Odhran McHugh sets Finn Harps record on league debut

Odhran McHugh set a new Finn Harps record on Friday night, becoming the youngest ever player to make a league appearance for the first team.

The Deele College student came on in the 75th minutes for Oran Brogan in the 2-1 defeat to Athlone Town in the First Division opener in Lissywoollen.

The previous record was held by current first team player Gavin McAteer, who made his debut against Kerry in May 2024 aged 15 years and 327 days old.

McHugh’s appearance on Friday came aged 15 years and 287 days old. Marty Kelly from Donegal Town till holds the record as the youngest to ever play for the club in a competitive fixture when he lined out back in the 1970s. Kelly was 15 years and 137 days when he debuted while McAteer was 15 and 327 days.

The teenager has been top of the goal scoring charts nationally over the past few years at Under-14 and Under-15 level, which earned him a call-up to the first team and impressed in his first pre-season with the senior side, training with the team since September.

“He's had great role models in the multiple Academy graduates gone before him recently, and we expect this trend to continue this year,” Finn Harps manager and Odhran’s father, Kevin McHugh said.

“He's obviously treated no differently than any other player, he's hungry and has elevated himself up the ladder sooner than we expected.

“He needs to continue listening to the senior players and working hard on his game.

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“The pathway at the football club has been churning well in the past few years and we're pretty sure we had more U20 players than other teams in the League of Ireland on Friday night.

“We have more highly talented players in our Academy and they can now see that age doesn't matter. If we (coaching staff) feel you can contribute at this level, you will be on the pitch.”