BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN once sang about ‘Glory Days’, his words laced with a reminder of how they can become a thing of the past.
“Glory days, well they’ll pass you by. Glory days, in the wink of a young girl’s eye.”
Donegal football followers haven’t had too many glory days to recount. Before now, the late 80s and early 90s was harked back to as the golden age.
However, on July 17 next the Donegal senior and minor footballers will contest the Ulster Championship finals.
They will be the 20th and 21st finals to be contested by Donegal at minor, under-21 and senior level since 2010.
Never before have Donegal had such rich times.
The barrier was pulled down by Jim McGuinness’s Under-21s in 2010 when they won Ulster and came to within a crossbar’s width of beating Dublin in the All-Ireland final.
McGuinness subsequently succeeded John Joe Doherty as senior manager and, well, did what he did. Three Ulster titles from four appearances in the final and one All-Ireland crown from two September showdowns were bagged.
Twice, Donegal contested the Division 2 League final under McGuinness, beating Laois in 2011 and losing to Monaghan in 2014.
Rory Gallagher has guided Donegal back to the Ulster SFC final and this will be the sixth time in a row the county has been in the decider.
Donegal’s previous best was the five-on-the-spin from 1989-’94 when Donegal won the Anglo Celt in 1990 and 1992.
Successive final appearances is rare in Ulster’s modern era.
Cavan went to 18 finals in a row from 1939 to 1956; Cavan also went to ten from 1928 to 1937; Antrim appeared in six from 1908 to 1913 and the previous best to the Donegal of now is Down’s ten-in-a-row from 1958 to 1969.
Donegal is now reaping the benefits of underage success.
Kieran Gillespie was on the 2014 Donegal minor team that won Ulster and played in that year’s All-Ireland minor final against Kerry.
Eoghan Ban Gallagher is another graduate of that squad and others are emerging, like Stephen McBrearty and Micheál Carroll.
With Shaun Paul Barrett’s minor class of now looking forward to the final against Derry, the future looks healthy, but those Glory Days can pass you by!
DONEGAL’S FINALS RECORD SINCE 2010
2010 Ulster U21 final: Donegal 2-8 Cavan 0-7
2010 All-Ireland U21 final: Dublin 1-10 Donegal 1-8
2011 Division 2 League final: Donegal 2-11 Laois 0-16
2011 Ulster SFC final: Donegal 1-11 Derry 0-8
2012 Ulster SFC final: Donegal 2-18 Down 0-13
2012 All-Ireland SFC final: Donegal 2-11 Mayo 0-13
2013 Ulster U21 final: Cavan 0-13 Donegal 1-6
2013 Ulster SFC final: Monaghan 0-13 Donegal 0-7
2014 Ulster Minor League final: Donegal 1-15 Tyrone 2-7
2014 Ulster U21 final: Cavan 2-6 Donegal 0-8
2014 Division 2 League final: Monaghan 1-16 Donegal 1-10
2014 Ulster MFC final: Donegal 2-12 Armagh 0-10
2014 Ulster SFC final: Donegal 0-15 Monaghan 1-9
2014 All-Ireland MFC final: Kerry 0-17 Donegal 1-10
2014 All-Ireland SFC final: Kerry 2-9 Donegal 0-12
2015 Ulster Minor League final: Donegal 2-14 Derry 1-11
2015 Ulster U21 final: Tyrone 1-11 Donegal 0-13
2015 Ulster SFC final: Monaghan 0-11 Donegal 0-10
2016 Ulster Minor Legaue final: Donegal 3-9 Tyrone 1-13
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