2026 Donegal county football team season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 2026 season | |
|---|---|
| Manager | Jim McGuinness |
The following is a summary of Donegal county football team's 2026 season.
On 3 December 2025, Caolan Ward announced his retirement from inter-county football.[1][2]
Patrick McBrearty, the captain, was then forced to retire because of injury, with that announcement coming on 15 December 2025.[3][4]
Following the conclusion of the 2025 County SFC, Peter Campbell from the Donegal Democrat wrote that Jim McGuinness, the Donegal manager, "will surely have made an approach" to Kieran Gallagher of Naomh Conaill.[5] Naomh Conaill player Ciarán Thompson, speaking at the launch of the 2026 Dr McKenna Cup, confirmed that "Shea Malone, Kieran Gallagher, Ultan Doherty and Max Campbell (from Naomh Conaill) are new to the panel this year".[6]
MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey is unavailable due to its facilities being upgraded.[7][8][9][10][11]
Kit
In December 2025, a new retro style jersey for the team to wear in 2026 was launched.[12][13][14]
Competitions
Dr McKenna Cup
The Dr McKenna Cup is to return on 2 January after an absence of one year.[15] The draw was held on 2 December 2025, with Donegal placed in Section C, to compete in Rounds 1 and 3.[16] The team's opening game, a home fixture against Derry, is scheduled for 4 January.[17]
v 
Derry
| 4 January 2026 (2026-01-04) Round 1 | Donegal | v | Derry | Letterkenny |
| 13:30 IST | Stadium: O'Donnell Park |
National Football League
Donegal's fixtures for the 2026 NFL were announced in early December 2025.[17][18]
v Donegal
| 24 January 2026 (2026-01-24) Round 1 | Dublin | v | Donegal | Dublin |
| 17:00 IST | Stadium: Croke Park |
v 
Kerry
| 1 February 2026 (2026-02-01) Round 2 | Donegal | v | Kerry | Ballyshannon |
| 13:30 IST | Stadium: Fr Tierney Park |
v 
Mayo
| 15 February 2026 (2026-02-15) Round 3 | Donegal | v | Mayo | Letterkenny |
| 13:45 IST | Stadium: O'Donnell Park |
v Donegal
| 22 February 2026 (2026-02-22) Round 4 | Armagh | v | Donegal | Armagh |
| 15:45 IST | Stadium: Athletic Grounds |
v 
Galway
| 1 March 2026 (2026-03-01) Round 5 | Donegal | v | Galway | Ballyshannon |
| 13:15 IST | Stadium: Fr Tierney Park |
v Donegal
| 15 March 2026 (2026-03-15) Round 6 | Roscommon | v | Donegal | Roscommon |
| 13:30 IST | Stadium: Dr Hyde Park |
v Donegal
| 22 March 2026 (2026-03-22) Round 7 | Monaghan | v | Donegal | Clones |
| 15:30 IST | Stadium: St Tiernach's Park |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | arm | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to NFL Final |
| 2 | Don | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | May | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Ker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | ros | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | gal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Dublin |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 44 | −9 | 0 | Relegation to 2027 NFL Division 2 |
| 8 | Monaghan |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 37 | 55 | −18 | 0 |
Ulster Senior Football Championship
The draw for the 2026 Ulster SFC took place on 27 November 2025.[19] Ciarán Thompson, out injured after tearing his ACL while playing for Donegal in the 2025 All-Ireland SFC final, drew the names.[20][21] Donegal and Down were paired together in a quarter-final, with the winner of that game set to meet one of Armagh, Fermanagh or Tyrone in a semi-final.[22]
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||||||||
| Derry
| |||||||||||||||||||
 Antrim
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Quarter-final winner | |||||||||||||||||||
| Quarter-final winner | |||||||||||||||||||
| Monaghan
| |||||||||||||||||||
 Cavan
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Semi-final winner | |||||||||||||||||||
| Semi-final winner | |||||||||||||||||||
 Donegal
| |||||||||||||||||||
 Down
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Quarter-final winner | |||||||||||||||||||
| Armagh
| Quarter-final winner | ||||||||||||||||||
 Tyrone
|  Fermanagh
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Preliminary winner | |||||||||||||||||||
References
- ↑ "Caolan Ward steps away from county duty". Donegal News. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
- ↑ "Caolan Ward steps away from county duty". Donegal GAA. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
- ↑ Manning, Gordon (15 December 2025). "Donegal's Patrick McBrearty announces retirement from intercounty football: Forward steps away after 'sustained recurrence of a knee injury'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
- ↑ "McBrearty calls time on his inter-county career". BBC. 15 December 2025. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
- ↑ Campbell, Peter (22 October 2025). "Here's the Donegal Democrat Team of the Senior Championship 2025: Kieran Gallagher". Donegal Democrat. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
Jim McGuinness will surely have made an approach ahead of 2026.
- ↑ "Thompson and Donegal gear up for new challenges in 2026". Donegal News. 18 December 2025. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
- ↑ "Resurfacing of new MacCumhaill Park pitch completed". Donegal Daily. 18 October 2025. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
- ↑ "Sanding and seeding of MacCumhaill Park's new playing surface complete". Donegal Live. 18 October 2025. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
- ↑ "Sanding and seeding of MacCumhaill Park is complete". Ocean FM. 20 October 2025. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
- ↑ "Progress continuing on new MacCumhaill Park pitch". Donegal Daily. 15 November 2025. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
- ↑ "MacCumhaill Park development progressing well as work continues". Donegal Live. 15 November 2025. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
- ↑ "Donegal GAA launch new jersey". Highland Radio. 4 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
- ↑ "New Donegal jersey set to be unveiled". Donegal News. 4 December 2025. p. 77.
- ↑ "Donegal launch new jersey". Hogan Stand. 5 December 2025. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
- ↑ Crumley, Odhran (2 December 2025). "Armagh v Tyrone to open returning McKenna Cup". BBC News. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
- ↑ "2026 Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup fixtures confirmed". Ulster GAA. 2 December 2025. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
- 1 2 "National League fixtures confirmed for Donegal sides". Donegal News. 4 December 2025. p. 77.
Prior to the start of the National Football League, Donegal will take part in the Dr McKenna Cup which is back on the calendar for 2026. The reigning Ulster champions will play Derry on home soil at O'Donnell Park on Sunday 4 January before travelling to Cargin to take on Antrim seven days later.
- ↑ "Dates and venues for Donegal's Allianz National League Fixtures confirmed". Highland Radio. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
- ↑ "2026 Provincial Football Championships draws". GAA.ie. 27 November 2025. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
- ↑ McIntyre, Niall (27 November 2025). "GAA Senior Football Championship draws: Provincial ties revealed as race for Sam Maguire begins". Independent.ie. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
A few oohs and aahs around the studio as Donegal player Ciaran Thompson draws Tyrone against Armagh in the preliminary round. He can only smile.
- ↑ Craig, Frank (23 August 2025). "Mixed news as Ciaran Thompson scan reveals a partial ACL tear". Donegal Live. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
- ↑ "2026 SFC provincial draws: Armagh and Tyrone in early season Ulster showdown". RTÉ News. 28 November 2025. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
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