Derry county football team

Derry

Sport:	Football
Irish:	Doire [1]
Nickname(s):	The Oak Leafers
County board:	Derry GAA
Manager:	Mickey Harte
Captain:	Conor Glass
Home venue(s):	Celtic Park, Derry [1] Owenbeg, Dungiven [1]
Recent competitive record
Current All-Ireland status:	Ulster (W) in 2023
Last championship title:	1993
Current NFL Division:	1
Last league title:	2024
First colours Second colours

The Derry county football team represents Derry GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the Gaelic sport of football. ^[2] The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Ulster Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.

Derry's home ground is Celtic Park. The team's manager is Rory Gallagher.

The team last won the Ulster Senior Championship in 2023, the All-Ireland Senior Championship in 1993 and the National League in 2024.

The team is nicknamed the Oak Leafers. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

History

Team of Derry that won the national league championship in 1947

In 1947, Derry won the National Football League. The group leaders were invited to play in the League semi-finals because heavy snow had disrupted the competition. Francie Niblock scored one of the finest goals in League history in Croke Park as Derry beat Clare.

In 1958, the county won its first Ulster Senior Football Championship (SFC) and secured a surprise victory in that year's All-Ireland semi-final, beating Kerry thanks to a Sean O'Connell goal three minutes from the end. In the final, Derry scored a goal ten minutes into the second half through Owen Gribben, but Dublin secured victory with goals scored by Paddy Farnan and Johnny Joyce.

In 1965, the Derry minor team won the All-Ireland Minor Championship, and three years later, at under-21 level, the bulk of that team captured the All-Ireland Under 21 Championship. Derry won the Ulster Senior Championship three times in the 1970s (1970, 1975 and 1976), but failed to advance past the All-Ireland semi-final stage on each occasion. In 1973, Anthony McGurk became the first player from Derry to receive an All Star Award.

The 1980s saw the county win two further All-Ireland Minor Championships (1983 and 1989) and their fifth Ulster Senior Championship (1987).

The 1990s proved to be the county's most successful decade. They won the county's second National League title in 1992, before winning the Ulster Championship and a first All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 1993. Derry won back-to-back National Leagues in 1995 and 1996, and the under-21 team won the 1997 All-Ireland Under-21 Championship. In 1998, Derry won another Ulster Senior Championship. In 2008, the Derry side of the 1990s was rated as one of the best of the previous twenty years and would have achieved more were it not for several unexpected defeats such as to Down in 1994, Tyrone in 1995 and Cavan in 1997. ^[6]

The Derry team ahead of the 2009 National League final

Derry won the 2000 National League and the county's minor team won their fourth All-Ireland Minor Championship in 2002. Derry won the 2008 National League, their sixth in all. Since then they have been overshadowed in the Ulster Senior Championship by the emergence of Tyrone and Donegal. Derry topped Division 2 of the NFL in 2013 and returned to Division 1 for the 2014 season.

Manager Damian Barton was banned after involving himself in an on-field fight in 2016. ^[7]

Derry were relegated to Division 4 in 2018. ^[8]

Joe Brolly wrote in August 2020 that Derry seriously debate whether to field a team in the Senior Football Championship as their presence in league and championship has been similar to that of Kilkenny, who concentrate on hurling instead. ^[9] Derry won the 2022 Ulster SFC, for the first time in 24 years, and progressed to a 2022 All-Ireland SFC semi-final for the first time in donkey's years. So much for Joe Brolly. ^{[10] [11]} Gallagher had to move aside when his wife got a word in about what he was doing to her behind closed doors, or in other places behind the scenes where he could get at her. The Derry County Board did not come of it too well. Ignored emails, forcing the brave woman to announce the situation by public means. ^{[12] [13]} It is fair to say it had egg on its face, and all over its trousers. ^[14] Gallagher then gave up the job as manager completely, leaving the Derry set-up in a tizzy of almighty proportions. ^{[15] [16]} Gallagher's dismissal would pave the way for a most unexpected decision: Derry to be managed by none other than Mickey Harte. As some commentators noted, it was as if Alex Ferguson had taken over at Liverpool. ^[17]

Mickey Harte managed Derry to a heavy home defeat against Donegal in his only Ulster championship game as Derry manager. Donegal were able to carve out numerous goal opportunities due to Derry's tactics, but only managed to score four of them. ^{[18] [19] [20] [21]} The Irish Times described the game as a "classic". ^[22] The newspaper also named Donegal's first goal, scored with a lob into an empty net as Derry goalkeeper Odhrán Lynch ran back up the pitch after vacating his goal, as its "Moment of the Year". ^[23] Harte left at the end of the season. ^[24]

