2016 Donegal Senior Football Championship

The 2016 Donegal Senior Football Championship is the 94th official edition of the Donegal GAA's premier club Gaelic football tournament for senior graded teams in County Donegal. The tournament consists of 16 teams with the winner going on to represent Donegal in the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship.

Donegal S.F.C.

Season	2016
Champions	Glenswilly (3rd S.F.C. Title)
Relegated	Glenfin
Ulster SCFC	???
Winning Captain	Gary McFadden (Glenswilly)
Man of the Match	Michael Murphy (Glenswilly)
Winning Manager	Michael Canning[1]
Matches played	??
← 2015 2017 →

Naomh Conaill were the defending champions after they defeated St Eunan's 0-11 to 0-10 in the previous years final however they relinquished their crown when losing to Kilcar at the Semi-Final stage.

This was Bundoran Réalt na Mara's return to the senior grade after making the straight bounce back up from the I.F.C. since being relegated in 2014.

On 16 October 2016, Glenswilly claimed their 3rd S.F.C. title when defeating Kilcar in the final in MacCumhaill Park 1-10 to 0-12.

Glenfin were relegated to the 2017 I.F.C. after losing a replay of the Relegation final to Killybegs, and thus ending their 15-year stay in the top flight of Donegal football.

Team changes

[2]

The following teams changed division since the 2015 championship season.

To S.F.C. Promoted from I.F.C. Réalt na Mara – (I.F.C. Champions)

From S.F.C. Relegated to I.F.C. Cloich Cheann Fhaola

Format

The 2016 County Championship took the same format as the 2015 championship in which there was four groups of four with the top two qualifying for the quarter-finals. Bottom of each group play in relegation play-offs to decide which team is relegated the 2017 Intermediate championship.

Group stage

Group 1

Team Pld W L D PF PA PD Pts Glenswilly 3 2 1 0 40 25 +15 4 An Clochán Liath 3 2 1 0 44 35 +9 4 Réalt na Mara 3 1 2 0 32 51 -19 2 Ardara 3 1 2 0 36 41 -5 2

Round 1: An Clochán Liath 2-11, 0-7 Réalt na Mara, An Clochán Liath, 14/5/2016, Ardara 0-8, 0-6 Glenswilly, Ardara, 15/5/2016, Round 2: Réalt na Mara 1-15, 0-13 Ardara, Bundoran, 27/8/2016, Glenswilly 1-10, 0-10 An Clochán Liath, Glenswilly, 28/8/2016, Round 3: Réalt na Mara 0-7, 3-12 Glenswilly, Bundoran, 4/9/2016, An Clochán Liath 0-17, 2-9 Ardara, An Clochán Liath, 4/9/2016,

Group 2

Team Pld W L D PF PA PD Pts Kilcar 3 2 0 1 58 27 +31 5 St Eunan's 3 2 0 1 56 44 +12 5 St Michael's 3 2 1 0 46 52 -6 2 Killybegs 3 0 3 0 24 63 -39 0

Round 1' St Eunan's 0-13, 1-10 Kilcar, O'Donnell Park, 15/5/2016, St. Michael's 2-13, 0-8 Killybegs, Dunfanaghy, 15/5/2016, Round 2 St Eunan's 2-14, 1-6 Killybegs, Killybegs, 27/8/2016, Kilcar 2-15, 0-7 St Michael's, Kilcar, 28/8/2016, Round 3 Killybegs 0-7, 0-24 Kilcar, Killybegs, 4/9/2016, St Michael's 2-14, 3-14 St Eunan's, Dunfanaghy, 4/9/2016,

Group 3

Team Pld W L D PF PA PD Pts Malin 3 2 0 1 52 39 +13 5 Seán MacCumhaills 3 2 1 0 59 45 +14 4 Naomh Mhuire 3 1 1 1 44 44 +0 3 Glenfin 3 0 3 0 40 67 -27 0

