2017 Donegal county football team season
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| 2017 season | |
|---|---|
| Stadium | MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey |
| NFL D1 | 3rd |
| All-Ireland SFC | Round 4 qualifier |
| Ulster SFC | Semi-finalist |
The following is a summary of Donegal county football team's 2017 season.
Personnel changes
Richard Thornton from Coalisland helped train the team in 2017.[2] Thornton took over from former Westmeath footballer Jack Cooney after two years, while Brendan Kilcoyne stayed on as a selector.[3]
2012 All Star Colm McFadden retired at the end of the previous season.[4][5] As did Eamon McGee (though he never won an All Star).[6]
Christy Toye, Rory Kavanagh and David Walsh also retired ahead of the 2017 season.[7] Leo McLoone also left.[8] So did Odhrán Mac Niallais.[9][10] And Anthony Thompson.[11]
On Valentine's Day, Neil Gallagher attended training at Convoy — it was upon the Convoy turf that he broke down for the final time and relinquished his status as an inter-county footballer.[12] The manager later described him as "very disappointed... He wanted to give it a go... He got the back re-scanned and tried to build it up".[12] He announced his retirement from inter-county football at the age of 33 on 20 February 2017.[13]
Competitions
Dr McKenna Cup
National Football League Division 1
In the opening game against Kerry, three players had their senior debuts (Jason McGee, Michael Langan and Jamie Brennan), with Caolan Ward and Paul Brennan making their first competitive starts.[14]
Table
Qualify for Division 1 final Automatic relegation to Division 2
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dublin |
7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 6-109 | 4-72 | 43 | 11 |
 Kerry |
7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6-103 | 7-87 | 13 | 8 |
 Donegal |
7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5-90 | 7-74 | 10 | 8 |
 Monaghan |
7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7-79 | 5-82 | 3 | 8 |
 Mayo |
7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3-90 | 4-90 | -3 | 8 |
 Tyrone |
7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3-87 | 4-81 | 3 | 7 |
 Cavan |
7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4-72 | 2-101 | -23 | 4 |
 Roscommon |
7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 6-85 | 7-128 | -46 | 2 |
- Kerry, Donegal, Monaghan and Mayo are ranked by score difference.
Fixtures
| 5 February 2017 Round 1 | Donegal | 1-17 - 2-17 | Kerry | O'Donnell Park, Letterkenny |
| 14.00 | Michael Murphy 1-3 (1-0, pen, 0-3 frees), Patrick McBrearty 0-4 (0-3 frees), Ciarán Thompson 0-3, Darach O'Connor 0-2, Paul Brennan, Martin O'Reilly, Ryan McHugh, Eoin McHugh and Conor Gibbons 0-1 each. | Report | Paul Geaney 2-4 (0-2 frees), James O’Donoghue 0-3, Jack Savage 0-3 (0-1 free), Donnchadh Walsh 0-2, Tom O’Sullivan, David Moran, Jonathan Lyne, Paul Murphy and Jack Barry 0-1 each. | Referee: Maurice Deegan (Laois) |
| 12 February 2017 Round 2 | Roscommon | 2-09 - 0-16 | Donegal | Dr Hyde Park, Roscommon |
| 14.00 | Ciaran Murtagh 1-4 (0-2 frees), Conor Devaney 1-0, Enda Smith, Kevin Higgins 0-2 each, Fintan Cregg 0-1 | Report | Ciarán Thompson, Martin O'Reilly, Eoin McHugh 0-3 each, Patrick McBrearty 0-2 (0-1f), Michael Murphy 0-2 (0-2f) each, Michael Carroll, Eoghan Bán Gallagher, Jamie Brennan 0-1 each |