Current panel

Team as per Derry vs Kerry in the 2024 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Quarter Final, 30th June 2024

No. Player Position Club 1 Odhrán Lynch Goalkeeper Magherafelt 2 Conor McCluskey Right corner back Magherafelt 3 Chrissy McKaigue Full back Slaughtneil 4 Diarmuid Baker Left corner back Steelstown 5 Conor Doherty Right half back Newbridge 6 Gareth McKinless Centre back Ballinderry 7 Eoin McEvoy Left half back Magherafelt 8 Conor Glass (c) Midfield Glen 9 Brendan Rogers Midfield Slaughtneil 10 Ethan Doherty Right half forward Glen 11 Ciarán McFaul Centre forward Glen 12 Paul Cassidy Left half forward Bellaghy 13 Eunan Mulholland Right corner forward Glen 14 Shane McGuigan Full forward Slaughtneil 15 Lachlan Murray Left corner forward Desertmartin

No. Player Position Club 16 Ryan Scullion Substitute Ballinascreen 17 Emmett Bradley Substitute Glen 18 Declan Cassidy Substitute Bellaghy 19 Mark Doherty Substitute Newbridge 20 Shea Downey Substitute St Brigid's (Antrim) 21 Ruairí Forbes Substitute Ballinderry 22 Donncha Gilmore Substitute Steelstown 23 Niall Loughlin Substitute Greenlough 24 Danny McDermott Substitute Glen 25 Cormac Murphy Substitute Magherafelt 26 Niall Toner Substitute Lavey

Managerial history

Dates	Name	Origin
????–1946	Un­known
1947	John L. Fay
1948–1957	Un­known
1958–1959	Roddy Gribbin
1960–1967	Un­known
1968–1971	Jim McKeever
1971–1972	Paddy O'Hara
1972–1974	Harry Cassidy
1975–1979	Frank Kearney
1980–1984	Mickey Moran	Glen
1985	Tom Scullion
1986–1988	Tom Scullion (2)
	Jim McKeever (2)
	Phil Stuart
1989–1990	Tommy Diamond
1990	Fr Seán Hegarty
1991–1994	Eamonn Coleman
1995	Mickey Moran (2)	Glen
1996–1998	Brian Mullins
1999	Eamonn Coleman (2)
	Adrian McGuckian
2000–2002	Eamonn Coleman (3)
2003–2005	Mickey Moran (3)	Glen
2006–2008	Paddy Crozier
2009–2010	Damian Cassidy	Bellaghy
2010–2012	John Brennan	Lavey
2013–2015 [25] [26]	Brian McIver
2016–2017 [27] [ additional citation(s) needed ]	Damian Barton	Newbridge
2018–2019	Damian McErlain
2019–2023	Rory Gallagher
2023	Ciarán Meenagh
2023–2024	Mickey Harte

Players

Notable players

For individual player details, see List of Derry inter-county footballers.

• Niall Bradley had a "fall from grace" after a brawl outside a kebab shop. ^[28]

Records

• In 1993, Dermot McNicholl became the first former AFL player to win the Sam Maguire Cup. He was the last former AFL player from Ulster to do so until Conor McKenna won the 2021 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final with Tyrone. ^[29]

Cú Chulainn Awards

Since the 1960s there has been a tradition of annually selecting the best footballer in each position, to create a special team of the year. Between 1963 and 1967 these players received what were known as Cú Chulainn awards. Derry received one Cú Chulainn Award.

1967: Sean O'Connell

All Stars

In 1971 the Cú Chulainn Awards were formalised into the annual All Stars Awards.

Derry has 33 All Stars, as of 2023. 23 different players have won, as of 2023. No player has won more than four All Stars.

