Michael Boyle (footballer)

Michael Boyle
Personal information
Irish name Mícheál Ó Baoill[1]
Sport Gaelic football
Position Goalkeeper
Born 1986/1987
Letterkenny, Ireland
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Occupation Commercial manager in recruitment firm[2]
Club(s)
Years Club
?–
c. 2015
 Termon
Donegal Boston
Colleges(s)
Years College
c. 2010–c. 2012
 DCU
College titles
Sigerson titles 1
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
200?–2015
 Donegal
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles 3
All-Irelands 1
NFL 1

Michael Boyle (born 1986/7) is an Irish sportsperson and Gaelic football coach.[3] He plays with his local club Termon and also, formerly, for the Donegal county team.

Educated at St Eunan's College in Letterkenny,[4] he was his county's number one goalkeeper in the past, though Paul Durcan had something to say about that.[5] Boyle has also played soccer for Finn Harps in the League of Ireland.[6]

Playing career

College

Boyle studied Sports Science and Health at Dublin City University (DCU).[7] Boyle won the Sigerson Cup twice in 2010 and 2012 with the DCU GAA team. He was goalkeeper on both occasions, on the team that beat UCC in the 2010 final and the team that beat Maynooth in the 2012 final.[8][9] The Higher Education GAA later barred him for playing for his college due to a new rule it introduced, prompting the team manager to consider a boycott.[10][11][12]

Club

Despite being a goalkeeper, Boyle was Termon's top scorer with four points in an away fixture against Aodh Ruadh at Fr Tierney Park in 2012. Termon defeated Aodh Ruadh by a total of five points, a score of 0–13 to 0–8. Boyle's performance led to media comparisons with Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton, who would regularly do likewise for his team, including scoring the winning point in the 2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.[13][14] Later that year, Boyle won the Donegal Intermediate Football Championship, again against Aodh Ruadh.[15]

He also played for Donegal Boston, winning the North-East Men's Senior Football Championship in 2015.[16]

Boyle did not play for Termon in 2020 as he was based in London, where he opted to remain for 2021.[17]

Inter-county

Boyle was a member of the Donegal squad that won the 2007 National Football League.[18]

He played in the first team for periods in 2005 and 2009.[19] Rivalling Paul Durcan for a place in the Donegal team, Boyle appeared at half-time in a 2009 All-Ireland qualifier after Durcan fouled Clare player Gary Brennan and conceded a penalty.[20] Boyle retained his starting place for the games against Galway at Markievicz Park and Cork at Croke Park.[21][22]

Boyle was named on the bench for the 2012 Ulster Senior Football Championship final against Down, although he later claimed to have picked up 43 points playing golf at Slieve Russell in Cavan.[23][24] He was also on the bench for the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final against Mayo.

A noted penalty saver,[25] he was named on the "Future Champions 2012" football team.[26]

In 2014, Boyle sustained a cruciate injury. This left him lacking match fitness in 2015 when the chance to play for Donegal presented itself following Durcan's transfer to Dubai.[27]

He made a substitute appearance for Durcan in the second round of 2015 National Football League fixtures against Dublin at Croke Park.[28] He also started the league games against Tyrone and Mayo, as well as the NFL semi-final against Cork.[29][30][31]

Ahead of Donegal's 2015 Ulster semi-final, Boyle left the panel to travel to Boston for the summer.[32]

He was "not fit" for the 2016 championship, leaving the goalkeeping position vacant for Mark Anthony McGinley and Peter Boyle.[33] McGinley was selected ahead of Peter Boyle.[34]

Coaching

Boyle assisted Mervyn O'Donnell during Gaoth Dobhair's successful 2018 Donegal Senior Football Championship and Ulster Senior Club Football Championship campaign.[3][35] Boyle left his position with Gaoth Dobhair ahead of the 2020 season.[36]

He has also been involved with the Donegal under-20 backroom team.[37]

In 2022, he was coaching North London Shmarocks, which included his former Termon teammate Nathan McElwaine.[38]

Personal life

As of 2021, Boyle was employed as a commercial manager in the London office of construction recruitment firm, 3D Personnel.[2]

Honours

Donegal
Termon
Donegal Boston
  • North-East Men's Senior Football Championship: 2015[16]
College

