Paddy McGrath
Personal information
Irish name Pádraig Mac Craith[1]
Sport Gaelic football
Position Left Corner Back
Born (1989-02-02) 2 February 1989
Ardara, County Donegal
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Occupation Construction manager
Club(s)
Years Club
?–
 Ard an Rátha
Inter-county(ies)
Years County Apps (scores)
2010–2021
 Donegal 100+[2]
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles 5
All-Irelands 1

Paddy McGrath (born 2 February 1989) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Ard an Rátha and also, formerly, for the Donegal county team.

Though not from a footballing family, McGrath would equal his club's most successful player Anthony Molloy in winning the Sam Maguire Cup (though Molloy was captain) and surpass his haul of Ulster Senior Football Championships.

Playing career

McGrath is not from a footballing family.[3] He lived at Loughros Point in Ardara.[3] His local club's under-10 manager Eamon McNelis spent much time convincing a reluctant McGrath that he had potential to be more than a spectator.[3] He went on to captain the under-10 team to the Parish League title.[3] He played for Donegal at under-16 and minor level but went largely unnoticed.[3] He played Sigerson Cup football for GMIT.[4]

Under-21

McGrath, along with clubmates Conor Classon and Peter McNelis,[5] was part of the Donegal under-21 squad which qualified for the 2010 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship final, losing out to Dublin.[6][7] McGrath played in that game with a broken jaw — manager Jim McGuinness, after taking over as Donegal senior manager, recalled:

"I saw the x-ray myself. Paddy said to the surgeon, 'if I go out and get it broken again, what's the worst that can happen'. The surgeon told him, 'I'll fix it'. Paddy said, 'that's OK then. I'm going to play in the game'. That's the type of person that predominantly wins you football matches and I'm glad to have him in the senior squad".[8]

McGrath had earlier played for Donegal throughout the Ulster Under-21 Football Championship, which they had won to progress to the All-Ireland final.[9][10]

The players were unaware that McGrath's jaw was, as James Carroll, later described it, "wired".[9] McGrath described the campaign as "a platform that set us up to be senior players".[3] "Once Jim McGuinness got him, he got the best out of him", Eamon McNelis later said.[3]

Senior

Having attracted notice during the under-21 campaign, McGrath made his senior Donegal debut under the management of John Joe Doherty in 2010.[2] It was a substitute appearance against Down, who had Brendan Coulter score a vital goal to win the 2010 Ulster Senior Football Championship match in spite of the efforts of McGrath and others.[3] Shortly afterwards, McGrath made his first start against Armagh in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifier defeat in Crossmaglen, lasting hardly a quarter of an hour before being substituted when Donegal conceded two early goals.[3]

McGuinness took over as senior manager later that year.[11] Around the same time, McGrath turned down an opportunity to become a full-time assistant site manager in the English city of Liverpool so that he could continue to play football.[3] McGrath won his first senior inter-county medal in 2011 — the National Football League Division 2 title. "It's just a league medal and I want to push on now and achieve bigger things", he said afterwards, upsetting Damian Diver who said he had never won a single medal in all his years with Donegal.[12]

McGrath soon added an Ulster Senior Football Championship to leave Diver languishing further behind in the shade.[13]

McGrath added another Ulster Senior Football Championship the following year.[14]

McGrath then went one better and got his hands on an All-Ireland senior medal.[15] His defensive performance in the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final defeat of Kerry, en route to the final, immortality and championship glory, was described in the national media as "exceptional".[16]

He scored his first point for his county against Galway in a challenge game in 2013.[3]

McGrath won his third Ulster Senior Football Championship in 2014, three more than Diver ever did.[17]

McGrath scored a point against Tyrone in the 2017 National Football League.[18] It marked the first occasion on which he had scored for Donegal, in league or in championship.[19] McGrath then scored a goal in Donegal's 2017 Ulster Senior Football Championship defeat of Antrim.[20] He tore a posterior cruciate ligament and sustained cartilage damage in 2017 while on club duty.[21] However, he did not require surgery.[21] He did though require a brace on his injured leg, was able to build up muscle around the knee to provide stability to the ligament and returned to the game after six months.[22]

McGrath won his fourth Ulster Senior Football Championship in 2018, four more than Diver ever did.[23] McGrath scored a point in the final against Fermanagh.[23]

That first senior inter-county medal was repeated in 2019 when McGrath won the National Football League Division 2 title with Donegal for a second time, twice more than Diver ever did.[24]

McGrath won his fifth Ulster Senior Football Championship in 2019, five more than Diver ever did.[25]

However, McGrath's 2019 season ended at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage against Mayo in Castlebar when he sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury, necessitating a prolonged spell out of the game.[21] He had only returned to playing for Donegal in the same game, having sustained an earlier injury to his ankle following the final of the 2019 Ulster Senior Football Championship.[21] An MRI conducted a few days later revealed a recurrence of his previous posterior cruciate ligament injury, but this time with a necessity for surgery.[22] He spent time on crutches and was unable to walk.[22] In January 2020, local media reported that McGrath was intending to make his return for the 2020 Ulster Senior Football Championship match against Tyrone.[22]

McGrath announced his retirement from inter-county football ahead of the 2022 season.[26]

Personal life

McGrath has a wife, Stephanie, with whom he has several daughters.[22] He became father to his first daughter in 2018.[27][28]

Advocacy

McGrath appeared in a video advocating a vote for "No" in the 2018 referendum on the availability of abortion.[29]