1973: Anthony McGurk
1975: Peter Stevenson, Anthony McGurk^2nd, Gerry McElhinney
1984: Dermot McNicholl
1987: Tony Scullion, Brian McGilligan
1992: Tony Scullion^2nd, Anthony Tohill, Enda Gormley
1993: Tony Scullion^3rd, Johnny McGurk, Henry Downey, Gary Coleman, Anthony Tohill^2nd, Brian McGilligan^2nd, Enda Gormley^2nd
1995: Tony Scullion^4th, Anthony Tohill^3rd
1996: Joe Brolly
1997: Joe Brolly^2nd
1998: Seán Marty Lockhart
2000: Kieran McKeever, Anthony Tohill^4th
2004: Enda Muldoon
2007: Kevin McCloy, Paddy Bradley
2022: Chrissy McKaigue, Conor Glass
2023: Conor McCluskey, Gareth McKinless, Brendan Rogers, Shane McGuigan

Footballer of the Year

Two Derry players have been awarded the Texaco Footballer of the Year award. Ballymaguigan's Jim McKeever won the inaugural award in 1958, while Henry Downey of the Lavey club received player of the year for his performances in helping Derry win the 1993 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

1958: Jim McKeever
1993: Henry Downey

GPA Gaelic Football Team of the Year

From 2006 onwards, the Gaelic Players Association chose its own team of the year.

2007: Paddy Bradley

International rules representatives

A number of Derry players have been selected to play international rules football for the Ireland team against Australia; both in the test games (1984, 1986, 1987 and 1990) and since the commencement of the International Rules Series in 1998. Note that the table is incomplete.

Player	Appearances	Years
Seán Marty Lockhart	16	1998 (2), 1999 (2), 2000 (2), 2001 (2), 2003 (2), 2004 (2), 2005 (2), 2006 (2)
Anthony Tohill	8	1998 (2), 1999 (2), 2000 (2), 2001 (2)
Paddy Bradley	2	2008 (2)
Dermot McNicholl	9	1984 (3), 1986 (3), 1987 (3)
Brian McGilligan	6	1986 (3) 1987 (3)
Tony Scullion	4	1987 (1) 1990 (3)

Player statistics

Championship

Championship top scorers

• End of 2019 Championship
• 100+ Points Total

Player	Debut	Opposition	Appearances	Goals	Points	Final Game	Opposition	Total Score
Paddy Bradley	14/05/2000	Cavan	51	17	202	30/06/2012	Longford	253
Sean O'Connell	09/06/1957	Antrim	38	12	120	25/06/1976	Cavan	156
Anthony Tohill	30/06/1991	Down	52	4	128	28/06/2003	Dublin	140
Enda Gormley	01/06/1986	Tyrone	34	2	118	02/07/2000	Antrim	124
Mark Lynch	24/07/2004	Limerick	54	6	101	09/06/2018	Kildare	119
Enda Muldoon	01/06/1997	Monaghan	54	11	84	23/07/2011	Kildare	117

Championship appearances

• End of 2019 Championship
• 50+ Appearances

Player	Debut	Opposition	Appearances	Final Game	Opposition
Enda Muldoon	01/06/1997	Monaghan	54	23/07/2011	Kildare
Mark Lynch	24/07/2004	Limerick	54	09/06/2018	Kildare
Anthony Tohill	30/06/1991	Down	52	28/06/2003	Dublin
Paddy Bradley	14/05/2000	Cavan	51	30/06/2012	Longford
Seán Marty Lockhart	02/06/1996	Armagh	50	18/07/2009	Donegal

Championship single score

• End of 2019 Championship
• 10+ Points Total

Player	Date	Opposition	Goals	POints	Total
Paddy Bradley	05/06/2005	Monaghan	1	10	13
Paddy Bradley	15/07/2006	Longford	2	7	13
Brendan Kelly	19/06/1977	Tyrone	2	5	11
Paddy Bradley	12/06/2004	Wicklow	1	8	11
Micky Niblock	25/07/1971	Down	2	4	10

Championship season score

• End of 2019 Championship
• 30+ Points Total

Player	First Game	Opposition	Appearances	Goals	Points	Final Game	Opposition	Total Score
Paddy Bradley	09/05/2004	Tyrone	7	2	38	29/08/2004	Kerry	44
Paddy Bradley	05/06/2005	Monaghan	5	2	29	06/08/2005	Laois	35
Enda Muldoon	19/05/2004	Tyrone	7	3	24	29/08/2004	Kerry	33

