SHE goes by the marital guise of Gaffney these days but for the best part of a decade, the name Debbie-Lee Fox was synonymous with sport in Donegal.
Her name and performances were regularly chronicled on these pages as she was a trailblazer for women’s sport in the county.
Debbie-Lee was a super soccer player who’s skills were recognised on the International stage.
But it was for her exploits on the Gaelic Football field that she is perhaps best known, and the former Coolboy resident captained Donegal to an historic All-Ireland Junior Football title in 2003 in Croke Park.
It proved to be a remarkable journey to reach that destination, and like many other people of her vintage, it was Donegal’s maiden 1992 All-Ireland voyage which stoked the fire.
“I wouldn’t have really known anything about gaelic when I was younger.
“I played soccer with the Glencar Under 13 team when we lived up there. That was along with the boys and that was how it was back then.
“I suppose the thing that ignited the interest for me, and for a lot of other people I’m sure was Donegal’s All-Ireland win in 1992.
“There was no real teams or league before that, but the likes of Hugh Devenney, Charlie Kavanagh and Kevin Barron put in a huge effort to get it up-and-running.
“I was fortunate to play along with a very talented bunch of players with St Eunan’s. You had the likes of Liz Gordon, and Leala McCusker, and the Kavanagh sisters. I was in the right place at the right time really.
“When I was about 14, I started to play for the St Eunan’s Junior ladies team – we were fortunate enough to have two teams then.
“The young girls would all play for the juniors and then sit on the bench for the seniors.
“I remember one of the first games I played for the seniors, we were up against Monaghan Harps in Ulster, and Bridget Clarke our left half-back got injured.
“I went on and marked Brenda McAnespie who was one of the best players in the country.
“It was one of the worst games I ever played. I got a complete lesson and it was in front of a big home crowd and my mammy and daddy and everyone.
“But I was just so young and I had a lot to learn.”
The St Eunan’s ladies team was formed in 1992 and there was instant success as they won the county title in that first year.
A St Eunan’s ladies team
The Letterkenny club would soon start to dominate and a semi-final defeat to Aodh Ruadh in 1995 was the only Donegal championship game they would lose in the space of 13 years.
Debbie-Lee was a young star breaking through when they were at their strongest.
“We had a really good team and we won a lot of county titles.
“We also won three Ulster titles in-a-row too.
“We had a very good team at the time and even made it through to the All-Ireland Club Final in 1996.
“We lost out to Shelmaliers from Wexford. Ah we were well enough beaten on the day. It doesn’t keep me up at night anyway.
“We just didn’t perform on the day and you have to if you want to win an All-Ireland final.
“But looking back now, it was a great achievement to even get that far. When I was young and playing, I probably didn’t even appreciate it as much as I should have.”
Debbie-Lee made her Donegal debut at 15 after being given a chance by James Harkin.
However, the team weren’t catching fire during her early days involved, and she concedes that players had other commitments and distractions that held them back.
Debbie-Lee was as busy as anyone back then as she juggled her soccer and gaelic teams.
“I would have been soccer first in my early years. I suppose that was the sport that I had played first.
“That changed as Donegal became more successful in later years but I would have played the two together for a lot of the years, as most of the girls would have.
“There were many days you would have had two games on the one day.
“I remember playing a soccer game one day and it went to extra-time, and we didn’t even have time to get changed before we headed off to gaelic training.
“It wouldn’t be allowed now, but you only had so many numbers then and the players were always over-lapping.
“I would have played for McClafferty’s Bar, which later became Letterkenny Rovers.
“We were lucky enough to win the domestic league a good few teams and we won the FAI Intermediate Cup twice as well.
“We had a really good bunch of girls and our big rivals at the time were Orchard, but you would have been playing gaelic with some of their girls as well.”
Debbie-Lee was also playing soccer for Letterkenny IT and under the guidance of Fr Ciaran Harkin and Marie Carr, they qualified for the European Colleges Cup.
It wasn’t long before her excellent showings brought her to the attention of the Republic of Ireland Women’s team manager Mick Cooke.
“I had played an Under 16 international against a touring Australia team but not a lot came from that.
“Then I had a good run with the Combined Colleges team and got called into the senior squad for the European Championship qualifiers against Scotland and Croatia.
“We played Scotland at St Pat’s pitch (Richmond Park) and beat them, and then we went out to Zagreb.
“We lost that game 1-0 and didn’t qualify but it was still an unbelievable experience.
“For four days I got to live as a professional athlete. Everything was arranged and organised for you, and your training gear was laid out. All you had to do was turn up basically.”
It was around that time that the Donegal Ladies scene started to improve.
Debbie Lee Fox,
They hammered Derry to reach the 2000 Ulster Final but ended up losing to Down by 1-10 to 2-3.
“We were going well that year and we were all looking forward to the Ulster Final, and then when we arrived in Clones, we realised that we had left the kit in Donegal.
“So we ended up chasing around trying to get bits and pieces so that we could play.