| 26 February 2017 Round 3 | Donegal | 2-05 - 1-08 | Dublin | MacCumhail Park, Ballybofey |
| 14.00 | Jason McGee 1-1, Ryan McHugh 1-0, Ciarán Thompson, Michael Murphy 0-2f each | Report | Niall Scully 1-1, Dean Rock (0-3f), Shane B. Carthy, Ciaran Reddin, Ciarán Kilkenny, David Byrne 0-1 each |
| 4 March 2017 Round 4 | Cavan | 0-11 - 1-16 | Donegal | Breffni Park, Cavan |
| 19:00 | Report |
| 18 March 2017 Round 5 | Donegal | 0-12 - 0-06 | Tyrone | MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey |
| 19:00 | Report |
| 26 March 2017 Round 6 | Donegal | 1-11 - 1-11 | Monaghan | Fr Tierney Park, Ballyshannon |
| 15:00 | Report |
| 2 April 2017 Round 7 | Mayo | 1-12 - 0-13 | Donegal | MacHale Park, Castlebar |
| 14:00 | Report | Attendance: 14,102 |
Ulster Senior Football Championship
The draw for the 2017 Ulster Senior Football Championship took place in Dublin in mid-October 2016.[15] In the quarter-final victory against Antrim, four players had their first championship starts (Jamie Brennan, Michael Carroll, Jason McGee and Caolan Ward).[16]
Bracket
| Preliminary round | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||||||
 Derry
| 0-11 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tyrone
| 0-22 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tyrone
| 1-21 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Donegal
| 1-12 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Donegal
| 3-19 | ||||||||||||||||||
 Antrim
| 1-9 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tyrone
| 2-17 | ||||||||||||||||||
 Down
| 0-15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Down
| 0-15 | ||||||||||||||||||
 Armagh
| 2-7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Down
| 1-14 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Monaghan
| 0-15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cavan
| 0-15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Monaghan
| 1-20 | Monaghan
| 1-15 | ||||||||||||||||
 Fermanagh
| 1-11 | ||||||||||||||||||
Fixtures
| Donegal | 3-19 - 1-09 | Antrim |
|---|---|---|
| M Murphy 0-6 (5f), P McBrearty 1-2 (2f), J Brennan 1-1, C Thompson 0-4 (3f), P McGrath 1-0, M Langan 0-2, H McFadden, K Lacey, F McGlynn, M McHugh 0-1 each | Report | CJ McGourty 0-6 (6f), C Small 1-0, T McCann 0-2, S Beatty 0-1 |
| 18 June 2017 2:00 pm |
Tyrone |
1-21 - 1-12 | Donegal |
St Tiernach's Park, Clones Attendance: 22,609 Referee: David Gough (Meath) Man of the Match: Pádraig Hampsey |
| Tiernan McCann 1-1, Niall Sludden 0-4, Kieran McGeary 0-3, Mark Bradley 0-2, Mattie Donnelly 0-2, Peter Harte 0-2, Padraig Hampsey 0-2, David Mulgrew 0-1, Sean Cavanagh 0-1 (f), Declan McClure 0-1, Ronan O'Neill 0-1, Niall Morgan 0-1 (45). | Report | Patrick McBrearty 0-6 (2fs), Michael Murphy 0-3 (2 '45's), Micheal Carroll 1-0, Martin Reilly 0-1, Michael Langan 0-1, Hugh McFadden 0-1. |
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
| 22 July 7:00pm Round 4A |
Donegal |
0-14 – 4-17 |  Galway |
Markievicz Park, Sligo Attendance: 10,564 Referee: Anthony Nolan (Wicklow) Man of the Match: Johnny Heaney (Killanin) |
| Paddy McBrearty 0-6 (2f), Michael Murphy 0-4 (3f, 1 '45), Martin O’Reilly 0-2, Martin McElhinney 0-1, Michael Langan 0-1 | Report | Johnny Heaney 2-2, Sean Armstrong 0-6 (4f), Liam Silke 1-0 (pen), Danny Cummins 1-0, Gary O’Donnell 0-2, Shane Walsh 0-1, Paul Conroy 0-1, Ian Burke 0-1, Damien Comer 0-1, Eamonn Brannigan 0-2, Michael Daly 0-1 |