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Donegal GAA thread

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Replying To rorysboys:  "Very good post. It's fair and accurate . Jim is continuing the good work done by alot of managers and coaches. Kerry have already beaten us in a final under jim.so hopefully jim will even the score on Sunday week. I have a good feeling about it probably more than 2014. I'm convinced this is our year. Good luck lads."
I have been convinced we would be in the final all year to be honest, I had a wobble after the Tyrone loss moreso because of the prelim quarter and the 3 weeks in a row, I was a bit worried about that being honest but after we beat Mayo I thought it would be a huge boost to the squad because they have had an edge over us since 2012.

One thing I'm sure of is the players will perform. Whether that is good enough to beat Kerry is another question, but I don't think we will be walking away from Croke Park in 2 weeks time wondering what if or having regrets about a flat performance. They have given us an incredible year and I cannot wait to cheer them on

CCFabu (Donegal) - Posts: 241 - 15/07/2025 09:31:01    2625787

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Replying To S1234:  "I've some neck for coming on a public forum ? Ha grow up man . I didn't say anything bad there . Kerry are not to be underestimated is all.
Elimated because we threw the game v Cavan Mcstay and co lost the dressing room .
We will be back next year with a bounce ."
Imagine coming onto another counties forum and referencing Colm Coyle's score in the 1996 All Ireland final, "The Bounce", didn't you know Colm Coyle's father was from Donegal. Clare or whatever your name is, you've issues and they're not just basic linguistics. The allegation that Mayo, players/management etc threw a game is disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself.

Ulsterchamps72 (Donegal) - Posts: 164 - 15/07/2025 10:11:28    2625791

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Replying To CCFabu:  "Where did Paddy say that? All I saw in the post match was that things were tough after Declan left, and 2023 in particular was a bad year.

All I took from that brief answer was Paddy respects Declan and things went bad after he was gone.

It's great having Jim at the helm but Bonner has been an incredible servant to Donegal football and did wonders bringing through majority of this panel we are lucky to have today."
Agree here. There's nobody in the last decade that has put themselves forward to manage this county with a bad intention. From a sporting perspective I'd have welcomed a changing of the guard before Declan eventually stepped back, that man has given his whole life to our county and he owes no explanation to anyone, least of all me. You're right to credit him especially for the time he put in to youth football, mol an óige as they say.

All that being said there's only one man operating on McGuinness' level. Theres many a great coach in the county and province (I think Lacey has potential and O'Rourke with our neighbours is a shrewd man), but I don't think there's any man in Ireland that is such a fit for this current role. We've always had the talent I just felt in clutch moments we lack the belief and I've no doubt the sports psychology background has helped to facilitate this killer attitude that the boys have now and praise God we'll see if again in two Sundays time.

papa_pump (Donegal) - Posts: 82 - 15/07/2025 10:31:19    2625795

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Replying To CCFabu:  "Where did Paddy say that? All I saw in the post match was that things were tough after Declan left, and 2023 in particular was a bad year.

All I took from that brief answer was Paddy respects Declan and things went bad after he was gone.

It's great having Jim at the helm but Bonner has been an incredible servant to Donegal football and did wonders bringing through majority of this panel we are lucky to have today."
Here's it is again for you if you didn't read my first reply.

http://www.donegaldaily.com/2025/07/14/getting-mcguinness-back-was-key-to-success-mcbrearty/

Tirchonaill1 (Donegal) - Posts: 3351 - 15/07/2025 10:44:29    2625797

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Replying To CCFabu:  "I have been convinced we would be in the final all year to be honest, I had a wobble after the Tyrone loss moreso because of the prelim quarter and the 3 weeks in a row, I was a bit worried about that being honest but after we beat Mayo I thought it would be a huge boost to the squad because they have had an edge over us since 2012.

One thing I'm sure of is the players will perform. Whether that is good enough to beat Kerry is another question, but I don't think we will be walking away from Croke Park in 2 weeks time wondering what if or having regrets about a flat performance. They have given us an incredible year and I cannot wait to cheer them on"
Brilliant post.

These are my sentiments as well.
No team has a divine right to win the All Ireland. We know we have some great footballers in Donegal. All I've ever wanted to see was for them to be given the best possible platform to go out and be the best they can possibly be. There was a lot of internal wrangling in 2023. Obviously things weren't right and you'd have to feel sorry for Paddy Carr, who stepped in to do a job that noone particularly wanted at that point in time. Then we had the famous audit and academy fallout on top of that.

