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Neil Gallagher (Donegal footballer)

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For the other fellow, see Neil Gallagher (Louth footballer).
Neil Gallagher
Personal information
Irish name Niall Ó Gallachóir[1]
Sport Gaelic football
Position Midfield
Born (1982-08-18) 18 August 1982 (age 42)
Letterkenny, Ireland
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Nickname Big Neil[2]
Occupation Technician
Club(s)
Years Club
?–20??
 Glenswilly
Club titles
Donegal titles 3
Inter-county(ies)
Years County Apps (scores)
2003–2017
 Donegal 140[3]
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles 3
All-Irelands 1
NFL 1
All Stars 2

Neil Gallagher (born 18 August 1982) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Glenswilly and the Donegal county team.

He tended to play for his county at midfield, from 2004 until his injury-enforced retirement in 2017.

He won two All Stars, one All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title, three Ulster Senior Football Championship titles and one National Football League title. He was team captain when Donegal won the National Football League title in 2007. Gallagher's haul of Ulster SFC titles was a joint county team record (alongside such past players as Anthony Molloy, Martin McHugh, Joyce McMullan and Donal Reid) for four years until Patrick McBrearty, Neil McGee, Paddy McGrath, Leo McLoone, Frank McGlynn, Michael Murphy and Anthony Thompson surpassed it in 2018.

Playing career

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Youth

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Educated at St Eunan's College in Letterkenny, he warmed the bench during the College's 2000 McLarnon Cup victory.[4][5]

Club

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Gallagher was part of the Glenswilly team that won the 2011 Donegal Senior Football Championship (his team's first County Championship at senior level). Glenswilly defeated St Michael's by 1–8 to 0–9 in the final.[6] He won his second Donegal Senior Football Championship with Glenswilly in 2013, scoring a goal in the final against Na Cealla Beaga.[7] The team had a successful Ulster campaign, advancing to the final of the 2013 Ulster Senior Club Football Championship, where they lost to Ballinderry.[8][9]

He won a third Donegal SFC in 2016.[citation needed]

He had retired by 2020.[10]

Inter-county

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Gallagher was first called up to the senior team by Brian McEniff for winter training in 2003.[11] He made his senior debut for Donegal in 2004. That year his team made it to the Ulster final but were defeated by Armagh. 2005 was unsuccessful. Donegal reached the 2006 Ulster Senior Football Championship Final and he played in that match at Croke Park.[12]

In 2007, he was part of the Donegal team that won the county's first National Football League title. Donegal defeated Mayo in the final.[13] He was the caption that day.[14] He sustained a heavy knock to the head, one that required a bandage, but was still able to collect the trophy.[15]

Alongside Glenswilly teammate Ciaran Bonner, he was dropped by manager John Joe Doherty over a breach of discipline ahead of the 2009 All-Ireland SFC qualifier game against Carlow.[16]

By 2011, he had no career and was presumed finished.[17] He was 28 years of age and a peripheral figure in manager Jim McGuinness's first season in charge.[18]

Then, quite suddenly, he became a linchpin of McGuinness's Donegal midfield, winning his first Ulster Senior Football Championship in 2011.[19]

He won his second Ulster SFC title in 2012. Though he did not play in the final against Down, he featured in earlier rounds and contributed a point in the quarter-final victory over Derry.[20][21][22] He was then part of the Donegal team that advanced through the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. The best performance of his career with Donegal came against Cork at Croke Park in the All-Ireland semi-final; indeed, it is widely regarded as one of the all-time best in team history.[17] He scored a point against Mayo in the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, as Donegal claimed the Sam Maguire Cup.[23][24] He won an All Star and attended the Football Tour of New York.[25]

He also started for Donegal in the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final.[citation needed]

He won his third and final Ulster SFC title in 2014.[26]

Under the management of McGuinness's successor, Rory Gallagher, he continued to feature for his county team. However, he was bedeviled by injuries. On Valentine's Day in 2017, he attended training at Convoy — it was upon the Convoy turf that he broke down for the final time and relinquished his status as an inter-county footballer.[17] Gallagher later described Gallagher as "very disappointed… He wanted to give it a go… He got the back re-scanned and tried to build it up".[17] He announced his retirement from inter-county football at the age of 33 on 20 February 2017.[27]

Business venture

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In conjunction with teammate Michael Murphy, Gallagher opened the sports store "Michael Murphy Sports and Leisure" in Letterkenny in August 2014.[28]

Personal life

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Less than a week after the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, Gallagher attended the 2014 Ryder Cup in Perthshire, Scotland.[29]