Round 1 Malin 2-9, 1-9 Seán MacCumhaills, Connolly Park, 15/5/2016, Naomh Mhuire 3-7, 0-11 Glenfin, Glenfin, 15/5/2016, Round 2 Seán MacCumhaills 3-16, 1-10 Glenfin, MacCumhaill Park, 27/8/2016 Naomh Mhuire 1-8, 1-8 Malin, The Banks, 28/8/2016 Round 3 Seán MacCumhaills 4-10, 0-17 Naomh Mhuire, MacCumhaill Park, 4/9/2016, Malin 2-20, 1-13 Glenfin, Malin, 4/9/2016,

Group 4

Team Pld W L D PF PA PD Pts Naomh Conaill 3 3 0 0 65 30 +35 6 Termon 3 2 1 0 38 40 -2 4 Gaoth Dobhair 3 1 2 0 38 50 -12 2 Four Masters 3 0 3 0 43 64 -21 0

Round 1 Naomh Conaill 1-11, 1-2 Termon, Glenties, 14/5/2016, Gaoth Dobhair 2-12, 1-9 Four Masters, Gweedore, 15/5/2016, Round 2 Termon 1-11, 0-9 Gaoth Dobhair, Termon, 27/8/16, Four Masters 1-11, 5-12 Naomh Conaill, Pairc Tir Conaill, 28/8/16, Round 3 Termon 2-13, 2-11 Four Masters, Termon, 4/9/2016, Naomh Conaill 2-18, 0-11 Gaoth Dobhair, Glenties, 4/9/2016,

Knockout stage

Last Eight

	Quarter-Finals					Semi-Finals					Final
	Naomh Conaill		1-13
	St Eunan's		1-8			Naomh Conaill		1-11
	Kilcar		0-19			Kilcar		5-10
	Termon		0-4								Kilcar		0-12
	Glenswilly		2-20								Glenswilly		1-10
	Seán MacCumhaills		1-14			Glenswilly		0-9
	Malin		0-13			Malin		0-7
	An Clochán Liath		1-8

Quarter Finals

• Kilcar 0-19, 0-4 Termon, MacCumhaill Park, 24/9/2016,
• Glenswilly 2-20, 1-14 Seán MacCumhaills, O'Donnell Park, 24/9/2016,
• Naomh Conaill 1-13, 1-8 St Eunan's, MacCumhaill Park, 25/9/2016,
• Malin 0-13, 1-8 An Clochán Liath, O'Donnell Park, 25/9/2016,

Semi Finals

• Kilcar 5-10, 1-11 Naomh Conaill, MacCumhaill Park, 2/10/2016,
• Glenswilly 0-9, 0-7 Malin, O'Donnell Park, 2/10/2016,

Final

16 October 2016

15:30

Final

Glenswilly	1-10 – 0-12	Kilcar
Michael Murphy 1-5 (0-3f, 0-1 '45), Ciaran Gibbons 0-2, Brian Farrelly, Gary McFadden (0-1f), Darren McGinley 0-1 each	Report	Patrick McBrearty 0-5 (0-4f), Ryan McHugh 0-3 (0-2f), Michael Hegarty, Stephen McBrearty (0-1 f), Conor Doherty, Ciaran Bonner 0-1 each

MacCumhaill Park

Referee: S McLaughlin (Malin)

Relegation Playoffs

Relegation Semi-Finals

• Four Masters 1-13, 0-7 Glenfin, Killygordon, 24/9/2016
• Ardara 1-9, 1-5 Killybegs, Dunkineely, 25/9/2016

Relegation Final

• Killybegs 1-11, 2-8 Glenfin, O'Donnell Park, 15/10/2016,
• Killybegs 2-13, 1-6 Glenfin, O'Donnell Park, 22/10/2016, (Replay)

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship

References

1. McNulty, Chris (2 August 2017). "Donegal GAA – Who are the contenders to succeed Rory Gallagher?". Donegal Daily. Retrieved 2 August 2017. McDaid was part of the backroom team of Michael Canning last year as Glenswilly regained their hold of the Donegal crown.
2. "Donegal Democrat Archives". Irishnewsarchive.com. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.