Ten times when the Donegal SFC was shrouded in controversy

With a shadow hanging over Naomh Conaill’s victory in the Donegal SFC following an objection lodged by Kilcar, it brought back memories of other championship seasons that caused a bit of a stir. There’s been plenty down the years and many thanks to Donegal GAA historian Fr Seán O Gallchoir for providing the point of reference in his book on the history of the Donegal SFC finals.

1 - 1997 - The Leslie debacle
The background to the 1997 debacle between Aodh Ruadh and St Eunan's is best described by Fr Seán. The sequence of events went something like this:

31 July: The 'Donegal Democrat' reports that Leslie McGettigan, who had been starring in New York football for the previous few years, was back in Letterkenny and was going to play with his native St Eunan's in the championship.

3 August: Leslie McGettigan plays well as St Eunan's knock out Naomh Columba in the quarter-final.

17 August: Leslie McGettigan is a key figure in St Eunan's semi-final victory over Kilcar. Kilcar reveal that they had informed the County Board before the semi-final that they intended to object if Leslie McGettigan played. The County Board chairman had informed St Eunan's of Kilcar's intentions. St Eunan's maintained that Leslie McGettigan was registered with the County Board and had never been transferred from St Eunan's.

1 September: Kilcar had decided not to protest against St Eunan's but to call for an investigation into Leslie McGettigan's eligibility. But at the County Board meeting neither Kilcar nor anyone else actually proposed that an investigation be undertaken. And it wasn't. The  County Chairman said that the laws would be enforced.

7 September: Brendan Devenney scores 1-7 as St Eunan's beat Aodh Ruadh by 1-11 to 2-7 in the county final. The Dr Maguire Cup goes back to Letterkenny for the first time in 14 years.

11 September: The Aodh Ruadh club meets and decides to protest against St Eunan's on the grounds that Leslie McGettigan was illegal.

15 September: The County Board meets but decides that the matter would be heard fully in a week.

22 September: The County Disciplinary Committee meets in the Abbey Hotel, Donegal Town. They uphold the Aodh Ruadh objection, declaring that St Eunan's breached Rule 32 of the Official Guide. They award the 1997 Championship to Aodh Ruadh, suspend the St Eunan's Chairman and Secretary for three months and refer Leslie McGettigan to Croke Park for his own personal punishment. They say it was past midnight and therefore on the feast day of St Eunan, when the decision was made.

23 September: Letterkenny's sense of shock and anger gets a full airing on Highland Radio. St Eunan's are to counter-protest to Donal Buggy's presence on the Aodh Ruadh team and are to appeal the County Board decision to Ulster Council.

29 September: Since Croke Park had clarified that Donal Buggy had played legally in New York and in the County final the counter-protest doesn't proceed.

3 October: The Ulster Council upholds the County Board decision. Aodh Ruadh are confirmed champions and represent Donegal (poorly) in the Ulster Club Championship.

The matter was raised at the annual Convention in January 1998 held in Gaoth Dobhair when St Eunan's chairman Michael Gibbons was commenting on the secretary's report. Gibbons said that the club had requested clarification in writing from the County Board before the final. "You were unable to do so. Had we had it in writing the player would not have been played," said Gibbons.

In reply the County Secretary, Noreen Doherty said that the St Eunan's chairman had contacted her in late May, long before the Championship commenced, to find out the position of Leslie McGettigan.

"I checked and told him that Leslie McGettigan never transferred from the St Eunan's club and that he could play in the Senior Championship provided he did not play in America.

The St Eunan's chairman did not agree that the secretary used the words "provided he did not play in America."
However, the County Secretary was adamant: "It was very clearly mentioned" she said.
And so ended probably the greatest saga of them all.

2 - 1925 - Kilcar win by not winning
The saga of 1925 would take up a couple of pages. All the controversy was in the south where Ardara and Ballyshannon finished joint top of the table after the league stages on 13 points. After the eight games, Kilcar had seven points, Donegal six and Mountcharles just the one.

Ballyshannon and Ardara were to play the semi-final in Kilcar but both refused the venue. Eventually, they agreed Mountcharles as the venue and Ballyshannon won 1-4 to 1-2 to progress to the final - or so they thought. Dunfanaghy defeated Lifford in the north and the final was fixed for Letterkenny on Sunday June 28.

Ballyshannon failed to turn up for the final maintaining some of their players were 'incapacitated'. According to Fr Seán's research, the real reason was that they were on Army duty. Dunfanaghy didn't want to claim the match.

The next twist  saw Kilcar protest that Ballyshannon and Ardara should be thrown out because they refused to play their semi-final in Kilcar. The County Board saw in favour of Kilcar and nominated Kilcar to play Dunfanaghy in the County final. Kilcar travelled to Letterkenny on July 26 but Dunfanaghy refused to play what they said was a “sham fixture.”
And so it came to pass, Kilcar - third in the south - but county champions without playing a semi-final or final.

