Kevin Muldoon rewrites the code and returns to Four Masters from Sligo Rovers

Even at the age of just 18, there was always that itching feeling amongst the sporting public in Donegal Town that Kevin Muldoon would find his way back to Tír Chonaill Park. 

Just over a month ago, through all the euphoria and celebrations from Four Masters’ U-21 county final success, Muldoon was sought out through the crowd by former club player and current League of Ireland footballer Jack Keaney who offered the Donegal Town man a few simple words of advice regarding his future. 

Like Muldoon, Keaney danced a similar path, balancing the world of Gaelic football while trying to make his break with Sligo Rovers. 

It’s unknown exactly what was shared between the two that night in Donegal Town, but both knew better than most the pain of choosing a path when they face the uncertainty of the sporting crossroads. 

If attempting life as a sporting codebreaker 20 years ago was difficult, it now looks to be merely impossible. 

When Muldoon played what was to be his final game for Four Masters — a masterful performance in the Ulster Minor Club final on New Year’s Day in 2024 — it seemed the perfect swansong.  

Not only did he steer his side to Ulster minor glory for the first time in their history, but his Player of the Tournament accolade cemented his status as one of the finest young talents in the county. 

But the lure of professional soccer proved too strong. Sligo Rovers came calling, offering Muldoon the chance to test himself in the League of Ireland.  

His early performances hinted at a promising transition with a goal on his senior debut against Seamus Coleman’s Everton proving the highlight of his time at the Showgrounds, the kind that belongs on a highlight reel with the young Donegal man pouncing on a defensive mistake and slotting past an international goalkeeper as if it were the easiest thing in the world. 

However, success in the GAA world can be hard to ignore.

In fact, while his teammates were lifting their third county minor title in-a-row last October in O’Donnell Park, less than five minutes down the road in Letterkenny, Muldoon was featuring for Sligo Rovers in an underage friendly against Finn Harps. 

But now, just a year on from his first Ulster success, on the field in St Paul’s where he has dominated on so many times over the past two years, Muldoon has made the decision to return to Four Masters after winning the Man of the Match award following his side's Ulster final win earlier this week. 

“I made that decision a week or two ago, it was difficult but I’m going to give Gaelic football a go for the year now,” Muldoon said following his side’s 1-8 to 0-9 point win over Magherafelt on Wednesday. 

“I had to make the phone call to the manager in Sligo a few weeks back. I just had to be honest about what I wanted. He gave me time to make that decision, which I did about a week later. 

“It was easy fitting straight back into the Four Masters team. I wanted to be there playing with them, it was just natural coming back really."

In an era when young athletes are increasingly drawn to the allure of professional sport, his decision to return home feels refreshingly authentic but highlights the heavy hands of modern sport that are put onto the shoulders of young men not even out of school. 

For Muldoon, he’s not sure yet what the long road has in store for him, but is satisfied at where he currently stands – a competitor hoping to bring that high-level mindset from Sligo Rovers to a team in Donegal Town now looking to break through the glass ceiling at senior level. 

“I gave Sligo Rovers the full year and to be fair it was the best experience I could’ve asked for,” Muldoon pointed out.  

“I really can’t say a single bad thing about them because they were so good to me, but when I came back to train with the Donegal county side and came back to play with the club, I just felt I enjoyed it more. 

“Look, I don’t know if it is the right decision yet, I think I’m a bit too young to be leaving soccer, but at the same time, I just love playing Gaelic. I love the enjoyment; it’s a great honour to play and train for your county and I’d love to do that. 

“Playing against Everton was by far the highlight. The chance to play against Premier League footballers was unreal. I even got a game against Celtic too, so they're just unreal memories.” 

If anything, Muldoon’s return, along with the announcement of a new senior manager, gives current senior players in Four Masters something to be excited about.  

“I don’t know what the key is (to their club's minor success), I think we just play so well together and have been doing it in so many matches for so long,” Muldoon told Donegal Live. 

“For me, the focus is on the Four Masters senior team and we’ll just have to see what happens in the future I suppose. 

“Success like this at minor level should be something that helps us along the way. We don’t realise that now because it hasn’t sunk in yet. But to be honest, even with last year’s Ulster final win, I don’t think we’ve really grasped what that will do for us in terms of helping us in the future. We might appreciate it more in our 30s.

"But for now, it’s about making that push at senior football. That’s always the main one and that’s what we want to do . . . to be successful for Four Masters at senior level.” 

His unwavering and cool style seen during the Ulster minor final is exactly how young Gaelic footballers should play in the modern game. It’s exactly what his club in Donegal Town needs too . . . Four Masters are happy to have their Codebreaker back.