John Gildea

John Gildea (born 27 March 1971)[1] is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Naomh Conaill and the Donegal county team.

This article is about the Gaelic footballer. For the American football player, see Johnny Gildea.
John Gildea
Personal information
Irish name Seán Mac Giolla Dé
Sport Gaelic football
Position Wing-forward/midfield
Born (1971-03-27) 27 March 1971[1]
Club(s)
Years Club
19??–200?
1997
2001
 Naomh Conaill
Donegal New York
Donegal Boston
Club titles
Donegal titles 1
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
199?–2004
 Donegal

He is originally from Glenties.[2]

Playing career

Gildea made his championship debut for Donegal as a substitute against Down in 1995.[3] Pat Ward and Michael Gallagher were county footballers when Gildea was "coming through".[4] His early career was troubled; suffering a problem (which turned out to be a Vitamin B12 deficiency) that affected his ability to train, he made no further championship appearances while P. J. McGowan was manager of the county.[2] Gildea then played illegally under an assumed name for Donegal New York in 1997, the illegality due to him officially registering to play in Boston.[2] He was suspended for one year, reduced to six months on appeal.[2] Gildea credited McGowan's successor Declan Bonner for persisting with him through his difficulties.[2] Fourteen hours after the suspension had ended, Bonner started Gildea in the 1997–98 National Football League semi-final at Croke Park; Gildea scored two points but his team lost the game to Offaly.[2]

Gildea featured prominently for his county from 1998 onwards.[3] Having played as a wing-forward against Offaly and against Antrim in the 1998 Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final, Bonner moved Gildea into the midfield position where he would make his name when Martin Coll was sent off early on against Cavan in the Ulster semi-final.[2] Donegal won that game, with Gildea outmanoeuvring Dermot McCabe, but the county then lost the Ulster final to a late Joe Brolly goal.[3]

Gildea quit the panel in May 2001, shortly after Bonner's successor as manager, Mickey Moran, controversially substituted him during a championship loss to Fermanagh in Enniskillen; the decision was part of why selector Michael Houston also quit, while Gildea went to the United States to play for Donegal Boston.[5][6] He vowed to retire after 2002, but carried on.[7] By 2003, Gildea was the most senior player in the county team.[8] He started the first game of Brian McEniff's last spell as Donegal manager, a league defeat to Galway in Tuam in February 2003, during which he scored a point.[9] That year he was an important player during a six-game championship run through the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifiers.[7] He played in the 2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final against Armagh.[10] Gildea continued to play for his county until 2004.[3]

Gildea won a Donegal Senior Football Championship in 2005, his club's first.[11]

Gildea first met Stephen Rochford, who went on to work with Bonner in his second spell as Donegal manager, during two visits to Australia from twenty years previously.[2]

He is the father of two sons.[1] He lives in Letterkenny.[1]

References
  1. Maguire, Stephen (27 March 2021). "From midfield to midlife as former Donegal player hits 50". Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  2. McNulty, Chris (21 November 2020). "John Gildea — Why Declan Bonner has perfect management to succeed with Donegal". Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  3. Nulty, Chris (22 July 2011). "1992–2011: The best XV not to win Ulster…". Donegal News. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  4. Craig, Frank (1 February 2020). "Gildea pays tribute to departing McLoone". Donegal News. Retrieved 1 February 2020. When I was coming through Pat Ward and Michael Gallagher were the men you looked to. For us to have a county footballer back then was a huge deal. Myself and Jim (McGuinness) were then part of it at the same time and it was a big thing.
  5. "Houston's big problem". BBC Sport. 30 May 2001. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2001.
  6. "Donegal Boston come of age". Hogan Stand. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
  7. Keys, Colm (5 November 2003). "Royals' seal of approval puts pressure on Boylan". Irish Independent. After commiting [sic] himself to retirement last year, he's determined not to make the same mistake twice. 'I'll see how the body is after Christmas', said Gildea, the driving force behind Donegal's six-game qualifier odyssey.
  8. Crowe, Dermot (25 February 2007). "Former wild child wants football's natural high". Sunday Independent. Retrieved 25 February 2007. In 2003, under McEniff, Fermanagh beat Donegal in the championship… [Kevin] Cassidy went along with the intention of having the dinner and slipping away… I rang John Gildea, he was the most senior player at the time.
  9. Duggan, Keith (3 February 2003). "Meehan adds spark to Galway attack". The Irish Times.
  10. "Armagh's double still alive". Irish Independent. 1 September 2003.
  11. "Historic first title for Naomh Conaill". Irish Independent. 10 October 2005.
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