3 and 4 - When 2002 ran into 2003
Six-time Donegal club champions Killybegs were up in arms after being thrown out of the county SFC semi-finals for fielding an illegal player. The blow came after a marathon four-and-a-half hour meeting of the Donegal Executive.

The case centred on Peter McGinley, who spent six months living in New York, where he played for the Mayo club. Killybegs said they were especially careful not to play McGinley until his transfer home had been cleared by Croke Park and the New York Board.

Gaoth Dobhair, beaten by Killybegs in the last eight, alleged that he had played in a Championship game in New York a week before he came home. Donegal suspended him and the club on the basis that a player cannot play in two Championships in one season. Gaoth Dobhair ended up winning the 2002 Dr Maguire, with the final not taking place until the following year.

Reigning champions St Eunan's were eventually reinstated into the 2002 Donegal SFC after a protracted legal battle that ended in an arbitration ruling.  The Letterkenny club were alleged to have fielded an ineligible player in their championship clash with Ardara with the latter claiming Sligo man Eddie Brennan shouldn't have played.

Donegal County Board dismissed Ardara's appeal, but the Ulster Council advised that the appeal should succeed on the basis that a full-time third-level student cannot transfer. Donegal County Board lodged an appeal to Croke Park but the appeal was ruled out of order. With the Donegal SFC held up until the following spring, St Eunan’s made the final, only to lose to a Gaoth Dobhair team who at one stage were out of the championship too.

5 - 1968 - Taking the biscuit
And we think that fixtures can be problematic nowadays. Fr Seán's book reference to 1968 began with: 1968 took the biscuit for bizarrerie! Na Piarsaigh - an amalgamation of Dunfanaghy and Falcarragh - played three quarter-finals, facing different opposition each time.

St Eunan's won a County quarter-final before winning a Sectional play-off. St Joseph's went one better by winning a County quarter-final before losing a Sectional play-off. MacCumhaill's lost a semi-final to St Joseph's and a final to St Joseph's. And much more!

On 29 August the County Board met. They decided that St Joseph's should contest the County final (seeing they had won a quarter-final and a semi-final). They decided that seven other teams would fight it out for the other final place.
Gaoth Dobhair objected and on 12 September the County Board decided they would go back to the pre-quarter-final stages.

By the time the semi-final was played, St Joseph's were All-Ireland Club champions and they would go on to defeat MacCumhaill's in the county final.

6 - 1929 - Third time lucky for Ballyshannon
There were three attempts to play the final in 1929 before Ballyshannon eventually prevailed against Killygordon.
The first attempt was in Glenties where the Killygordon captain objected to the venue, saying the playing field was too short.

Killygordon refused to play. The final was awarded to Ballyshannon, who refused to take the cup and offered to play Killygordon in Ballyshannon or any venue picked by the County Board.

The game was refixed for Erne Park, Ballyshannon, and Killygordon won. Ballyshannon protested about the inclusion of three players on the Killygordon side - P Doherty, who they claimed played Association Football with Buncrana Celtic in Derry and District League; O'Reilly who was not on team list and Scanlon, who had played for Derry in the Ulster Junior Championship.

The Board ruled on Scanlon and awarded the game to Ballyshannon. But at County Convention on January 11 1930, it was agreed the two teams would meet again. That took place in Ballybofey on July 27 with Ballyshannon winning 0-7 to 0-5 to take the Dr Maguire Cup home for the first time.

7 - 1979 - Naomh Columba denied the chance to defend
Naomh Columba, the reigning champions, played just two games in the 1979 Donegal Senior Championship before they were thrown out for playing an illegal player.

Kilcar lodged an appeal against John McGinley, who they said was allegedly suspended in Co Louth for playing with Glen while registered with Oliver Plunketts. Kilcar won their protest and the fall-out continued for many years.

8 - 1966 - The cup with no name
There was no final played in Donegal in 1966, all because St Joseph's and MacCumhaill's argued about the date and venue for the decider and failed to come to an agreement.

9 - 1957 - Ballyshannon’s fixture jam
Imagine the following happening today. Ballyshannon played a semi-final against MacCumhaill's on Sunday August 25, a semi-final replay on the Thursday, August 29, and the County Final against Dungloe the following Sunday, September 1, with the team from the Rosses ending of winners on a 0-12 to 1-4 scoreline. Come to think of it, it happened to Cloughaneely two years ago in the Intermediate Championship.

10 - 1950 - When there are no winners
The 1950 Donegal Senior Championship was declared null and void after Donegal Town and St Eunan's failed to play the final. Donegal were unable to field when the final was first fixed and St Eunan's did not agree to a refixture. The saga dragged on into 1951 before the championship was declared null and void.