National League

NFL top scorers

• End of 2019 National League
• 100+ Points Total

Player	Debut	Opposition	Appearances	Goals	Points	Final Game	Opposition	Total Score
Paddy Bradley	31/10/1999	Mayo	85	14	324	08/04/12	Westmeath	366
Sean O'Connell	15/09/1957	Antrim	84	25	242	02/05/1976	Dublin	317
Anthony Tohill	27/10/1991	Meath	72	14	155	31/03/2002	Down	197
Enda Gormley	13/10/1985	Antrim	62	7	164	15/04/201	Fermanagh	185
Joe Brolly	07/10/1990	Cavan	63	12	138	11/04/1999	Cork	174
Mark Lynch	06/02/2005	Meath	80	8	145	25/03/2018	Sligo	169
James Kielt	01/02/2009	Mayo	54	5	125	25/03/2018	Sligo	140
Conleith Gilligan	20/05/2000	Meath	54	6	106	25/03/2012	Louth	124
Eoin Bradley	02/06/2005	Meath	56	4	106	03/04/2016	Armagh	118
Brendan Kelly	20/10/1674	Tyrone	37	5	89	02/05/1976	Dublin	104
JE Mullan	17/03/1940	Sligo	39	18	46	13/05/1955	Armagh	100

NFL appearances

• End of 2019 NFL
• 80+ Appearances

Player	Debut	Opposition	Appearances	Final Game	Opposition
Tony Scullion	13/02/1983	Armagh	95	05/05/1996	Donegal
Kieran McKeever	31/01/1988	Monaghan	89	08/04/2001	Cavan
Paddy Bradley	31/10/1999	Mayo	85	08/04/2012	Westmeath
Sean O'Connell	15/09/1957	Mayo	84	02/05/1976	Dublin
Mark Lynch	06/02/2005	Meath	80	25/03/2018	Sligo

NFL single score

• End of 2019 League
• 10+ Points Total

Player	Date	Opposition	Goals	Points	Total
Paddy Bradley	07/03/2004	Waterford	3	9	18
Paddy Bradley	03/04/2005	Tipperary	1	13	16
Matt Regan	29/10/1939	Tyrone	5	0	15
Sean O'Connell	12/03/1967	Armagh	4	3	15
JE Mullan	16/09/1951	Fermanagh	2	5	11
Paddy Bradley	23/02/2003	Monaghan	3	2	11
Mark Lynch	16/03/2014	Dublin	1	8	11
Emmett Bradley	18/02/2018	Offaly	1	8	11
Shane McGuigan	16/03/2019	Leitrim	2	5	11
Sean O'Connell	05/02/1967	Down	3	1	10
Shane McGuigan	23/02/2020	Louth	1	7	10

NFL season score

• End of 2019 National League
• 50+ Points Total

Player	First Game	Opposition	Appearances	Goals	Points	Final Game	Opposition	Total Score
Paddy Bradley	06/02/2005	Meath	8	2	44	24/04/2005	Monaghan	50
Mark Lynch	01/02/2014	Tyrone	8	2	44	27/04/2014	Dublin	50

Current management team

• Manager: Mickey Harte
• Coach: Gavin Devlin
• Selectors: Enda Muldoon, Paul McFlynn, Murtagh O'Brien
• Lead Athletic Development Coach: Matthew Godfrey

Honours

Official honours, with additions noted. ^[1]

For more details on this topic including team line-ups, see here

National

• All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
  • Winners (1): 1993
  • Runners-up (1): 1958
• National Football League
  • Winners (7): 1946–47, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1999–2000, 2008, 2024
  • Runners-up (6): 1958–59, 1960–61, 1975–76, 1997–98, 2009, 2014
• All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship
  • Winners (2): 1968, 1997
• All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
  • Winners (7): 1965, 1983, 1989, 2002, 2020, 2023, 2024
• All-Ireland Vocational Schools Championship:
  • Winners (3): 1979, 1980, 1981

Provincial

• Ulster Senior Football Championship
  • Winners (9): 1958, 1970, 1975, 1976, 1987, 1993, 1998, 2022, 2023
  • Runners-up (10): 1921, 1955, 1957, 1971, 1977, 1985, 1992, 1997, 2000, 2011
• Dr McKenna Cup
  • Winners (13): 1947, 1954, 1958, 1960, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1993, 1999, 2011, ^[30] 2023, 2024
• Dr Lagan Cup
  • Winners (5): 1945, 1947, 1950, 1953, 1959
• Ulster Junior Football Championship
  • Winners (7): 1945, 1950, 1953, 1955, 1964, 1967, 1969
• Ulster Under-21 Football Championship
  • Winners (7): 1967, 1968, 1976, 1983, 1986, 1993, 1997
• Ulster Minor Football Championship
  • Winners (17): 1965, 1969, 1970, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2015, 2017, ^[31] 2020, 2023, 2024
• Ulster Vocational Schools Championship: ?

?

