# 2016 Donegal county football team season

The following is a summary of Donegal county football team's 2016 season.

## Personnel changes

Brendan Kilcoyne replaced Gary McDaid on the management team. Kilcoyne's appointment as a team selector was announced in November 2015. Maxi Curran was also said to be involved in team preparations ahead of the 2016 Dr McKenna Cup, alongside Gallagher, Kilcoyne and Jack Cooney.
Twelve players were added ahead of the season: Eoghan Bán Gallagher, Ciarán Thompson, Stephen McMenamin, Caolan McGonagle, Tony McClenaghan, Kieran Gillespie, Michael Carroll, Stephen McBrearty, Jack O'Brien (Naomh Muire), Danny Rodgers (An Clochán Liath; goalkeeper), Rory Carr (St Eunan's) and Caolan Ward. Ward was the eldest of those additions. O'Brien played for Donegal in the 2016 National Football League semi-final against Dublin at Croke Park.
Paul Durcan emigrated to Qatar at the end of the previous season.

## Kit

The 'KN Group' began appearing as title sponsor on the front of player shirts, while the 'MCR Group' became Tier 2 sponsors, thus featuring on the back of player shirts.

## Competitions
### National Football League Division 1

The fixtures were announced on 16 November 2015.

#### Table

Compete in Division 1 semi-finals  Automatic relegation to Division 2
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Diff | Pts |
| Dublin | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8-91 | 4-75 | 28 | 14 |
| Kerry | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 5-109 | 5-77 | 32 | 10 |
| Roscommon | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 9-98 | 8-77 | 24 | 8 |
| Donegal | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 8-84 | 6-78 | 12 | 6 |
| Mayo | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5-88 | 7-91 | -9 | 6 |
| Monaghan | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6-83 | 7-91 | -11 | 6 |
| Cork | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9-89 | 9-105 | -16 | 6 |
| Down | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2-60 | 6-108 | -60 | 0 |
$^1$Donegal, Mayo, Monaghan and Cork are ranked by scoring difference.

#### Fixtures

| 30/01/16 Round 1 | Down | 0-7 - 3-15 | Donegal | Páirc Esler, Newry Referee: D Gough |
| 30/01/16 Round 1 | D O'Hare (0-4), A McConville (0-2), C McGovern (0-1) | Report | M Murphy (0-8), P McBrearty (1-3), R McHugh (2-0), L McLoone (0-2), C Thompson (0-1), F McGlynn (0-1) | Páirc Esler, Newry Referee: D Gough |
| 07/02/16 Round 2 | Donegal | 2-14 - 1-7 | Cork | Fr Tierney Park, Ballyshannon Referee: J McQuillan |
| 07/02/16 Round 2 | O MacNiallais (1-4), P McBrearty (0-4), M O'Reilly (1-1), A Thompson (0-2), C Thompson (0-1), F McGlynn (0-1), M Murphy (0-1) | Report | D Goulding (0-5), D Og Hodnett (1-0), B O'Driscoll (0-1) | Fr Tierney Park, Ballyshannon Referee: J McQuillan |
| 28/02/16 Round 3 | Donegal | 1-14 - 1-12 | Mayo | MacCumhail Park, Ballybofey Referee: B Cassidy |
| 28/02/16 Round 3 | M Murphy (0-5), P McBrearty (0-4), L McLoone (1-0), O MacNiallais (0-2), R McHugh (0-2), R Kavanagh (0-1) | Report | E Regan (0-4), D O'Connor (1-0), R Hennelly (0-2), A O'Shea (0-1), B Harrison (0-1), C Loftus (0-1), L Keegan (0-1), S Nally (0-1), S O'Shea (0-1) | MacCumhail Park, Ballybofey Referee: B Cassidy |
| 06/03/16 Round 4 | Kerry | 1-13 - 1-8 | Donegal | Austin Stack Park, Tralee Attendance: 7,056 Referee: E Kinsella |
| 06/03/16 Round 4 | B Sheehan (0-8), D Walsh (0-3), P Crowley (1-0), BJ Keane (0-1), C Cooper (0-1) | Report | M Murphy (1-4), P McBrearty (0-3), N Gallagher (0-1) | Austin Stack Park, Tralee Attendance: 7,056 Referee: E Kinsella |
| 13/03/16 Round 5 | Donegal | 0-17 - 1-19 | Roscommon | O'Donnell Park, Letterkenny Referee: P Hughes |
| 13/03/16 Round 5 | M Murphy (0-7), P McBrearty (0-6), C Toye (0-1), E McHugh (0-1), O MacNiallais (0-1), R McHugh (0-1) | Report | C Murtagh (0-6), F Cregg (0-5), C Cregg (1-2), N Daly (0-3), C Daly (0-1), C Devaney (0-1), E Smith (0-1) | O'Donnell Park, Letterkenny Referee: P Hughes |
| 26/03/16 Round 6 | Dublin | 1-10 - 0-7 | Donegal | Croke Park, Dublin Referee: C Lane Man of the Match: Kevin McManamon |
| 26/03/16 Round 6 | C Costello (0-3), K McManamon (0-3), P McMahon (1-0), B Fenton (0-1), C Kilkenny (0-1), D Rock (0-1), P Andrews (0-1) | Report | P McBrearty (0-3), E McGee (0-1), M Murphy (0-1), O MacNiallais (0-1), R Kavanagh (0-1) | Croke Park, Dublin Referee: C Lane Man of the Match: Kevin McManamon |
| 03/04/16 Round 7 | Monaghan | 1-10 - 1-9 | Donegal | St Tiernach's Park, Clones Referee: R Hickey |
| 03/04/16 Round 7 | C McManus (0-6), D McKenna (1-1), C Walshe (0-1), D Hughes (0-1), R McAnespie (0-1) | Report | M Murphy (0-3), M McElhinney (1-0), P McBrearty (0-2), A Thompson (0-1), E McHugh (0-1), O MacNiallais (0-1), R McHugh (0-1) | St Tiernach's Park, Clones Referee: R Hickey |
| 10/04/16 4:00 pm Semi-final | Dublin | 1-20 - 0-13 | Donegal | Croke Park, Dublin Referee: M Deegan Man of the Match: Ciaran Kilkenny |
| 10/04/16 4:00 pm Semi-final | D Rock (0-5), B Brogan (1-2), C Kilkenny (0-3), P Mannion (0-2), P Andrews (0-2), P McMahon (0-1), J Cooper (0-1), J McCarthy (0-1), J Small (0-1), C Costello (0-1), E Lowndes (0-1) | Report | P McBrearty (0-8), M Murphy (0-4), M McElhinney (0-1) | Croke Park, Dublin Referee: M Deegan Man of the Match: Ciaran Kilkenny |

