John Gildea

Last updated

John Gildea
Personal information
Irish name Seán Mac Giolla Dé
Sport Gaelic football
Position Wing-forward/midfield
Born (1971-03-27) 27 March 1971 (age 52) [1]
Club(s)
YearsClub
19??–200?
1997
2001
 Naomh Conaill
Donegal New York
Donegal Boston
Club titles
Donegal titles 1
Inter-county(ies)
YearsCounty
199?–2004
 Donegal

John Gildea (born 27 March 1971) [1] is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Naomh Conaill and the Donegal county team.

He is originally from Glenties. [2]

Playing career

Gildea made his championship debut for Donegal as a substitute against Down in 1995. [3] Pat Ward and Michael Gallagher were county footballers when Gildea was "coming through". [4] His early career was troubled; suffering a problem (which turned out to be a Vitamin B12 deficiency) that affected his ability to train, he made no further championship appearances while P. J. McGowan was manager of the county. [2] Gildea then played illegally under an assumed name for Donegal New York in 1997, the illegality due to him officially registering to play in Boston. [2] He was suspended for one year, reduced to six months on appeal. [2] Gildea credited McGowan's successor Declan Bonner for persisting with him through his difficulties. [2] Fourteen hours after the suspension had ended, Bonner started Gildea in the 1997–98 National Football League semi-final at Croke Park; Gildea scored two points but his team lost the game to Offaly. [2]

Gildea featured prominently for his county from 1998 onwards. [3] Having played as a wing-forward against Offaly and against Antrim in the 1998 Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final, Bonner moved Gildea into the midfield position where he would make his name when Martin Coll was sent off early on against Cavan in the Ulster semi-final. [2] Donegal won that game, with Gildea outmanoeuvring Dermot McCabe, but the county then lost the Ulster final to a late Joe Brolly goal. [3]

Gildea quit the panel in May 2001, shortly after Bonner's successor as manager, Mickey Moran, controversially substituted him during a championship loss to Fermanagh in Enniskillen; the decision was part of why selector Michael Houston also quit, while Gildea went to the United States to play for Donegal Boston. [5] [6] He vowed to retire after 2002, but carried on. [7] By 2003, Gildea was the most senior player in the county team. [8] He started the first game of Brian McEniff's last spell as Donegal manager, a league defeat to Galway in Tuam in February 2003, during which he scored a point. [9] That year he was an important player during a six-game championship run through the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifiers. [7] He played in the 2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final against Armagh. [10] Gildea continued to play for his county until 2004. [3]

Gildea won a Donegal Senior Football Championship in 2005, his club's first, which came after a replay. [11]

Gildea first met Stephen Rochford, who went on to work with Bonner in his second spell as Donegal manager, during two visits to Australia from twenty years previously. [2]

He is the father of two sons. [1] He lives in Letterkenny. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Maguire, Stephen (27 March 2021). "From midfield to midlife as former Donegal player hits 50" . Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 McNulty, Chris (21 November 2020). "John Gildea — Why Declan Bonner has perfect management to succeed with Donegal" . Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Nulty, Chris (22 July 2011). "1992–2011: The best XV not to win Ulster…". Donegal News . Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  4. ↑ Craig, Frank (1 February 2020). "Gildea pays tribute to departing McLoone". Donegal News . Retrieved 1 February 2020. When I was coming through Pat Ward and Michael Gallagher were the men you looked to. For us to have a county footballer back then was a huge deal. Myself and Jim (McGuinness) were then part of it at the same time and it was a big thing.
  5. ↑ "Houston's big problem". BBC Sport. 30 May 2001. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2001.
  6. ↑ "Donegal Boston come of age". Hogan Stand . 16 July 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
  7. 1 2 Keys, Colm (5 November 2003). "Royals' seal of approval puts pressure on Boylan". Irish Independent . After commiting[ sic ] himself to retirement last year, he's determined not to make the same mistake twice. 'I'll see how the body is after Christmas', said Gildea, the driving force behind Donegal's six-game qualifier odyssey.
  8. ↑ Crowe, Dermot (25 February 2007). "Former wild child wants football's natural high". Sunday Independent . Retrieved 25 February 2007. In 2003, under McEniff, Fermanagh beat Donegal in the championship… [Kevin] Cassidy went along with the intention of having the dinner and slipping away… I rang John Gildea, he was the most senior player at the time.
  9. ↑ Duggan, Keith (3 February 2003). "Meehan adds spark to Galway attack". The Irish Times .
  10. ↑ "Armagh's double still alive". Irish Independent . 1 September 2003.
  11. ↑ "Historic first title for Naomh Conaill". Irish Independent . 10 October 2005.
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