Jim McGuinness

Jim McGuinness
Personal information
Irish nameSéamus Mag Aonghusa
SportGaelic football
Born (1972-11-16) 16 November 1972 (age 51)
Glenties,[citation needed] County Donegal, Ireland
Club management
Years Club
Naomh Conaill
Inter-county management
Years Team
2011–2014
2023–
Donegal
Donegal
Inter-county titles
County League Province All-Ireland
Donegal 4 1
Personal information
Date of birth (1972-11-16) 16 November 1972 (age 51)
Place of birth Glenties,[citation needed] County Donegal, Ireland
Managerial career
Years Team
2012–2015 Celtic (performance consultant)
2015–2017 Celtic (youth coach)
2017–2018 Beijing Sinobo Guoan (assistant coach)
2018–2019 Charlotte Independence (head coach)
Personal information
Irish name Séamus Mag Aonghusa
Sport Gaelic football
Position Midfield
Born (1972-11-16) 16 November 1972 (age 51)
Glenties,[citation needed] County Donegal, Ireland
Nickname Cher[1]
Club(s)
Years Club
1990s–2000s
?
Naomh Conaill
Donegal Boston
Club titles
Donegal titles 1
Colleges(s)
Years College
IT Tralee
UUJ
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
1992–2003
Donegal
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles 1
All-Irelands 1
All Stars 0

Jim McGuinness (born 16 November 1972) is a Gaelic football coach,[2] and former player, who won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as a player with, and later manager of, the Donegal county team. Since 2023, he has been manager, for the second time, of Donegal's senior team.

Having guided Donegal to 2010 All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship final, McGuinness was appointed manager of the senior county team later that year. In his time at the helm, he oversaw a Donegal team that won three Ulster Senior Football Championship titles in four seasons and led his team to the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title. The 2012 final was the county's first appearance on football's ultimate stage since 1992, and only its second All-Ireland SFC title in more than 120 years of attempts.[3] In addition, McGuinness's Donegal was the only team to defeat Dublin in a championship match during Jim Gavin's time as manager, doing so in the 2014 All-Ireland semi-final, and McGuinness's condensing of the pitch influenced how Dublin subsequently improved over the next five years.[4] McGuinness ended his first spell as Donegal manager shortly after that defeat of Dublin.

McGuinness then became one of very few county team managers to have taken a role at a professional sports team outside Ireland.[note 1] He began working with the Scottish association football club Celtic as a coach in 2012, progressing to the position of assistant manager its under-20 squad. In 2017, he took up a coaching role with Chinese Super League association football club Beijing Sinobo Guoan, until January 2018. In December 2018, he was named as head coach of USL Championship association football club Charlotte Independence. Over the course of his involvement in association football coaching, McGuinness has worked with figures such as the German Roger Schmidt (formerly Bayer Leverkusen manager) and the Spaniard Félix Sarriugarte (formerly Athletic Bilbao manager).

McGuinness's unexpected return as Donegal senior manager was announced in August 2023. Having previously achieved his UEFA Pro Licence, he was the first person to be appointed as an inter-county Gaelic games manager while holding such a qualification.[5]

  1. ^ "McGuinness looks to build on feel-good factor". The Irish Times. 28 June 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Earley-on-McGuinness-as-coach was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Jim McGuinness — Personally Speaking Bureau". Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  4. ^ "How basketball influenced Dublin's Drive for Five". RTÉ Sport. 30 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020. One area Ingle looked to have an influence on was stretching the pitch in attack and it was a direct consequence of Donegal's success under Jim McGuinness.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc_22082023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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