“I was lucky that I still had a pair of shorts in my bag from our last training session.
“Somebody from the Ulster Council got us a set of jerseys and we actually played the Ulster Final in a Fermanagh strip.
“It’s hard to believe that could happen but it did. Thankfully there was no social media back then or we would have been the talk of the country!
“Things were at a low ebb then but ‘Tootsie’ (Edmund Carr) and Dermot Gallagher, God rest him, came in the following year and turned things around.
“It wasn’t that the people in before weren’t putting in the effort, I just think we needed to be pushed more.
“There was no bullshit allowed. I remember ‘Tootsie’ was going to America at one stage and he came to me and said I wasn’t fit enough. He said I needed to be able to hit this target when he returned or I would be cut and there would be no excuses.
“Things became more professional and we started to get food after training and stuff like that. It was an exciting time.”
Donegal got the mix right the following season and won the Ulster Junior title after a 0-12 to 0-5 win over Armagh.
However, their hopes of All-Ireland glory were dashed when they lost a quarter-final at the hands of Limerick.
Donegal vowed to come back stronger and they did that the following season and reached the Ulster Final again and comprehensively defeated Cavan.
Dermot Gallagher’s team were looking ahead to a jaunt at the All-Ireland but Debblie-Lee had other issues to contend with around that time after picking up a serious injury from an innocuous challenge.
“Myself and my boyfriend Bryan, who is now my husband, had been in America and we came back at the end of July, and I was training that weekend.
“It was just a clash of heads. A ball broke loose, and myself, Diane Toner, and another player all went for it.
“Diane got there first and just nicked it clear and I ended up banging heads with the other player.
“There was no doctor there and I just thought I had a black eye and that it would eventually clear up. In hindsight, I should have got it checked out.
“I played in the Ulster Final against Cavan and we won, but at different times during the game, I would have looked up and felt that my sight was blurry.
“I work up in the morning and my eye would be a bit blurry again and I then went to get it checked it out, but it was too late.”
Debbie-Lee went to Letterkenny General Hospital and was sent on to Sligo.
However, the retina in her right eye had come off and couldn’t be repaired and that meant she lost the sight in that eye.
“My consultant advised me not to play football again. He said I had to make sure that I kept the other eye and not to take any chances.
“But I was 22 at the time, and it’s hard to tell a 22-year-old to stop when you’re so young.
“My mammy and daddy were very worried as you can imagine, but I wouldn’t stop. I got handball goggles and they worked very well.”
Donegal went on to hammer the Munster champions Cork in the semi-final and that set up an All-Ireland Final with Galway in Croke Park.
It was a dream come true for Debbie-Lee to lead her county out onto the hallowed turf at Headquarters.
However, Croker can be an unforgiving place and Donegal were very much second best.
They found themselves 1-2 to no score down after four minutes and would eventually lose by ten points.
“We had a great run to get to the final, but maybe the focus wasn’t there that you would have liked.
“There were a few distractions like my eye and Diane Toner was in a car accident as well.
“We were very nervous and I think the whole thing got on top of us a bit.
“We were a bit in awe of Croke Park and were looking around to see our family and friends and so on.
“Now to be fair it was a good Galway team and they deserved to win, but it was still hard to accept and I still haven’t been able to watch that game back.”
Donegal were disappointed but not disheartened, and they recognised that they were on an upward trajectory as they approached 2003.
“Maxi (Curran) came in as manager that year and he brought Brendan Drummond from Bundoran in as coach, and that brought another element to our training.
“The girls really started to buy into it. I remember there were girls in college in Belfast and they were coming down for training every night with no questions asked, and getting back down the road after 11pm.
“We were determined to get over the line and were prepared to put in the sacrifices.
“At one stage too we went down to play Monaghan in a challenge game as we had done in other years as well.
“But in 2003 we managed to beat them in a challenge and that gave us huge belief.”
Donegal defeated Sligo by 3-9 to 1-7 in the All-Ireland semi-final and that set up a decider with Kildare.
Donegal had beaten the Lillywhites narrowly the previous year in a cracking tussle that went to extra-time so another close one was anticipated.
Debbie-Lee leads the team around behind the band.
Kildare led early on by 0-5 to 0-2, but Kelly Lacey’s goal exploded Donegal into life.
A strong second quarter saw Donegal turn the game on its head and they led by five at the break.
Yvonne McMonagle scored a fortuitous second goal, but there was no luck attached to the third one which Debbie-Lee notched herself.
“We had played Kildare the year before and beat them after extra-time in Ballybofey.
“It was tight but we at least knew that we could beat them and that stood to us.
“We were much more focused in 2003 and played really well on the day to be fair.
“I got a goal myself which was just unbelievable. I got a pass from Francis Hoey, and I just took my four steps as you were always told, and then bang into the top bins, as my son Donnacha would say.”
Donegal won the game by 3-12 to 0-10 and there was relief, satisfaction and delight in equal measure at the end of the match.
Debbie-Lee was presented with the Player of the Match award and she also got to pick up the trophy as team captain.
