Frank McGlynn

Frank McGlynn (born 1985) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Glenfin and also, formerly, for the Donegal county team (between 2006 and 2019).

Not to be confused with Frank McLynn.
This article is about the Gaelic footballer. For the actor, see Frank McGlynn Sr.
Frank McGlynn
Personal information
Irish name Proinsias Mac Fhloinn[1]
Sport Gaelic football
Position Right Half Back
Born Cloghan, County Donegal
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Occupation Primary school teacher
Club(s)
Years Club
2004–
 Glenfin
Inter-county(ies)
Years County Apps (scores)
2006–2019
 Donegal 100+ (1–4+)
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles 5
All-Irelands 1
NFL 1
All Stars 1

In 2015, Pat Spillane included McGlynn in his top 40 footballers in the game today.[2] Yet, his humility has also been noted.[3]

He won one All Star, one All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and five Ulster Senior Football Championships with his county. He was shortlisted for All Stars Footballer of the Year in 2012, but the award went to teammate Karl Lacey.

Playing career

Youth

McGlynn played association football for Drumkeen United as a youngster.[3] He has also played soccer for Finn Harps at underage level.[4] His talent earned him trials with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leeds United, Preston North End in soccer's English Football League. He played and scored for Everton in the Milk Cup – in a team which also featured Wayne Rooney, who went on to become one of the most-capped players and highest goalscorers in England team history.[3]

McGlynn's childhood hero was Martin Gavigan.[3]

Club

McGlynn won the Donegal Intermediate Football Championship with Glenfin in 2018.[5]

Inter-county

McGlynn made his senior inter-county debut in 2006.

A prominent part of the inter-county teams of the Jim McGuinness era, McGlynn won his first Ulster Senior Football Championship winners' medal with Donegal on 17 July 2011, becoming the first man from the Glenfin club to achieve this.[6][7] He had a terrific game on 22 July 2012 as Donegal retained the Ulster title for the first time in their history with a 2–18 to 0–13 victory over Down.[8][9] His goal that day sealed the win and remains the only goal he has scored for his county as of August 2020.[3]

Indeed, McGlynn's first Championship point only came in the 2012 Ulster Senior Football Championship. This was against Cavan; he followed this with a point against Derry, that goal against Down in the provincial final and yet another point in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final victory against Cork. He added another point against Mayo in the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, bringing his 2012 championship season total to 1–4.[10][11] For a player in the left-full-back position this is considered a remarkable achievement at senior level.[12] He won an All Star but was unable to attend the Football Tour of New York.[13]

His next Championship match against Down was memorable for different reasons. Coming in the 2013 Ulster Senior Football Championship, McGlynn was concussed, as was teammate Ryan Bradley, causing manager McGuinness to voice fears that one of his players would receive a spinal injury or a neck injury if the behaviour of their opponents continued in this way.[14][15]

McGlynn made his 100th inter-county appearance against Armagh in the 2014 Dr McKenna Cup.[3] He added a third Ulster SFC title later that year.[16]

Under the management of Declan Bonner, McGlynn played only in the final two games of the National Football League, against Monaghan and Mayo (both of which he started).[17][18] His fourth Ulster SFC title came in 2018.[19] McGlynn started the final against Fermanagh.[19]

Not featuring until the final round of the 2019 National Football League, he came on as a second half substitute in the victory over Kildare.[20] Donegal qualified for the National Football League Division 2 final and McGlynn made a substitute appearance in the game as Donegal defeated Meath to win the title.[21] He collected his fifth and final Ulster SFC later that year, appearing as a second half substitute for Neil McGee in the final against Cavan.[22]

McGlynn announced his retirement form inter-county football on 5 November 2019.[23][24]

Personal life

McGlynn is married to Diane, who also plays for their club Glenfin. They have three children: Harry, Gracie and Lucas. A teacher by profession, he has taught at Stramore National School, Glendowan, Churchill, Glenswilly. He enjoys darts and cards.[3] Harry was born eight weeks premature in mid-2011.[25]

