2019 Donegal Senior Football Championship

The 2019 Donegal Senior Football Championship was the 97th official edition of Donegal GAA's premier Gaelic football tournament for senior graded clubs in County Donegal. 16 teams competed, with the winner representing Donegal in the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship. The championship began with four groups of four, and continued with a knock-out format.

Donegal S.F.C.

Season	2019
Champions	Naomh Conaill (4th title)
Relegated	Malin
All Ireland SCFC	Gaoth Dobhair
Winning captain	Ciarán Thompson
Man of the Match	Ethan O'Donnell
Winning manager	Martin Regan
Matches played	??
← 2018 2020 →

The defending Donegal (and Ulster) champion was Gaoth Dobhair, after the club defeated Naomh Conaill by a scoreline of 0–17 to 1–7 in the 2018 final. However, Gaoth Dobhair failed to defend its crown, losing the final to Naomh Conaill, by one point, after a second replay.

This was Glenfin's return to the senior grade after a two-year exodus, when claiming the 2018 I.F.C. title.

Malin suffered relegated back to the 2020 I.F.C. after 16 seasons in the top-flight, when losing its relegation final. Back in 2003, Malin gained promotion to the S.F.C. for the first time in the club's history. Although Malin lost the I.F.C. quarter-final to eventual champion St Michael's that year, the club earned promotion to Division 1 from Division 2 of the Donegal Leagues. At that time, promotion to the S.F.C. could be acquired through the leagues.

Team changes

^{[1] [2] [3]}

The following teams changed division since the 2018 championship season.

To S.F.C. Promoted from 2018 Donegal I.F.C. Glenfin - (I.F.C. Champions)

From S.F.C. Relegated to 2019 Donegal I.F.C. Burt

Format

The 2019 County Championship took the same format as previous championships in which there was four groups of four with the top two qualifying for the quarter-finals. Bottom of each group play in relegation play-offs to decide which team is relegated the 2020 Intermediate championship.

Group stage

All 16 teams enter the competition at this stage. The top 2 teams in each group go into the Quarter-Finals while the bottom team of each group entered a Relegation Playoff.

Group A

Team Pld W L D PF PA PD Pts Gaoth Dobhair 3 2 0 1 42 19 +23 5 St Eunan's 3 1 0 2 39 27 +12 4 St Michael's 3 1 1 1 48 39 +9 3 Ard an Rátha 3 0 3 0 32 76 -44 0

Round 1 Ard an Rátha 2-10, 4-18 St Michael's, 7/9/2019 Gaoth Dobhair 1-3, 0-6 St Eunan's, 8/9/2019 Round 2 St Michael's 1-3, 1-8 Gaoth Dobhair, 14/9/2019 St Eunan's 1-18, 1-6 Ard an Rátha, 15/9/2019 Round 3 Ard an Rátha 0-7, 2-19 Gaoth Dobhair, 22/9/2019 St Michael's 0-12, 0-12 St Eunan's, 22/9/2019

Group B

Team Pld W L D PF PA PD Pts Naomh Conaill 3 3 0 0 52 27 +25 6 Na Cealla Beaga 3 2 1 0 42 39 +3 4 Seán Mac Cumhaills 3 1 2 0 50 41 +9 2 An Clochán Liath 3 0 3 0 36 67 -31 0

Round 1 Seán Mac Cumhaills 5-14, 1-18 An Clochán Liath, 7/9/2019 Naomh Conaill 1-15, 1-9 Na Cealla Beaga, 8/9/2019 Round 2 An Clochán Liath 1-3, 2-16 Naomh Conaill, 14/9/2019 Na Cealla Beaga 2-8, 1-9 Seán Mac Cumhaills, 15/9/2019 Round 3 Naomh Conaill 0-12, 0-9 Seán Mac Cumhaills, 21/9/2019 Na Cealla Beaga 0-16, 0-9 An Clochán Liath, 21/9/2019

Group C

Team Pld W L D PF PA PD Pts Milford 3 2 1 0 47 43 +4 4 Glenfin 3 1 1 1 48 44 +4 3 Glenswilly 3 1 1 1 36 44 -8 3 Four Masters 3 1 2 0 37 37 +0 2

Round 1 Four Masters 0-10, 0-14 Milford, 7/9/2019 Glenfin 1-11, 0-14 Glenswilly, 8/9/2019 Round 2 Milford 1-17, 3-8 Glenfin, 14/9/2019, Glenswilly 0-6, 2-11 Four Masters, 15/9/2019 Round 3 Glenfin 1-14, 1-7 Four Masters, 22/9/2019 Glenswilly 1-13, 2-7 Milford, 22/9/2019

