Tony Boyle (Gaelic footballer)

Tony Boyle (born 1970)^[1]^[2] is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for An Clochán Liath and Donegal.

He is from Keadue. His father Tony Boyle Snr died in 2022 and his mother Kathleen died in 1997.^[3] From a family of seven, Tony Jnr has three sisters: Breda, Nicola and Karen.^[3] Tony Snr, Tony Jnr, Tony Snr's three brothers (John, Packie and Manus) and Tony Jnr's three brothers (Brendan, Danny and James) all played at the same time for Keadue Rovers.^[3]

He made 107 appearances for Donegal.^[4] He played for them from 1992 to 2001.

Aged 19, he made his championship debut as a 2nd half sub for Tommy Ryan v Armagh in the 1990 Ulster SFC final, won by Donegal.^[1] With the game tied (and via Barry McGowan), he found Manus Boyle, who scored a critical point.^[1]

A forward, he began at full-forward in the 1992 All-Ireland SFC Final, scoring 0–1 from play in the 0–18 to 0–14 win v Dublin. He and Noel Hegarty were the least experienced of Donegal's men on the pitch.^[5] He outplayed his opposite no 14 Vinnie Murphy.^[5] He only came into the team for the Ulster semi-final against Fermanagh.^[5]

He made a substitute appearance in Mickey Moran's first game in charge of Donegal, a league win at home to Offaly in October 2000.^[6]

He managed under-16 and minor ladies' teams for his club.^[5] And the seniors.^[7]^[8]^[9] He, with Tommy Ryan, was part of John Joe Doherty's backroom team when Doherty managed Donegal.^[5]

Honours

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: 1992^[5]
Ulster Senior Football Championship: 1990,^[1] 1992^{[citation needed]}
Donegal All-County League Champions: 1996, 2001
All Star: 1992^{[citation needed]}
In May 2012, the Irish Independent named him as part of Donegal's "greatest team" spanning the past 50 years.^[10]
Silver Jubilee Football Team of the Ulster GAA Writers Association (UGAAWA) nomination: 2012^[11]^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d McNulty, Chris (18 July 2015). "Donegal's 1990 Ulster winners will be honoured tomorrow — here is their story". Retrieved 18 July 2015. A 19-year-old Tony Boyle sat anxiously on the substitutes[sic] bench in the Gerry Arthurs Stand.
^ "1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Final: Dublin v Donegal". YouTube. 21 March 2020. Ger Canning said he was "only 22 years of age, Tony", ahead of the 1992 All-Ireland SFC final. This suggests a birthday between July and September 1970; therefore he would not have been born in 1971.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Tribute to popular Keadue native". Donegal News. 1 September 2022. p. 25.
^ Breheny, Martin (22 June 2013). "'Score goals or you have no chance of beating Donegal': Former scoring ace Tony Boyle issues challenge to Sam pretenders". Irish Independent. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Foley, Alan (8 January 2009). "The heroes of '92 — Where are they now?". Donegal Democrat. Archived from the original on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
^ "Donegal make light of conditions to give Moran the ideal start". The Irish Times. 30 October 2000.
^ "GAA news: Tony Boyle confirmed as new senior manager at Dungloe". 31 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
^ Forker, Mark (12 January 2016). "Tony Boyle re-appointed Dungloe senior team manager". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
^ McNulty, Chris (6 December 2016). "Naul honoured for a lifetime's service as Tony steps down". Retrieved 6 December 2016.
^ "GAA: Donegal's greatest team of the past 50 years named". 14 May 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
^ McNulty, Chris (4 December 2012). "Ulster GAA Writers to hold landmark bash in Donegal". Donegal News. Retrieved 4 December 2012. Current All-Stars Karl Lacey, the 2012 Footballer of the Year, and Michael Murphy have been short-listed, as have 1992 All-Ireland winners Martin McHugh, Anthony Molloy, Matt Gallagher and Tony Boyle.
^ McNulty, Chris (12 December 2012). "Donegal take the top writers' awards". Donegal News. Retrieved 12 December 2012. Lacey, meanwhile, was named on the UGAAWA Jubilee Team, a selection which caused widespread debate, with some surprise in Donegal that neither of Martin McHugh or Tony Boyle were named.