Honours
Donegal
Glenfin
Individual

References
  1. "Countdown to Croker: Donegal name 'team' for All-Ireland final". 20 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  2. "Spillane names Murphy as 'most complete footballer in the game'". 27 October 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  3. Bogue, Declan (13 September 2014). "Kerry offer a bigger threat than Dublin, to be Frank". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  4. "Finn Harps to take on All-Ireland champions". Ocean FM. 15 November 2012. Archived from the original on 19 November 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012. Donegal goalkeepers Paul Durcan and Michael Boyle both spent some time on the books at Finn Park, while forward Patrick McBrearty and defender Frank McGlynn have turned out for Harps underage teams in the past.
  5. Keenan, Shaun (14 October 2018). "Glenfin comfortably beat Aodh Ruadh to win IFC A Final". Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  6. "Donegal easily beat poor Antrim team". www.sportsnewsireland.com. Retrieved 2011-05-16.
  7. "Donegal 1–11 Derry 0-08". RTÉ Sport. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  8. "History makers! Donegal double champions as Jim's boys retain Ulster title". 22 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012. Ryan Bradley, Frank McGlynn and Leo McLoone had terrific games for Donegal.
  9. "Ulster Senior Football Final: Donegal 2-18 0-13 Down". BBC Sport. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  10. "Live updates from the All-Ireland finals at Croke Park". RTÉ Sport. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  11. "Donegal 2-11 Mayo 0-13". RTÉ Sport. 23 September 2012. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  12. Campbell, John (19 September 2012). "Donegal put their faith in McGlynn to play a dual role and make the hard yards". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  13. McNulty, Chris (13 November 2012). "Replacement All-Star for Thompson". Donegal News. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  14. "The hits are bigger than ever… but what is the GAA doing to manage concussion?". The42.ie. 3 August 2013. Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  15. Roche, Frank (29 July 2013). "McGuinness hits out at physical impact". Evening Herald. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  16. "Donegal reverse 2013 result to claim Ulster football title". The42.ie. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  17. Graham, John (18 March 2018). "Monaghan ease past relegation-threatened Donegal". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  18. Gannon, Colm (25 March 2018). "McLoughlin's stunning 74th minute equaliser sees Mayo survive the drop and Donegal suffer relegation". The42.ie. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  19. Mooney, Francis (24 June 2018). "Energetic Donegal end Fermanagh's Ulster title dream". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  20. Branigan, Peter (24 March 2019). "Murphy masterclass fires Donegal back to top flight". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 24 March 2019. There were a few other big cheers as well with the return of Frank McGlynn for his first game of the year while Murphy powered over a point against the wind with a minute left.
  21. O'Brien, Kevin (30 March 2019). "Murphy masterclass helps Donegal to Division 2 glory after comeback win over Meath". The42.ie. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  22. Sweeney, Peter (23 June 2019). "Donegal power past Cavan to claim Ulster title". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  23. "All-Ireland winner and All-Star defender calls time on Donegal career". The42.ie. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  24. "Donegal's McGlynn retires from inter-county football". RTÉ Sport. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  25. McNulty, Chris (26 July 2012). "Frank McGlynn – June 2012 Donegal News Sports Personality Winner". Donegal News. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  26. Ferry, Ryan (23 April 2020). "McConigley reflects on 2007 National League success". Donegal News. pp. 52–3.
  27. "An All-Star night to remember for Donegal". Donegal Democrat. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012. Lacey pipped Colm McFadden and Frank McGlynn for the top award. The other two had already picked up two individual awards with Colm named as Irish News Player of the Year and Frank picking up the Star Player of the Year last weekend, which just shows how close the selection process must have been.
  28. "All-Star football nominees are named". RTÉ Sport. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  29. O'Toole, Fintan (8 October 2014). "11 for Kerry, 9 for Donegal, 9 for Dublin and 6 for Mayo in 2014 Allstar football nominees". The42.ie. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  30. Heneghan, Conor (2015). "The nominations for the 2015 GAA/GPA Gaelic Football All-Stars have been announced". JOE.ie.
  31. "Donegal team clean up on Sunday Game Team of the Year". 23 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
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