John Gildea
Irish Gaelic footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Gildea (born 27 March 1971)[1] is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Naomh Conaill and the Donegal county team.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 27 March 1971[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Gaelic football | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Wing-forward/midfield | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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]
Gildea is married to Sharon (née Rouse); they have two sons.[12][1] He lives in Letterkenny.[1]