References

  1. ^ "Countdown to Croker: Donegal name 'team' for All-Ireland final". Donegal Daily. 20 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  2. ^ a b "What happened after two Donegal lads left secure jobs?". Donegal News. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021. Ciaran Greene, from Letterkenny, was promoted to the role of Sales Director last month while former Donegal GAA goalkeeper Michael Boyle from Termon works as a commercial manager in the company's London office.
  3. ^ a b Bogue, Declan (17 November 2018). "Missing the medal: Best decision I ever made, says Kevin Cassidy". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. O'Donnell has been assisted by Michael Boyle who spent years as Paul Durcan's understudy in the Donegal panel and is already showing immense promise as a coach.
  4. ^ "Twitter feed". St Eunan's College. EunansFootball Best of luck 2our past pupils who r in Donegal panel v Cork in All Ire Semi-final on Sun @neilgerardgalla @murphm95 @AntoinMcFadden @Tommyk_91 @BrickMolloy @123kav @kevin_raff @gmacfadden14 @mdboyler24 +Mr McFadden #TheCollege
  5. ^ "McGuinness adds four to his panel". Donegal Democrat. Johnston Press. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  6. ^ "Boyle and Roddy rejoin Finn Harps". Evening Herald. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2009. On the home front Donegal GAA goalkeeper Michael Boyle has rejoined Finn Harps. The net minder had been with the club in 2005 but has been concentrating on his Gaelic career in recent years.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ a b c "Men's Senior Football – Player Profiles". DCU GAA. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013.
  8. ^ "DCU claim Sigerson Cup". BreakingNews.ie. 27 February 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  9. ^ "DCU take Sigerson Cup". BreakingNews.ie. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  10. ^ Brolly, Joe (16 December 2012). "This is a vicious piece of work". Gaelic Life. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  11. ^ "Moyna: We were going to withdraw over ruling". Irish Independent. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  12. ^ "DCU's Walsh and Boyle ruled ineligible". Irish Independent. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  13. ^ "Boyle does a Cluxton for Termon in Ballyshannon". Donegal Democrat. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  14. ^ "Donegal 'keeper displays his scoring ability". Hogan Stand. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  15. ^ a b Hughes, John (7 November 2012). "Final heartache for Aodh Ruadh". Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  16. ^ a b Foley, Alan (30 August 2015). "Donegal Boston seal North-East Men's Senior Football Championship". Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  17. ^ "[Termon manager Francie] Friel hopeful on fixtures reform". Donegal News. 11 March 2021. p. 54. With regards to the Termon team for this year, Michael Boyle is going to stay in London for another year. Aidan Sweeney went to Canada last year and he is not going to return either. They were away last year, but Friel expects that they should have much the same team as last year.
  18. ^ a b Ferry, Ryan (23 April 2020). "McConigley reflects on 2007 National League success". Donegal News. pp. 52–3.
  19. ^ McNulty, Chris (1 March 2013). "'Papa' set for 100th appearance". Donegal News. Retrieved 1 March 2013. Boyle had spells in the team in 2005 and again in 2009 but Durcan is now firmly number 1.
  20. ^ "Donegal 0-13 Clare 1-07". RTÉ Sport. 11 July 2009. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2009. ...a foul by Donegal goalkeeper Paul Durcan on the advancing Gary Brennan, who was following up on a ball in from Tubridy, resulted in a penalty award. Durcan paid the price for his error of judgement when he was replaced by Michael Boyle at half-time.
  21. ^ "Donegal 0-14 Galway 0-13". RTÉ Sport. 25 July 2009. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
  22. ^ "Cork 1-27 Donegal 2-10". RTÉ Sport. 2 August 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
  23. ^ "It's all change for McIver and Co". Hogan Stand. 29 April 2006. Retrieved 29 April 2006. Goalkeeper Michael Boyle is axed with Paul Durcan taking his place...
  24. ^ "McLoone in for Donegal for Ulster final". Donegal Democrat. 20 July 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  25. ^ McNulty, Chris (16 February 2012). "Sigerson joy for Donegal lads". Donegal News. Retrieved 16 February 2012. The Termon goalkeeper made a superb diving save to beat away Alan Freeman's well-hit penalty.
  26. ^ "Boyle on team of the year". Donegal Democrat. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  27. ^ Foley, Alan (9 June 2016). "How many Donegal keepers have played championship since 1956?". Retrieved 9 June 2016. ... Michael Boyle is just off full fitness following a cruciate injury suffered last year.
  28. ^ "14-man Dublin too hot for Donegal to handle". RTÉ Sport. 7 February 2015. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  29. ^ Bannon, Orla (29 March 2015). "Donegal make light work of Tyrone". RTÉ Sport. Archived from the original on 30 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  30. ^ "Donegal draw with Mayo enough for semi-final place". RTÉ Sport. 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  31. ^ "Football League Div 1 semi-final: Cork 4–11 0–19 Donegal". BBC Sport. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  32. ^ Keys, Colm (11 August 2015). "Durcan's Donegal future in doubt as he plans move abroad". Irish Independent. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  33. ^ Bonner, Declan (12 June 2016). "The real action gets underway…". Donegal News. Retrieved 12 June 2016. Another one is who to play in goals. Paul Durcan is not available and with Michael Boyle not fit, it will be between Mark Anthony McGinley and Peter Boyle... I think Mark Anthony will be given the nod and he will relish the chance to impress in front of the big crowd.
  34. ^ Mooney, Francis (12 June 2016). "Odhran Mac Niallais brace powers Donegal into Ulster semi-finals". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 12 June 2016. The same incident saw referee Maurice Deegan award a penalty, but Quigley's kick was superbly saved by debutant McGinley.
  35. ^ Bannon, Orla (4 December 2018). "Kevin Cassidy: If I'd carried on with Donegal, I'd be in stands now". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 5 December 2018. Michael Boyle came in and he's done fantastic for me personally and the training methods have given me a real lift.
  36. ^ Ferry, Ryan (30 July 2020). "Gaoth Dobhair travel to Donegal Town". Donegal News. p. 58. Mervyn O'Donnell is back in the hotseat but he won't have his trusted trainer Michael Boyle involved this year…
  37. ^ McNulty, Chris (20 July 2018). "Declan Bonner yearning for repeat of the long-term rewards from the golden age". Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  38. ^ Ferry, Ryan (10 February 2022). "McElwaine eager to impress with the Exiles". Donegal News. Retrieved 10 February 2022. McElwaine — who is working for 3D Personnel — transferred to a new club when he moved across channel. He was reunited with clubmate and renowned trainer Michael Boyle 'I joined up with North London Shmarocks who Michael Boyle is cocoaching. In fairness, I was the one that[sic] got in contact with them and they have treated me very well'. Further details in the print edition.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Donegal Number One Goalkeeper
2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Donegal Number One Goalkeeper
2009 		Succeeded by