Honours

Player
Individual

A 2015 survey — conducted among U.S. women with little or no knowledge of Gaelic games — ranked McGrath in the top fifteen sexiest GAA players, third in Ulster and second in Donegal (after Patrick McBrearty).[33]

References

  1. ↑ "Two changes for clash with Roscommon". Donegal News. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  2. 1 2 Craig, Frank (24 January 2019). "McGrath closing in on 100th appearance". Donegal News. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 McNulty, Chris (25 May 2013). "Donegal v Tyrone build-up: From shy beginning to the stars". Donegal News. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  4. ↑ Ferry, Ryan (16 December 2021). "Donegal need to deliver on potential — Rochford". p. 63. [Stephen] Rochford has a long-standing relationship with Paddy McGrath dating back to the Ardara man's days as a Sigerson Cup player with GMIT.
  5. ↑ Craig, Frank. "Cadbury's Ulster Under-21 Football final". Ardara.ie. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Ardara trio Conor Classon, Paddy McGrath and Peter McNelis all played their part in helping Jim McGuinness' men secure a famous win over the Breffni blues. Both Classon and McGrath were again two of the side's most influential operators — with McNelis entering the fray late in the second half.
  6. ↑ "Donegal get double boost". Hogan Stand. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  7. 1 2 O'Toole, Fintan (6 April 2013). "Remember the last time that Jim Gavin managed against Jim McGuinness?: The opposing managers in tomorrow's Division 1 league tie in Ballybofey have come face to face before". The42.ie. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  8. ↑ Haughey, John (25 November 2010). "Will McGuinness be good for Donegal?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  9. 1 2 McNulty, Chris (7 April 2020). "The diary, the dream and Donegal's first steps to 'the other place'". Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  10. 1 2 "Ulster U21FC: Murphy leads Donegal to title". Hogan Stand. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
  11. ↑ "McGuinness named new Donegal boss". RTÉ Sport. 27 July 2010. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
  12. ↑ McNulty, Chris (July 2012). "'Baby Give It Up' for the Ulster champions". Donegal News. Retrieved 12 April 2013. Paddy McGrath spoke of having met Damian Diver after Donegal won the 2011 Division 2 title. 'It's just a league medal and I want to push on now and achieve bigger things', McGrath had told his fellow Ardara man. Diver quickly reminded McGrath that his League medal was 'one more medal than I ever got'.
  13. 1 2 "Donegal 1–11 Derry 0-08". RTÉ Sport. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  14. 1 2 "Ulster Senior Football Final: Donegal 2-18 0-13 Down". BBC Sport. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  15. 1 2 "Donegal 2-11 Mayo 0-13". RTÉ Sport. 23 September 2012. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  16. ↑ Keys, Colm (6 August 2012). "Donegal eyes on the big prize: McFadden twists knife as curtain falls on illustrious Kingdom era". Irish Independent. Retrieved 6 August 2012. Donegal had some exceptional defensive performances, none more so than from Paddy McGrath…
  17. 1 2 "Donegal reverse 2013 result to claim Ulster football title". The42.ie. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  18. ↑ Kelly, Kevin (18 March 2017). "Allianz FL D1: Donegal too good for Tyrone". Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  19. ↑ McNulty, Chris (20 March 2017). "Three Donegal players are named on GAA.ie Team of the Week". Retrieved 20 March 2017. Paddy McGrath had a fine game for Rory Gallagher's team at corner-back, posting his first ever score in league or championship.
  20. ↑ Foley, Alan (21 May 2017). "Paddy McGrath among the goalscorers as Donegal blitz Antrim to advance in Ulster". The42.ie. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  21. 1 2 3 4 Craig, Frank (16 August 2019). "Bonner 'extremely hopeful' on Rochford". Donegal News. p. 72.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Craig, Frank (17 January 2020). "McGrath aiming for May 17 return". Donegal News. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  23. 1 2 3 Mooney, Francis (24 June 2018). "Energetic Donegal end Fermanagh's Ulster title dream". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  24. 1 2 O'Brien, Kevin (30 March 2019). "Murphy masterclass helps Donegal to Division 2 glory after comeback win over Meath". The42.ie. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  25. 1 2 Sweeney, Peter (23 June 2019). "Donegal power past Cavan to claim Ulster title". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  26. ↑ "All-Ireland winning Donegal defender McGrath retires from inter-county football". The42.ie. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  27. ↑ "New father Paddy happy with Donegal's win". Donegal News. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  28. ↑ Archer, Kenny (29 May 2018). "Donegal's new dad Paddy McGrath happy with youngsters' involvement". The Irish News. Retrieved 29 May 2018. 2018 has been fairly momentous for him already: he has entered his 30th year and become a father, declaring: 'You wouldn't change a thing, she's the best wee thing and Stephanie is keeping the whole thing going!' At the age of 29, only fellow defenders Frank McGlynn and Neil McGee are older than him…
  29. ↑ McGonagle, Suzanne (2 May 2018). "Video: High-profile GAA players call for 'No' vote in abortion referendum". The Irish News. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  30. ↑ "Donegal dominate All-Star football nominations with 12 players selected". RTÉ Sport. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  31. ↑ Heneghan, Conor (1 October 2016). "Here are the GAA/GPA Football All-Star nominations for 2016". JOE.ie. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  32. ↑ "Three Donegal players get All Star nominations". Donegal News. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  33. ↑ "Donegal's sexiest GAA players revealed – US Poll". Donegal News. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
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