Honours

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Donegal
Glenswilly
Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Countdown to Croker: Donegal name 'team' for All-Ireland final". 20 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  2. ^ Craig, Frank (25 May 2019). "Murphy a 'once in a generation' player - Big Neil". Donegal News. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Big Neil calls it a day". Donegal News. 20 February 2017. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Twitter feed". St Eunan's College. EunansFootball Best of luck 2our past pupils who r in Donegal panel v Cork in All Ire Semi-Final on Sun @neilgerardgalla @murphm95 @AntoinMcFadden @Tommyk_91 @BrickMolloy @123kav @kevin_raff @gmacfadden14 @mdboyler24 +Mr McFadden #TheCollege
  5. ^ Foley, Alan (11 September 2012). "Forward thinking McFadden". Donegal Democrat. Retrieved 11 September 2012. When McFadden was a Leaving Cert student in 2000, no St Eunan's team had won the competition, which is considered the undercard to the MacRory Cup in Ulster, since 1979. 'It was always a massive thing in the school and they hadn't won it for years', he recalls. 'Rory Kavanagh was on that team and Neil Gallagher was a sub. Looking back, it was strange that it was even B football as the standard was very good'.
  6. ^ "Murphy magic proves key as Glenswilly secure first Donegal crown". Irish Independent. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  7. ^ "Murphy follows up Ireland heroics by firing Glenswilly to county glory". Irish Independent. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  8. ^ "Ballinderry 1–13 Glenswilly 2–06". RTÉ Sport. 1 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  9. ^ "Live: Glenswilly v Ballinderry Shamrocks Ulster senior club final". Donegal Now. 1 December 2013. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  10. ^ Ferry, Ryan (16 July 2020). "Changing of the guard for Glenswilly". p. 84. …the Pairc Naomh Columba outfit will have a much younger feel to it in 2020… former Donegal senior player Gary McFadden has recovered from his cruciate injury. However, seasoned campaigners and three-times Donegal SFC winners — Neil Gallagher, Ciaran Bonner and Joe Gibbons — have all called it a day, while Cathal Gallagher has emigrated…
  11. ^ Keys, Colm (5 November 2003). "Royals' seal of approval puts pressure on Boylan". Irish Independent. Retrieved 5 November 2003.
  12. ^ "Donegal 0–09 1–09 Armagh". BBC Sport. 9 July 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2006.
  13. ^ "Donegal win National League title". BBC Sport. 22 April 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  14. ^ a b "Donegal achieve historic win — First national league title comes to county after victory over Mayo". Donegal Times. 25 April 2007. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2007.
  15. ^ Ferry, Ryan (23 April 2020). "McConigley reflects on 2007 National League success". Donegal News. pp. 52–3.
  16. ^ "Donegal duo dropped for discipline breach". RTÉ Sport. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2009. Ciaran Bonner and Neil Gallagher have been dropped from the Donegal football panel for a breach of discipline ahead of Saturday's All-Ireland qualifier against Carlow in Ballybofey.
  17. ^ a b c d McNulty, Chris (21 February 2017). "Gallagher retirement a 'sad day' for Donegal". Irish Independent. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  18. ^ McNulty, Chris (17 July 2015). "Monaghan's Corbett sees the 'magic' of Murphy and Gallagher". Donegal News. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  19. ^ a b "Donegal 1–11 Derry 0-08". RTÉ Sport. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  20. ^ a b "Ulster Senior Football Final: Donegal 2–18 0–13 Down". BBC Sport. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  21. ^ "Tyrone 0–10 Donegal 0–12". RTÉ Sport. 30 June 2012. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  22. ^ "Donegal 2–13 Derry 0–09". RTÉ Sport. 16 June 2012. Archived from the original on 20 June 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  23. ^ "Live updates from the All-Ireland finals at Croke Park". RTÉ Sport. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  24. ^ a b "Donegal 2–11 Mayo 0–13". RTÉ Sport. 23 September 2012. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  25. ^ McNulty, Chris (13 November 2012). "Replacement All-Star for Thompson". Donegal News. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  26. ^ a b "Donegal reverse 2013 result to claim Ulster football title". The42.ie. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  27. ^ "Donegal Midfielder Neil Gallagher to retire from inter-county football". Highland Radio. 20 February 2017. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017.
  28. ^ Foley, Alan (15 August 2014). "Michael Murphy Sports and Leisure opens its doors in Letterkenny". Donegal Democrat. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  29. ^ "Jimmy's still swinging matches at the Ryder Cup!". 26 September 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  30. ^ Heneghan, Conor (2015). "The nominations for the 2015 GAA/GPA Gaelic Football All-Stars have been announced". JOE.ie.
  31. ^ McNulty, Chris (10 September 2012). "Neil Gallagher – August 2012 Donegal News Sports Personality winner". Donegal News. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by Donegal Senior Captain
2007 		Succeeded by
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