Group D

Team Pld W L D PF PA PD Pts Cill Chartha 3 3 0 0 75 32 +43 6 Réalt na Mara 3 2 1 0 56 54 +2 4 Termon 3 1 2 0 37 53 -16 2 Malin 3 0 3 0 41 70 -29 0

Round 1 Termon 0-11, 0-12 Réalt na Mara, 8/9/2019 Cill Chartha 3-16, 0-7 Malin, 8/9/2019 Round 2 Réalt na Mara 1-13, 1-20 Cill Chartha, 15/9/2019 Malin 1-11, 0-17 Termon, 15/9/2019 Round 3 Malin 2-14, 2-22 Réalt na Mara, 22/9/2019 Cill Chartha 3-18, 1-6 Termon, 22/9/2019

Knock-out stage

Quarter-finals

28 September 2019	Cill Chartha	2-14 - 0-11	Na Cealla Beaga	MacCumhaill Park Referee: ??? Man of the Match: ???

---

28 September 2019	St Eunan's	5-22 - 0-11	Milford	MacCumhaill Park Referee: ??? Man of the Match: ???

---

29 September 2019	Gaoth Dobhair	2-20 - 2-17	Réalt na Mara	O'Donnell Park Referee: ??? Man of the Match: ???

---

29 September 2019	Naomh Conaill	1-14 - 0-13	Glenfin	Glenswilly Referee: ??? Man of the Match: ???

---

Semi-finals

6 October 2019	Naomh Conaill	0-15 - 1-11	St Eunan's	MacCumhaill Park Referee: ??? Man of the Match: ???

---

6 October 2019	Gaoth Dobhair	3-8 - 0-12	Cill Chartha	MacCumhaill Park Referee: ??? Man of the Match: ???

---

Final

20 October 2019 16:00	Naomh Conaill	0-08 - 0-08	Gaoth Dobhair	MacCumhaill Park Referee: Enda McFeely (St Mary's, Convoy) Man of the Match: Ciarán Thompson
		Report

---

Final replay

27 October 2019 15:00	Naomh Conaill	1-11 - 0-14	Gaoth Dobhair	MacCumhaill Park Referee: Jimmy White (Killybegs)[4][5]
		Report

---

Final second replay

30 October 2019 20:00	Naomh Conaill	0-8 - 0-7	Gaoth Dobhair	MacCumhaill Park Referee: Seamus McGonagle (Aodh Ruadh)
	Charlie McGuinness 0-2 (2f), Ciarán Thompson 0-2 (45), Leo McLoone, Ethan O'Donnell, Jeaic Mac Ceallabhuí and John O'Malley 0-1	Report	Michael Carroll 0-3, Cian Mulligan 0-2, Odhrán Mac Niallais 0-1, Eamonn Collum 0-1 (1f)

---

Relegation play-offs

Relegation semi-finals

5 October 2019	Four Masters	2-13 - 1-7	Malin	Convoy Referee: ??? Man of the Match: ???

---

5 October 2019	An Clochán Liath	3-9 - 2-10	Ard an Rátha	Killybegs Referee: ??? Man of the Match: ???

---

Relegation final

20 October 2019 19:00	Ard an Rátha	2-14 - 3-8	Malin	Convoy Referee: ??? Man of the Match: ???

---

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship

Main articles: 2019 Ulster Senior Club Football Championship and 2019–20 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship

Gradam Shéamuis Mhic Géidigh

Ciarán Thompson was named as the recipient of the annual Gradam Shéamuis Mhic Géidigh.^[6]

Television rights

The following matches were broadcast live on national television, unless otherwise indicated:

Round	RTÉ	TG4
Quarter-finals[7]	St Eunan's v Milford Cill Chartha v na Cealla Beaga	—
Semi-finals[8]	—	Cill Chartha v Gaoth Dobhair (deferred)
Final[8]	—	Gaoth Dobhair v Naomh Conaill

References

1. "Donegal Democrat Archives". Irishnewsarchive.com. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
2. "Donegal GAA Club Draws". Highlandradio.com. 24 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
3. "Donegal HoganStand". Hoganstand.com. 24 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
4. Campbell, Peter (23 October 2019). "Jimmy White equals Donegal record this Sunday with his sixth senior Donegal final".
5. "Referee announced for Donegal SFC final replay". 23 October 2019.
6. "Gradam Shéamuis Mhic Géidigh do Chiarán Thompson". RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
7. McNulty, Chris (24 September 2019). "Two Donegal SFC quarter-finals set for live TV coverage". Retrieved 24 September 2019.
8. McNulty, Chris (10 October 2019). "TG4 to show Donegal SFC final live". Retrieved 10 October 2019.