Retrieved 27 October 2023. In Division 2, Jim McGuinness will have a home game against Cork on Saturday night as his first competitive fixture since returning to the fold earlier this year…
28. Roche, Frank (6 December 2023). "GAA unveils 'Super Saturday' climax to NFL Division Two in 2024". Irish Independent. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
29. "Your complete guide to the 2024 GAA inter-county fixtures list". Irish Independent . 6 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
30. Diallo, Raf (21 October 2023). "2024 Provincial football championships draw — recap". RTÉ Sport . Retrieved 21 October 2023.
31. "Ulster SFC draw pairs Jim McGuinness against Mickey Harte". RTÉ Sport. 21 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.

External links

• "Why Jim McGuinness can restore Donegal to Gaelic football's top table"