But as the saying goes, it's always darkest before the dawn. Jim returned and things have improved behind the scenes.
The players have totally bought into it, and look to be so assured and confident in what they're doing. There is no doubt that they will be as well prepared as any team to ever take to the pitch on All-Ireland final day. They will give their all, as they always do. If that is good enough to beat a great Kerry team we'll see. But if not, we can all be incredibly proud of their efforts.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9895 - 15/07/2025 10:58:03    2625801

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Replying To Tirchonaill1:  "Here's it is again for you if you didn't read my first reply.

grma," target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.donegaldaily.com/2025/07/14/getting-mcguinness-back-was-key-to-success-mcbrearty/"
grma, would be hard to disagree with his quotes there in terms of All-Ireland semi-final appearances for sure, your initial post I thought was about his post-match interview where it was clear to me he was talking about 2023 in particular, he mentioned Declan by name which to me says Paddy has huge respect for him. If I know these players I would say they look at themselves quite a bit about missed opportunities under Declan especially.

Jim is a different level without a doubt

CCFabu (Donegal) - Posts: 241 - 15/07/2025 11:27:39    2625808

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Replying To The_viewer:  "It's more by default that Juveniles won't automatically get a ticket, due to the number of club Adult members and the ticket allocation we receive from Croke park. Which more than likely will result in 1 ticket per adult member.

In 2014 the county received 16,088 all Ireland tickets for the senior & minor finals. We had approx 11k adult members then. The county board allocated 84% of the ticket allocation to the clubs, which was approx 13,500 tickets. So the clubs received 1.2 tickets per adult member, i.e 20% above their adult member total. The other 16% of the total allocation went to the players (past & present) sponsors, referees, committee members, county officers etc.

This year I'm assuming the county will receive something similar around the 16k mark and with approx 13.5k adult members, less the 2.5k by the county board etc. that would leave approx 1 ticket per adult member."
This was a link from the last time and shows numbers per club.

https://www.donegaldaily.com/2014/09/10/how-many-tickets-did-your-club-get-all-ireland-final-ticket-allocation-breakdown/

I've no idea on what clubs membership is like at the minute. I was quite annoyed about how the gaa managed the semi final tickets and didn't treat the club members well but at least families and club members were together on Sunday and the buzz was great. A thing they do very well is the juvenile tickets. It was a fiver all year and a tenner at the weekend and it makes it affordable as it can be to bring children.

The jump in cost is huge now for the final and I know loads of children will end up disappointed because of affordability and then not been able to source tickets. I suppose the season ticket comes in great here if you have them.
And at least Donegal do benefit from having quite a small number of clubs relative to other counties. It must be absolutely impossible in cork for the hurling.

Ulsterchamps_32 (Donegal) - Posts: 907 - 15/07/2025 12:37:42    2625819

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Replying To Ulsterchamps_32:  "This was a link from the last time and shows numbers per club.

https://www.donegaldaily.com/2014/09/10/how-many-tickets-did-your-club-get-all-ireland-final-ticket-allocation-breakdown/

I've no idea on what clubs membership is like at the minute. I was quite annoyed about how the gaa managed the semi final tickets and didn't treat the club members well but at least families and club members were together on Sunday and the buzz was great. A thing they do very well is the juvenile tickets. It was a fiver all year and a tenner at the weekend and it makes it affordable as it can be to bring children.

The jump in cost is huge now for the final and I know loads of children will end up disappointed because of affordability and then not been able to source tickets. I suppose the season ticket comes in great here if you have them.
And at least Donegal do benefit from having quite a small number of clubs relative to other counties. It must be absolutely impossible in cork for the hurling."
Poor tickets for Season Ticket holders this time

gunman (Donegal) - Posts: 1180 - 15/07/2025 12:51:21    2625821

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Just got my Season Ticket email with link to the ticket. Jesus it's a great feeling to have on a Tuesday morning. Naturally the hunt continues for the kids, fingers and everything else crossed.

SouthOfTheGap (Donegal) - Posts: 844 - 15/07/2025 13:05:01    2625823

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Any word on MM.?
Will he be ok for the Final.?

Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 4461 - 15/07/2025 13:57:03    2625835

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Replying To SouthOfTheGap:  "Just got my Season Ticket email with link to the ticket. Jesus it's a great feeling to have on a Tuesday morning. Naturally the hunt continues for the kids, fingers and everything else crossed."
I'm in a similar position, as I'm sure are many others. I should be able to get one for myself, but I fear there will be a very difficult conversation with some disappointed kids coming soon :-(

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9895 - 15/07/2025 14:09:58    2625843

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I have to take my hat off to Jim McGuiness and Donegal.

2nd Stint, back to back Ulster Titles, All Ireland Semi, now All Ireland Final, phenomenal players all playing for him, he's our McGeeney, you would run through a wall for him.

I genuinely would say he's top 3 ever Gaelic football managers, hes a complete winner and comes across humble. 2011 came in Ulster title and AI semi, now history repeating itself again in the 2nd year.

Donegal, only 4 ever all Ireland finals, and he's brought them to 3 as well as winning 5 ulster titles in 6 years stint (other being an ulster final defeat which is also remarkable).

