The Donegal county football team represents Donegal in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Donegal GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. 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.
Donegal's home ground is MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey. The team's manager is Jim McGuinness.
Donegal was the third Ulster county to win an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC), following Cavan and Down. The team last won the Ulster Senior Championship in 2025, the All-Ireland Senior Championship in 2012 and the National League in 2026.
Currently regarded as one of the best teams in the sport, Karl Lacey won the 2012 All Stars Footballer of the Year, Michael Murphy won the 2009 All Stars Young Footballer of the Year and Ryan McHugh won the 2014 All Stars Young Footballer of the Year, while numerous other players have been selected on All Star teams. Donegal players comprised most of the 2012 All Stars Team of the Year, as well as all three nominations for Footballer of the Year, ultimately won by Lacey. In addition, having been invited to assist the Celtic association football club 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. McGuinness's services have also been sought by Premier League clubs. In terms of style, "the system" deployed by McGuinness's team was likened to that of the Spanish association football team FC Barcelona.
Donegal is 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). Distances to games involving provincial opponents have been a problem.
Panel
INJ Player has had an injury which has affected recent involvement with the county team. RET Player has since retired from the county team. WD Player has since withdrawn from the county team due to a non-injury issue.
Management team Confirmed in August 2023, some additions and subtractions noted:: Manager: Jim McGuinness Backroom team: Colm McFadden Neil McGee Luke Barrett (until August 2025) Antoin McFadden Lead Athletic Performance 2023 to 2025
Goalkeeping coach: James Gallagher (announced November 2023)
Captains
List of Donegal Gaelic Football team captains since 1992
Year(s) Captain 1992 Anthony Molloy 1998 John Joseph “John Joe” 2008 Kevin Cassidy 2009 Rory Kavanagh 2010 Kevin Cassidy 2011 - 2022 Michael Murphy 2023–present Paddy McBrearty
Seasons
History Early years Following the first Donegal County Board's formation in 1905, the county team's first football game was against Derry on 17 March 1906.
Donegal lost the 1933 "Home final" of the 1933 All-Ireland Junior Football Championship to Mayo (2–15 to 2–2), and the team then made its next appearance at Croke Park on Sunday 6 April 1952. The occasion was a National Football League semi-final and the opponent that day was Cork.
1960s The 1960s saw Donegal emerge as a well-known team, with many victories in that decade. However, Down was also a force on the national stage, becoming the first team from the North to win All-Ireland SFC titles in 1960, 1961 and 1968. Donegal's first appearance in an Ulster Senior Football Championship final was not until 1963, followed by a second appearance in 1966; Down won in both appearances. That was a vintage year for Donegal; in 1963, Declan O'Carroll started in five Ulster finals in what went down as a "great year" for Donegal.
McEniff years 1970s–1980s: Ulster and Under-21 success The county came to the fore of Ulster football in the 1970s, winning its first Ulster SFC title in 1972. McEniff was player-manager of the 1972 team. The win coincided with the county's first All Star—in the form of McEniff himself—in the second year of the award's existence. Reigning All-Ireland SFC champion Offaly defeated the Ulster SFC champion in the 1972 All-Ireland SFC semi-final, on the way to a second consecutive All-Ireland SFC title.
A second provincial title followed for Donegal in 1974. McEniff was again player-manager. Galway — the All-Ireland SFC finalist from 1971 and 1973 — defeated Donegal in the 1974 All-Ireland SFC semi-final.
In 1979, Donegal reached the Ulster SFC final again, under the guidance of Sean O'Donnell, but lost to Monaghan.
In October 1982, Tom Conaghan managed Donegal to the 1982 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship title.
McEniff returned as senior manager, and Donegal won a third provincial title in 1983, with ten members of the 1982 under-21 team included in the panel. Seamus Bonner became the first player from the county to win the competition as a player on three occasions, having earlier won in 1972 and 1974. Again though, Donegal lost to Galway in the 1983 All-Ireland SFC semi-final, ahead of what would become a notorious 1983 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, known as the "Game of Shame".
Tom Conaghan took over as senior manager from McEniff after McEniff departed again in the mid-1980s. Over the course of his time as senior manager during the 1980s, Conaghan fell out with players such as Declan Bonner, Manus Boyle, Matt Gallagher, Barry McGowan and Sylvester Maguire. Conaghan's spell as county manager ended with a heavy defeat to Tyrone.
Donegal won the 1987 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship title, a success which provided the basis for future prosperity in the county. The under-21 team defeated Kerry in the final. P. J. McGowan managed the 1987 under-21 team.
1990s: Sam Maguire Cup McEniff returned as senior manager for a fourth time in September 1989. He led the county to another Ulster SFC title in 1990, restoring players who had gone by the wayside, such as Bonner, Boyle, Gallagher, McGowan and Maguire. Donegal lost to eventual All-Ireland SFC finalist Meath in the 1990 All-Ireland SFC semi-final.
However, Donegal would win the Ulster SFC title again in 1992. As a result of this victory a 1992 All-Ireland SFC 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 the senior team 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 which contested five successive Ulster SFC 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".Craig, Frank. "Jim could have walked away – McGuinness: 'I had offers'". Letterkenny Post, 20 September 2012, pp. 44–45.
It was 1987 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship-winning manager P. J. McGowan took over from McEniff in 1994. He lasted till 1997.
Declan Bonner (first term): 1997–2000 Declan Bonner managed the team between 1997 and 2000. He began on his 32nd birthday, within four weeks of retirement. He was informed of the decision to appoint him at 9.29 pm on 11 August 1997, after Anthony Molloy, past manager Conaghan and Pauric McShea all withdrew. Charlie Mulgrew and Matt Gallagher were part of Bonner's management team. Bonner led Donegal to the 1997–98 National Football League semi-final against eventual title winners Offaly and the 1998 Ulster SFC final against Derry — a last-minute Joe Brolly goal, accompanied by a few kisses to the crowd, put paid to that one.
John Joe and the Derrymen: 2000–2010 Mickey Moran was appointed manager on a three-year term in August 2000, succeeding Declan Bonner. Moran's first game in charge was a league victory at home to Offaly, a win achieved while fielding four debutants (Stephen Cassidy, Michael Doherty, Barry Monaghan and ... one other?). During his tenure selector Michael Houston quit after a public falling out with Moran. Moran's first year in charge of Donegal was a disappointing one, but 2002 was more successful, leading Donegal to the Ulster final (which the team lost to Armagh), and then to the 2002 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Dublin. However, in September 2002, he informed the county board he would not be staying for the third year of the term. All-Ireland SFC winning manager Brian McEniff took the reins for the 2003 season. His first game back in charge, an away league fixture to Galway in Tuam in February 2003, ended in defeat. However, McEniff guided Donegal to the 2003 All-Ireland SFC semi-final, the first time the team had played at this stage of the competition since 1992. The following year, Donegal reached another Ulster SFC final, again losing out to Armagh. McEniff stepped down after the 2005 season, to end his fourth and final tenure with his county.
Brian McIver was appointed manager in 2006. His tenure saw a slight improvement in the fortunes of the team, as he led Donegal into Division 1 of the National Football League. However, the county had been without a trophy for 15 years. The team had contested the 1993 and 1998 Ulster SFC 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. Donegal 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, winning by a scoreline of 0–13 to 0–10. En 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 St Eunan's and Gaoth Dobhair clubs; as a result McIver felt compelled to resign. 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. Bonner, Mulgrew and Doherty had been joined by Michael Houston, Francie Martin and Jim McGuinness on the shortlist to become manager.
McGuinness one: 2010–2014