“It was a great team performance and we put ourselves in a great position.
“They got a free near the end and Diane was roaring to get back on the line.
“They were a dangerous team so it never really felt safe, but I suppose we could enjoy the last few minutes.
“At the final whistle, Aoife Mac (McDonnell) came up and jumped on me, and it was so special to lift the trophy for a great group of girls.”
Glory for the Donegal ladies
That win propelled Donegal into the Senior Championship in 2004, and wins over Tyrone and Down put them forward to their first ever Ulster Senior Final.
However, they lost out by 3-9 to 1-10 in a cracker in Clones.
“We played Monaghan but we didn’t win.
“We then went into the knock-out stages and got through to the All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin in Longford.
“We played really well and were winning right up until the end when Angie McNally put the ball in the top corner. I can still see it happening now. It was heartbreaking.”
Debbie-Lee has been going out with Bryan Gaffney since 2001 and they married in 2010, and have been happily settled in Cavan for over a decade now.
There was a time when Debbie-Lee used to travel up to Donegal for training but that eventually took its toll and she decided to step away
The couple then had two children Aoibhinn and Donnacha, but Gaelic Games weren’t parked entirely.
“I came back and played for Cavan when they won the Intermediate title.
“I had played a bit in 2007 and 2008 but then stopped when the kids were coming along.
“I came back in 2013 for one last go and played in the league but was on the bench for the final.
“It was different to see it from the other side, but it was still lovely to have Aoibhínn and Donnacha on the pitch with me after the match.”
Debbie-Lee left the intercounty game behind her then but she still finds time for sport and competition, along with enjoying family life.
“We’re living four or five miles outside Cavan Town and it’s nice.
“Aoibhínn is 11 and is big into dance and gymnastics. She doesn’t play football but there is still plenty of time yet.
“Donnacha plays for Crosserlough who would be our nearest club and he loves it, and all sport.
“We would all be big into cycling now including myself. I still love a challenge.
“I did the 555 race up in Donegal last year with a friend and we won our section which was great.
“I’ve also run the Derry and Dublin marathons twice so I like to push myself.
“We had a few things planned for this year as well but have to make do with the Zwift cycling at home for the moment.”
This is a busy period for Debbie-Lee who works as a nurse in Cavan General Hospital, and she admits that there are huge concerns on the frontline amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
“I studied computers at the Regional but I realised it wasn’t for me. Then I worked in Pacificare for years at home, before going back to study nursing as a mature student, and do you know what, it was one of the best decisions I have made.
“It’s not always the most sociable hours but I love it.
“It’s tough going at the moment with Covid-19 and we had a lack of PPE for a while but we’re starting to get more now which is good.
“It’s scary because you’re just worried you’ll bring it back home to the kids, but hopefully we can start to see the cases lowering shortly.”
There are every day reminders of how Debbie-Lee’s eye sight has been hindered.
However, over time she has learned to adapt and it doesn’t stop her living life to the full.
“It doesn’t really affect me these days.
“There are things like pouring a cup of tea, I wouldn’t be sure of the depth of the cup sometimes, and I have to be careful going around roundabouts.
“I’ve had a couple of surgeries on it to deal with the pressure and so on, and I will possibly need a few more in the years to come.
“But I don’t let it hold me back. I’m nearly living as long now with just the one as I did with two!”
Debbie-Lee, who is 40, still keeps a close eye on ladies gaelic football and her home county’s fortunes.
She has been heartened by the progress the ladies game has made over the last ten years.
“Yeah I still follow the ladies team closely. My cousin Kaneshia McKinney was on the panel until recently, and you would have Yvonne (Bonner) and Aoife Mac who I would have played with so I keep a close eye to see how they are doing.
Yvonne Bonner of Donegal in action against Caroline O’Hare of Armagh .
“Things have really pushed on and there is a great opportunity for the girls there now.
“Donegal are maybe a wee bit behind Dublin, but you have to remember that they are a special, special team.
“I love watching the ladies game because it is so fast and entertaining.
“You see the crowds they are getting for All-Ireland Finals now of up to 50,000 people and that’s incredible. When I was playing there were maybe six or seven thousand there.
“You have big sponsors there like Lidl, TG4, and even the KN Group at home who have really helped the promotion and development of the game
“It’s not that long ago that our mammies were going bag-packing so that we could get gear.”
The Donegal 1992 team were the trailblazers that inspired Debbie-Lee towards sporting success, and that side will always be fondly remembered in the county.
However, young girls in Donegal don’t have to look to the men for inspiration anymore as the likes of Yvonne Bonner, Katy Herron, and Geraldine McLaughlin have big profiles in sporting circles and the skill and dedication to back it up.
“It definitely has changed now and people really see our ladies players as the stars that they are.
“Even with Yvonne and the girls going to Australia, it shows young girls that there are just as many opportunities for them as there are for the boys.
“I would know a few of the Donegal ladies, and they are just the nicest girls. There are no airs or graces about them, and they are brilliant role models.”
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