2024 Donegal county football team season

Reports in August 2023 suggested that Jim McGuinness would be returning for a second spell as manager, with RTÉ Sport stating on 17 August that McGuinness had already met with county board officials. On 20 August, the Donegal County Board brought forward its monthly meeting to the following evening. At that meeting, held on the evening of Monday 21 August, the return of McGuinness as manager was announced, with Colm McFadden, Neil McGee and Luke Barrett all confirmed as being on McGuinness's backroom team. When asked in mid-November 2023, McGuinness ruled out any further additions to his backroom team, though he said they were still searching for new players, with "close to 50 in total" having been investigated up until that time. The appointment made McGuinness the first holder of a UEFA Pro Licence to manage an inter-county team. He took charge for his second term as Donegal manager at the age of 50. In November 2023, it was announced that James Gallagher, who previously served under both Rory Gallagher and Declan Bonner, had succeeded Declan McIntyre as goalkeeping coach, making this Gallagher's third spell in that role. ==Kit==

On 2 November 2023, a new jersey was launched at the Abbey Hotel. ==Pre-season==

It was announced in October 2023 that McGuinness would take his team on a seven-day long training camp in December 2023, ahead of the 2024 season beginning. On Saturday, 2 December 2023, the squad departed for the warm weather camp, held in Tenerife. In November 2023, it was announced that Donegal would play Roscommon in a challenge match at Fr Tierney Park on 17 December, the first game since McGuinness returned as manager. It was also the first senior inter-county match held at the venue for nearly four years, as it had been undergoing renovations. Proceeds were divided between the team's training fund and North West Hospice. Tickets were still available on the day of the game. McGuinness named Kevin McGettigan and Ciarán Moore as two new players to start the game. By half-time, Donegal had a lead of 0–9 to 0–2. By full-time, Donegal had a lead of 2–12 to 2–6. ==Competitions==

Dr McKenna Cup Fixtures The McKenna Cup group draw was held in the Armagh City Hotel in Armagh on Wednesday evening, 13 December 2023, with Donegal appearing in Section A. National Football League Division 2 Fixtures Donegal were to begin with a Saturday night home fixture against Cork, which was the first fixture to be announced, on 27 October 2023. This was, however, moved to the Sunday afternoon, the following day, when all fixtures were announced on 6 December 2023 (see below). On 6 December 2023, the GAA announced that all Division 2 Round 7 games would be played separately from the Round 7 games in Division 1, 3 and 4, on Saturday, 23 March 2024, at 19:00, including Donegal v Meath at MacCumhaill Park. The rest of the fixtures were also confirmed on 6 December 2023. Table Ulster Senior Football Championship Fixtures The draw for the 2024 Ulster Championship was made on 21 October 2023. Bracket All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Format 16 teams were divided into 4 groups of 4 teams, and played a round robin to qualify for the knockout stages of the All-Ireland SFC. Group games took place between 18 May and 16 June 2024. Seeding Number in brackets indicates ranking in the 2024 NFL. Pot 1 • Dublin • Kerry • Galway • Donegal Pot 2 • Mayo • Armagh • Louth • Clare Pot 3 • Derry • Tyrone • Roscommon • Monaghan Pot 4 • Cavan • Cork • Meath • Westmeath Group 3 Table Fixtures Knockout stage Fixtures Bracket Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The provincial champions are marked by an asterisk. ==Awards==

GAA.ie Football Team of the Week • 29 January: Patrick McBrearty • 6 February: Oisín Gallen • 19 February: Ó Baoill (nominated for Footballer of the Week) • 18 March: Mogan (nominated for Footballer of the Week) • 2 April: Ciarán Moore, Shane O'Donnell, Ciarán Thompson, Oisín Gallen; Thompson nominated for Footballer of the Week • 22 April: Shaun Patton, Brendan McCole, Ryan McHugh, Ó Baoill; Ó Baoill nominated for, and selected as, Footballer of the Week • 29 April: Ryan McHugh, Jason McGee, Niall O'Donnell; Ryan McHugh nominated for, and selected as, Footballer of the Week • 13 May: Shaun Patton, Caolan McGonagle, Ó Baoill, Mogan, Michael Langan, Niall O'Donnell, Oisín Gallen; Mogan nominated for, and selected as, Footballer of the Week • 27 May: Eoghan Bán Gallagher, Mogan, Jason McGee, Niall O'Donnell; Mogan nominated for, and again selected as, Footballer of the Week • 17 June: Ryan McHugh, Patrick McBrearty; Ryan McHugh nominated for, and again selected as, Footballer of the Week • 1 July: Eoghan Bán Gallagher, Mogan, Michael Langan, Oisín Gallen; Mogan nominated for Footballer of the Week • 15 July: Brendan McCole, Michael Langan, Oisín Gallen; Langan nominated for Footballer of the Week The Sunday Game Team of the Year The Sunday Game selected Peadar Mogan and Oisín Gallen on its Team of the Year. GAA/GPA Young Footballer of the Year Ciarán Moore was nominated. All Stars Donegal achieved two All Stars. ;County breakdown • Armagh = 6 • Galway = 5 • Donegal = 2 • Tyrone = 1 • Louth = 1 ==References==