The Ulster Championship draw was made last week and it’s well set up to be another exciting campaign in 2026.
As I mentioned last week, the big thing you’re looking for is a home draw.
I will be working with Fermanagh next year and we will have to wait for a long time before we know if we have a home game or not as we are taking on the winners of the Preliminary tie between Armagh and Tyrone.
Donegal have been paired with Down at home which I’m sure Jim will be pleased about.
However, the big question now is where will that home game take place?
The talk around the Twin Towns is that MacCumhaill Park will probably not be back open until the second half of next year.
O’Donnell Park would be the most logical back-up considering the county final was played there in October.
But the fact that Donegal are going to play two league games in Fr Tierney Park has people wondering if Down could be brought to Ballyshannon.
The semi-final with Down this year probably had the smallest attendance of any championship game Donegal played this year.
So there’s a good chance that O’Donnell Park or Fr Tierney Park will be able to cater for the crowd.
Down showed plenty against Donegal, Monaghan and Galway in this year’s championship to show that they have plenty about them, even though Danny Magill is now out with an ACL injury.
It’s a tough draw for Fermanagh no doubt but we will work hard and prepare as best as we can.
There’s no doubt that Armagh against Tyrone will be a huge game to start the championship and there will be massive interest in it.
I expect it will be another keenly contested Ulster Championship.
At different stages of the year, you hear people saying you’d be better off out of it.
But when the big games are coming around in Clones and Breffni, you want to be involved in them.
There’s also a new format for the All-Ireland Series as well, and it looks like it favours those that advance through to the provincial final.
Those provincial championship matches are still a long way away but the McKenna Cup fixtures are out now and that provides a real focus for players who are working hard on the training field to get fit.
Ward
Caolan Ward won’t be involved with the Donegal senior football team going forward but he can look back on a fine career in the green and gold.
I would have worked with Caolan for five years with Donegal and he was always hugely committed.
He would have been based in Carlow and Monaghan at times but he made his way up the road to training.
Caolan has always been very fit and was rarely out injured.
He was nearly always able to take to the training field on a Tuesday and Thursday night and there’s a lot to be said for that.
Caolan could have played on any line of the pitch really and he was probably most comfortable at wing-back.
But if he was asked to go into the corner then he would have taken on the challenge and would have gone up against some of the best forwards in the country during his time.
He got a bad hamstring injury in 2024 and probably didn’t get the run that he would have liked this season but I’m sure he would have been pushing hard in training.
Caolan has always been an unassuming character and there’s plenty more to come from him with St Eunan’s but he can definitely be very proud of his stint in the green and gold jersey.
Four Masters
Four Masters were crowned Under 21 ‘A’ Champions last week and there just doesn’t seem to be any stopping them at the moment.
They won last year’s title as well and most of the team are underage again in 2026 where they will start as strong favourites.
I was surprised by the final margin because they beat a good Naomh Conaill team who have a lot of quality players.
Naomh Conaill got a dream start as well with a goal in the first minute but Four Masters didn’t panic.
They came back strongly and were always in control when Conor McCahill rattled in a fine goal.
The quality of some of their scores in the second half really stood out and they have threats coming from all over the field.
Naomh Conaill will be disappointed with how they performed but there’s no shame in losing to the Donegal Town men.
They are cleaning up all around them and have also won Minor and Under 16 titles this year.
You have to give huge credit to the Four Masters club because they got their house in order, and have clearly been doing excellent coaching and now they are reaping the benefits.
I saw that they had 43 players listed on their team sheet on Sunday which is remarkable.
And in some ways that’s also a challenge. There are a lot of good players, and they need to find a way to make sure they all get meaningful football.
There are players involved who are starting in the MacRory Cup for Abbey who aren’t getting any minutes at Under 21 level which is staggering when you think about it.
Someone was asking me this week, how many Senior Championships will Four Masters win in the next ten years?
It’s a hard one to call.
The big thing will be trying to keep the group together at home and that won’t be easy, and there will always be injuries and loss of form to contend with.
However, Four Masters have a steady conveyor-belt coming through behind this Under 21 team which augers really well for the future.
It might take a year or two but success at senior level feels inevitable.
Another aspect of Four Masters’ success worth noting is that there is no nonsense with the team.
Red cards are few and far between and they are not getting on the wrong side of referees.
Granted, they are winning most of their matches so don’t have that much to complain about!
But it looks to me like they have had a culture coming up through the ranks where poor behaviour would not be tolerated.
It is phenomenal for Four Masters but as I have mentioned before you have other clubs like Naomh Conaill, Glenswilly, MacCumhaills and Termon in particular who are doing a lot of work and will aim to keep pace, while St Eunan’s will never be far away.
The Under 21 ‘B’ Final takes place this weekend and that should be a good game between Glenfin and Ardara at the Burn Road.
Glenfin have a good cohort of talented players that they have nurtured through and they would be delighted if they could win on Saturday.
Ardara weren’t overly convincing last week against Muff in the semi-final but they are bringing through scoring forwards.
They also had a strong Under 14 team this year so things look to be coming together for Ardara and they will be keen to add the Under 21 ‘B’ title to the Minor ‘B’ crown they have won already this year.
Mickey McLoone
There was sadness in Donegal GAA circles this week following the death of Mickey McLoone.
Mickey was considered to be a very classy corner-forward during his playing days and had the honour of captaining the county team.
He was also a key member of the St Joseph’s team that enjoyed such success.
I remember growing up Mickey’s name was regularly mentioned in our house as a super player who had a real eye for goal.
I’d like to pass on my sympathies to his family, friends, teammates and clubmates at this difficult time.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
