Michael McKelvey is a well-known figure in local soccer circles, and is a Gweedore Celtic stalwart.

He has been playing for his club at adult level for ’16 or 17 years’ mainly as a goalkeeper, although he has played outfield at times in recent years.

McKelvey has gone up against some quality players during his time and has this week picked the best 11 (4-4-2) he has faced.

Caolan McGettigan

Caolan McGettigan (Milford United)

Caolan just never makes mistakes. He is a good shot-stopper and excellent with the ball at his feet too. A very good goalkeeper.

Barney Lafferty (Ballybofey United)

Barney was always a very energetic player when we played against Ballybofey, and you wouldn’t get any peace with him. He was tight marking and would fight for every ball.

Kieran Gorman (Kilmacrennan Celtic)

Kieran is a physical defender and he’s well able to mix it with the best strikers. He’s a good organiser at the back and a big threat from set-pieces too.

Kieran Gorman

Frank McGee (Gweedore United)

You never got anything easy against Frank. He was a very natural footballer, who was good in the air and with the ball at his feet. He usually played at the back but he could play in midfield or up front as well.

Terence Shiels (Drumoghill)

I don’t how I ended up at right midfield in a game against Drumoghill but I found myself up against Terence Shiels. I couldn’t get past him with the ball and in the end up, I just spend the whole game chasing after him. A top class player.

Timmy Burke (Kilmacrennan Celtic)

Timmy used to torture Kevin Friel when we played Kilmacrennan. He had the best close control I’ve seen, and was deceptively quick over five yards as well. Technically a very skilful player.

Timmy Burke

I’m sure Eamonn makes a lot of these teams and he is a brilliant leader. You never hear him giving out to his teammates, he’s always trying to encourage and push his team on. Never shy when it came to putting in the work, Eamonn has scored a lot of important goals down through the years as well.

Daniel Breslin (St Catherine’s)

Dan is a great fella off the pitch but he was horrible to play against on it. He was hugely competitive and demanded a lot from his teammates. A very good footballer as well.

Daniel Breslin.

Jude Patton (Lifford Celtic)

To look at Jude, you mightn’t think he would do that much damage but he caused us plenty of problems down through the years. He always seemed to get sneaky goals and was in the right position if the ball broke in the box.

Philip Buchanan (Kilmacrennan Celtic and Cranford)

Philip wasn’t quick but he was a very hard to stop and had a great scoring record for Kilmacrennan. He was a great man for holding the ball up and taking the pressure off his teammates.

Philip Buchanan

Richie Moore (Drumoghill)

I didn’t know a huge amount about Richie until two or three years ago, and now we’re sick of looking at him. He is seriously strong with a powerful shot, and can spray the ball around too. I saw him score from the centre circle after a kick-off one day. Thankfully I wasn’t in nets.

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