Coming from Armagh where all Irelands are like winning the lottery, last year winning Sam brought me emotions and joy that will live with me the rest of my life. I have a feeling Donegal will be reaping the same emotions in 2 weeks time.

Set to be an absolutely cracking final. I think the hunger from Donegal to get a 3rd title will outweigh Kerry's drive for a 39th. May the best team win, as a neutral I cannot wait to watch this blockbuster.

ArmaghMan02 (Armagh) - Posts: 4 - 15/07/2025 14:18:38    2625844

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Replying To SouthOfTheGap:  "Just got my Season Ticket email with link to the ticket. Jesus it's a great feeling to have on a Tuesday morning. Naturally the hunt continues for the kids, fingers and everything else crossed."
How did you manage bringing the kids to games all year if you had a season ticket and they did not?

Mfs (Mayo) - Posts: 272 - 15/07/2025 14:37:42    2625850

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Replying To gunman:  "Poor tickets for Season Ticket holders this time"
Yeah, I got the email earlier alright and have purchased it now. I'm happy with were they've put me. Hopefully weather will be decent.

Ulsterchamps_32 (Donegal) - Posts: 907 - 15/07/2025 14:40:09    2625852

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Replying To Fionn:  "Any word on MM.?
Will he be ok for the Final.?"
According to Jim in the post-match presser there wasn't anything wrong, he was asked if there was a niggle and he just said no and then spoke about the squad depth and people pushing to be in the 26.

He had a bit of a limp after hitting his last point but I wouldn't be worried

CCFabu (Donegal) - Posts: 241 - 15/07/2025 14:40:43    2625853

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Replying To gunman:  "Poor tickets for Season Ticket holders this time"
Yeah slightly outside of the usual sections where I would've expected. They appear to try to claw back every little perk of the Season Tickets every year.

But it's still like having one of the Golden Tickets for the Chocolate Factory.

SouthOfTheGap (Donegal) - Posts: 844 - 15/07/2025 15:00:13    2625861

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Replying To Ulsterchamps_32:  "This was a link from the last time and shows numbers per club.

https://www.donegaldaily.com/2014/09/10/how-many-tickets-did-your-club-get-all-ireland-final-ticket-allocation-breakdown/

I've no idea on what clubs membership is like at the minute. I was quite annoyed about how the gaa managed the semi final tickets and didn't treat the club members well but at least families and club members were together on Sunday and the buzz was great. A thing they do very well is the juvenile tickets. It was a fiver all year and a tenner at the weekend and it makes it affordable as it can be to bring children.

The jump in cost is huge now for the final and I know loads of children will end up disappointed because of affordability and then not been able to source tickets. I suppose the season ticket comes in great here if you have them.
And at least Donegal do benefit from having quite a small number of clubs relative to other counties. It must be absolutely impossible in cork for the hurling."
Looking at it now, I think Season tickets are the best option for families. It's €150 for an adult & €30 for kids and that covers all 7 league matches.

When the Ulster championship starts, adult tickets are €30 and kids €5 and you're guaranteed a stand ticket sitting beside each other. Although the seats may not be as centrally located as you would like.

In the Ulster final the juvenile ticket is €8, and you also get the option to convert/buy an adult ticket instead of a juvenile ticket, if an over 16yr wanted to go instead of a juvenile. So they're flexible that way.

You also get the option to purchase the 3 round robin matches at the reduced rate.

The AI quarter final and semi final tickets are lower Cusack and around the middle sections.

For the AI final the juvenile tickets are the same price as adult tickets, but you are guaranteed tickets for the kids, as long as you purchased tickets for the 6 championship games quota.

All the juvenile tickets are €5, bar the Ulster final €8 and semi final which is a €10. So you're only paying full price for the final. For the AI final the seats are not as centrally located as the qfinal or semi, but you're still in the lower Cusack and you have a ticket for your child.

The_viewer (Donegal) - Posts: 23 - 15/07/2025 15:31:03    2625871

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Yeah very poor seats for myself as a ST holder, which quite disheartening after attending 9 of the 10 championship games plus all the league games. No doubt better seats for those who have barely watched on tv or been at a match in years.
Anyways on the plus isn't it just brilliant to be in a final with a chance of winning.

NORTHMEN (Donegal) - Posts: 26 - 15/07/2025 15:31:39    2625872

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any word on cub championship being pushed back?

beidhmeanseo (Donegal) - Posts: 144 - 15/07/2025 15:56:42    2625875

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Replying To SouthOfTheGap:  "Yeah slightly outside of the usual sections where I would've expected. They appear to try to claw back every little perk of the Season Tickets every year.

But it's still like having one of the Golden Tickets for the Chocolate Factory."
Charlie Bucket vs Veruca Salt final :)

The parallels are there if you want to see them!

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12451 - 15/07/2025 16:24:42    2625878

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