Mark McHugh (born 22 August 1990) is an Irish Gaelic footballer. A player with his local club Chíll Chartha and the Donegal senior inter-county team—with whom he has won two Ulster Senior Football Championships (2011, 2012) and one All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (2012)—McHugh has garnered comparisons with the iconic soccer player Lionel Messi from admirers across the sport.[1]
Early life
McHugh is the son of Martin, the BBC television analyst and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winner in 1992. He was born the Wednesday after his father's Donegal side were defeated by Meath in the semi-final of the 1990 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.[2] His son Ryan also plays for the Donegal minor team.[3] Mark McHugh's uncle James also played in the 1992 All-Ireland Final and received an All Star in 1992. He has a dog called Miley, who has been photographed inside the Sam Maguire Cup.[4] Miley is named after J. R. Ewing's dog from the U.S. TV show Dallas.
Playing career
Club
McHugh admits his club does not have many big games.[5]
Inter-county
McHugh did not play at minor level, what with the Leaving Certificate and a broken collar bone. He made his senior championship debut as a substitute against Down in Ballybofey in 2010.[5] He was part of the 2011 team that won the Ulster Senior Football Championship, and played in the final against Derry.[6]
McHugh returned to the Ulster Senior Football Championship Final in 2012 in his third campaign,[7][8][9] before helping Donegal all the way to the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final in which he played.[10] After that game he said, "The woman I'm going to have to marry is going to have to be very, very good to top this day off for me".[11] McHugh sang his wee heart out at the homecoming when he joined in with Rory Gallagher on "Jimmy's Winning Matches".
McHugh missed Donegal's 2013 National Football League campaign with a pelvis injury.[12] He returned for the 2013 Ulster Senior Football Championship but was forced off injured early on the final after a collision with Stephen Gollogly of Monaghan, and was hospitalised as a result.[13][14] He was ruled out for a month with the multiple injuries Gollogly's rough play gave him, including concussion, a perforated eardrum and a quad muscle injury.[15]
Inter-provincial
McHugh has played for Ulster in the Inter-Provincial Series.[16] Mark will face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29 on Sunday 7 April in East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S, in a bid to end The Undertakers 20-0 winning streak at WrestleMania events.
Style
McHugh's performances in 2012 earned him repeated descriptions of being "Donegal's pivotal player".[17] He is considered "as lively a wire as his father Martin was in his heyday",[18] and has been called the "Lionel Messi" of a Donegal team widely said to resemble FC Barcelona in terms of the quality of their style and shock and awe tactics.[1][19] Daniel O'Donnell himself has personally thanked McHugh.[20]
Honours
- Team
- Individual
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Jimmy's like Messi! Donegal are the Barcelona of GAA, say Cork legends". Donegal Daily. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012. "Double All-Ireland winner Tony Davis stood by his insistence that Donegal played awful defensive gaelic football last year. But he has changed his mind now about this year's team – and reckons Donegal play GAA the way Barcelona play soccer! For McHugh, think Messi, he says."
- ↑ "Legends: Martin McHugh, Part 2". GAA.ie. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ↑ "The ‘Wee Man’ was big". Donegal Democrat (Johnston Press). 9 June 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ↑ "Mark McHugh's pet pooch gets to meet Sam". Donegal Daily. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "“It’s all to play for” - McHugh". Donegal Democrat (Johnston Press). 20 May 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ↑ "Donegal Ulster Champions: Players hail maestro McGuinness". Donegal Daily. 17 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- ↑ "What Jim says is all that matters - McHugh". Donegal Democrat (Johnston Press). 29 June 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ↑ "McHugh not satisfied with display". Donegal Democrat (Johnston Press). 3 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
- ↑ "Donegal's new style untested in stroll past Derry". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). 18 June 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
- ↑ "Live updates from the All-Ireland finals at Croke Park". RTÉ Sport (RTÉ). 23 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- ↑ "Donegal's victory poses problem for prospective wife of Mark McHugh". RTÉ Sport (RTÉ). 23 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- ↑ "Donegal's Mark McHugh set to miss start of National League". RTÉ Sport (RTÉ). 22 January 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- ↑ "As it happened: Monaghan v Donegal, Ulster senior football final". The Score. 21 July 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
- ↑ Diallo, Raf (22 July 2013). "Mark McHugh a doubt for Donegal qualifier". Newstalk. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ↑ "Mark McHugh to miss Laois qualifier after suffering concussion, perforated eardrum". RTÉ Sport (RTÉ). 24 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- ↑ "Murphy to spearhead Ulster challenge". Hogan Stand. 13 February 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
- ↑ Keys, Colm (6 August 2012). "Donegal eyes on the big prize: McFadden twists knife as curtain falls on illustrious Kingdom era". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). Retrieved 6 August 2012. "McHugh is now Donegal's pivotal player, the man whose role has now done most to develop their game from 2011. He worked well as a sweeper around the McGee brothers, who were tasked with minding Donaghy and Colm Cooper, but it was the young Kilcar man's playmaking from those deep positions that really stood out."
- ↑ Foley, Cliona (3 May 2010). "Murphy penalty agony hands crown to Dublin". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). Retrieved 3 May 2010.
- ↑ O'Shea, Joe (27 August 2012). "Donegal one step from Sam after 20-year wait". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). Retrieved 27 August 2012. "Cork never really got going. Outnumbered, out-sung and watching a supposedly "negative" team suddenly transform themselves into the FC Barcelona of Gaelic Football, the Rebels were left muttering about "lads who didn't show up" and a manager who, to many of them at least, made some questionable calls..."
- ↑ Keys, Colm (28 August 2012). "Donegal stand united in rise from the ashes: McGuinness evolution based around brains as well as brawn". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). Retrieved 28 August 2012. "In the bowels of the Hogan Stand sometime on Sunday evening last, Daniel O'Donnell, wearing what looked like a retro Donegal jersey, made his way discreetly up to Mark McHugh and expressed gratitude to the young man for what he and his colleagues had done for their county."
- ↑ "Donegal team clean up on Sunday Game Team of the Year". Donegal Daily. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
External links
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Donegal Football Squads |
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Donegal – 2010 All-Ireland Under 21 Football Champions (3rd title) |
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- Substitutes used
- C. Morrison for McFadden (28')
- D. Murphy for McKinley (28')
- C. McGinley for Carroll (63')
- S. O'Kennedy for Curran (67')
- Substitutes unused
- P. McNelis (used in semi-final)
- Manager
- J. McGuinness
- Selectors
- P. McGinley
- P. Shovelin
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Above is the Donegal team that defeated Derry in the 2011 Ulster Senior Football Championship Final.
The 2011 Donegal senior football team progressed to the 2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-finals where they narrowly lost to eventual title-winners Dublin. They defeated Kildare in the quarter-finals. |
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Awards |
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2011 Irish News Ulster GAA All Stars |
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2012 Irish News Ulster GAA All Stars |
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2012 All Star Gaelic Football Team |
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| Persondata |
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| Name |
McHugh, Mark |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
Gaelic footballer |
| Date of birth |
22 August 1990 |
| Place of birth |
County Donegal, Ireland |
| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
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