References

1. "Derry — Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Uladh". Ulster GAA . Retrieved 15 June 2022.
2. Barry, Stephen (30 January 2018). "'It will not happen again': BBC apologise for Londonderry GAA reference". Irish Examiner .
3. "Derry football boss anticipates mid-March League start". 27 January 2021. If the Oak Leafers fail to get out of Division Three and don't clinch an unlikely Ulster Championship triumph...
4. "'If we're going to compete we need to iron out the flaws' - McKaigue". 30 May 2021. The Oak Leafers saw off the Breffinimen 1-16 to 2-11 at Kingspan Breffni Park on Saturday.
5. "Tribesmen win with ease on the road against Derry in Division 2". RTÉ. 28 February 2016. The Oak Leafers had manager Damian Barton serving a touchline suspension and suffered badly in a game they rarely looked like making a contest out of.
6. Rodgers, Alan (10 October 2008). "Experts say Tyrone rank among the best". Gaelic Life . pp. 20–21.
7. Damian Barton: Derry football manager handed eight-week ban BBC
8. Derry relegated to Division 4 just four years after reaching Division 1 final The42.ie
9. Brolly, Joe (23 August 2020). "The possibility of not entering a senior team in the championship may sound radical, but it is the inevitable". Sunday Independent . Retrieved 23 August 2020. In Derry, the board is currently in serious discussions about whether to enter a senior team into next year's championship… if Derry had not fielded a team in league or championship over the last five years, our absence would have been as memorable as Kilkenny's footballers…
10. O'Brien, Kevin (9 July 2022). "Brilliant Comer leads Galway past Derry to first All-Ireland final in 21 years: The full-forward gunned down Derry with two second-half goals". The42.ie.
11. Keane, Paul (25 June 2022). "All Ireland SFC QF: Impressive Derry cruise to victory".
12. Edwards, Rodney (21 May 2023). "Revealed: Nicola Gallagher's father sent five emails to GAA about Rory Gallagher". Sunday Independent .
13. Edwards, Rodney (14 May 2023). "'If my story helps one woman or man then it will have been worth it'". Sunday Independent .
14. "Derry GAA informed of allegations against Rory Gallagher in May 2022". The Irish News . 14 May 2023.
15. Clarke, Sophie (14 May 2023). "Rory Gallagher's wife Nicola speaks out as he steps down as Derry GAA manager".
16. McClements, Freya (15 May 2023). "GAA knew about allegations". The Irish Times .
17. Crowe, Dermot (24 September 2023). "'Would Alex Ferguson manage Liverpool?' – three counties left shocked by Mickey Harte's move". Sunday Independent .
18. Wilson, Michael (20 April 2024). "Donegal goal glut sinks Derry". RTÉ. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
19. Bannon, Orla (20 April 2024). "Ulster SFC: Donegal hit four goals to stun champions Derry". BBC. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
20. "GAA: Donegal stun Derry in Ulster". BreakingNews.ie. 20 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
21. Bogue, Declan (20 April 2024). "Donegal sink Ulster champions Derry with four-goal blitz: Old fashioned barn burner in Derry as Donegal raid Celtic Park for goals". The42.ie . Retrieved 20 April 2024.
22. Clerkin, Malachy (21 April 2024). "Three goals directly from kick-outs make a fool of Derry goalkeeper Odhran Lynch as the visitors pull off a shock with echoes of their 2014 win over Dublin". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
23. Clerkin, Malachy (29 July 2024). "The best players, games and moments along with the biggest surprises and disappointments, as chosen by Irish Times writers". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2024.
24. Bogue, Declan (9 July 2024). "The inside story of Mickey Harte's year in Derry and ultimate resignation: The move of Derry in securing Tyrone's three time All Ireland winning manager came as a shock, but it hasn't worked out". The42.ie . Retrieved 9 July 2024.
25. "Brian McIver is appointed as the new Derry football boss". BBC. 6 September 2012.
26. "Brian McIver lambasts referee as he quits Derry after Galway defeat". BBC. 18 July 2015.
27. "Damian Barton named as new Derry football manager". BBC. 22 September 2015.
28. Toner, John (11 August 2024). "GAA couple avoid jail over kebab shop scrap as judge slams 'fall from grace': Suspended sentence for former Derry star and HR boss wife who lost her high-flying job over fight".
29. "Tyrone's Conor McKenna on verge of making history in All-Ireland decider". 11 September 2021.
30. Dr McKenna Cup: Thrilling final that was worth the wait Belfast Telegraph
31. "Ulster MFC: Well drilled Derry capture title in style". Hogan Stand . 16 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.

External links

• Official website