### Ulster Senior Football Championship

The draw for the 2016 Ulster Senior Football Championship took place on 15 October 2015.

#### Bracket

| Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | Derry | Derry | 0-12 | | | | | | |
| | | | Tyrone | Tyrone | 3-14 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Tyrone (R) | Tyrone (R) | 0-16 5-18 | | | |
| | | | | | | Cavan (R) | Cavan (R) | 3-07 2-17 | | | |
| | | | Cavan | Cavan | 2-16 | | | | | | |
| | | | Armagh | Armagh | 0-14 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | Tyrone | Tyrone | 0-13 |
| | | | | | | | | | Donegal | Donegal | 0-11 |
| | | | Monaghan | Monaghan | 2-22 | | | | | | |
| | | | Down | Down | 0-09 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Monaghan (R) | Monaghan (R) | 0-14 2-10 | | | |
| | | | | | | Donegal (R) | Donegal (R) | 1-11 0-17 | | | |
| | | | Donegal | Donegal | 2-12 | | | | | | |
| Fermanagh | Fermanagh | 1-12 | Fermanagh | Fermanagh | 0-11 | | | | | | |
| Antrim | Antrim | 0-9 | | | | | | | | | |

#### Fixtures
### All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

| 30 July 2016 4.00 PM Round 4B | Cork | 1-15 – 0-21 | Donegal | Croke Park Attendance: 27,615 Referee: P Neilan (Roscommon) |
| 30 July 2016 4.00 PM Round 4B | Paul Kerrigan 1-1, Colm O’Driscoll, Tom Clancy (Clonakilty), Kevin O’Driscoll, Colm O’Neill (0-1f), Donncha O’Connor 0-2 each, Mark Collins, Tomás Clancy (Fermoy), Seán Powter, Aidan Walsh 0-1 each | Report | Patrick McBrearty 0-11 (0-4f), Ryan McHugh 0-3, Eoin McHugh, Michael Murphy (0-1f) 0-2 each, Karl Lacey, Frank McGlynn, Odhrán MacNiallais 0-1 each. | Croke Park Attendance: 27,615 Referee: P Neilan (Roscommon) |
| 6 August 6.00 PM | Dublin | 1-15 – 1-10 | Donegal | Croke Park, Dublin Referee: C Branagan (Down) Man of the Match: Ciaran Kilkenny (Castleknock) |
| 6 August 6.00 PM | D Rock (0-5f), P Mannion (1-1), D Connolly, K McManamon, P McMahon (0-2 each), P Andrews, C Kilkenny, J Cooper (0-1 each) | Report | M Murphy (0-6 5f, 1 45), R McHugh (1-0), P McBrearty (0-3, 2f), A Thompson (0-1) | Croke Park, Dublin Referee: C Branagan (Down) Man of the Match: Ciaran Kilkenny (Castleknock) |

## Management team

* Selector: Brendan Kilcoyne
* Coach: Jack Cooney
* Strength and conditioning coach: Paul Fisher
* Goalkeeping coach: James Gallagher

## Awards
### All Stars

Ryan McHugh won an All Star, the county's 32nd. Paddy McGrath and Patrick McBrearty were also nominated.
| Pos. | Player | Team | Appearances |
| GK | David Clarke | Mayo | 1 |
| RCB | Brendan Harrison | Mayo | 1 |
| FB | Jonny Cooper | Dublin | 1 |
| LCB | Philly McMahon | Dublin | 2 |
| RWB | Lee Keegan$^{FOTY}$ | Mayo | 4 |
| CB | Colm Boyle | Mayo | 3 |
| LWB | Ryan McHugh | Donegal | 1 |
| MD | Brian Fenton | Dublin | 2 |
| MD | Mattie Donnelly | Tyrone | 2 |
| RWF | Peter Harte | Tyrone | 1 |
| CF | Diarmuid Connolly | Dublin | 2 |
| LWF | Ciarán Kilkenny | Dublin | 2 |
| RCF | Dean Rock | Dublin | 1 |
| FF | Michael Quinlivan | Tipperary | 1 |
| LCF | Paul Geaney | Kerry | 1 |

#### County breakdown

* Dublin = 6
* Mayo = 4
* Tyrone = 2
* Donegal = 1
* Kerry = 1
* Tipperary = 1