Antoin McFadden (born 1989/1990) is an Irish

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

coach and player who has played for St Michael's and the Donegal county team. Pronounced , his forename is derived from the name of Roman great antiquity origin.

Playing career

McFadden made substitute appearances in the semi-final and final of the

Ulster Under-21 Football Championship The Ulster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Ulster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest int ...

in 2010. He then played in the final of the 2010 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship, which Donegal (managed by

Jim McGuinness Jim McGuinness (born 16 November 1972) is an association football coach and former Gaelic footballer, coach and Manager (Gaelic games), manager, who won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as both player and manager with the Donegal ...

) narrowly lost to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

(managed by Jim Gavin). After being appointed senior manager in late-2010, McGuinness called McFadden into his squad ahead of the

2011 Dr McKenna Cup The 2011 Dr McKenna Cup was a Gaelic football competition played under the auspices of Ulster GAA. The tournament was won by Derry, their first McKenna title in 12 years. They defeated Tyrone in the final. The final was postponed due to the dea ...

. Himself,

Eamonn Doherty Eamonn Doherty (born 1990/1) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for St Eunan's and the Donegal county team. He is a secondary school teacher in Buncrana. Playing career Club Eamonn Doherty started his club's winning senior county fina ...

, James Carroll and

Declan Walsh Declan Walsh (born 1989) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for Malin GAA, Malin (the northernmost GAA club in Ireland) and the Donegal county football team, Donegal county team. He was part of the Donegal team that won the 2012 All-Irel ...

transferred to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

for the summer in 2011. McFadden reached, and played in, the final of the 2011 Donegal Senior Football Championship — the first senior final in his club's history — but lost.

Coaching career

McFadden coached

Newcastle West Newcastle West () or simply Newcastle (''An Caisleán Nua'', formerly anglicized Castlenoe) is a town in west County Limerick, Ireland. It is the largest town in the county, excluding Limerick city, It is also the county town, and sits on the ...

to the 2015

Limerick Senior Football Championship The Limerick Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top Limerick GAA clubs. The champions qualify to represent Limerick in the Munster Senior Club Football Championship, the winners of which progr ...

and also worked with the Limerick county team. Antoin McFadden later moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. He began work as Strength and Rehabilitation Coach for the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL) on 1 May 2018. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

allowed McFadden to return to Ireland, and he played for his club in the

2020 Donegal Senior Football Championship The 2020 Donegal Senior Football Championship was the 98th official edition of Donegal GAA's premier Gaelic football tournament for senior graded clubs in County Donegal. 16 teams compete with the winner representing Donegal in the Ulster Seni ...

after five years away (including time spent in America and Limerick). McFadden had been due to join the

Melbourne Demons The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

until the pandemic forced him back. He joined the Donegal management team as

strength and conditioning coach A strength and conditioning coach (also known as an S&C coach) is a physical performance professional who uses exercise prescription to improve the performance of competitive athletes or athletic teams. This is achieved through the combination of ...

ahead of the 2021 season. Mattie Brady replaced him ahead of the 2022 season.

Personal life

McFadden attended

St Eunan's College St Eunan's College ( ; ga, Coláiste Adhamhnáin), known locally as The College to distinguish it from the cathedral and GAA club, is a voluntary Roman Catholic all-male secondary day school (and former boarding school) in County Donegal, Ire ...

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the R ...

. His father has been a coach at the St Michael's club. He is the younger brother of

Colm McFadden Colm Anthony McFadden ( ga, Colm Antóin Mac Pháidín; born 1982/3) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays at full forward for St Michael's and, from 2002 to 2016, for the Donegal county team. McFadden is Donegal's most-capped Championship ...

. There is a seven-year age difference. Also published as "Colm Rain or Shine" in the ''

Donegal News The ''Donegal News'' (also known as ''Derry People/Donegal News'' and formerly ''Derry People'') is a twice-weekly local newspaper in the northwest of the island of Ireland, first published in 1902. Originally covering Derry, Northern Ireland, it ...

'' of the same date, 19 March 2020: pp 50–53. "Colm has one brother who was eight years older, and another who is seven years younger, so there wasn't the sibling rivalry that other families might have had". Both McFaddens were part of the Donegal team that won the

2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 126th edition of the Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament, played between 31 counties of Ireland (excluding Kilkenny who only take part in th ...

, though Antoin did not play in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. His brother, Colm, scored Donegal's second goal in the tenth minute and contributed four more points to the winning total. Antoin McFadden also has another brother, fifteen years his senior.

Honours

;Donegal *

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship The GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the EirGrid GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association ( ...

runner-up: 2010 *

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in early May. The final is usu ...

: 2010 ;St Michael's *

Donegal Senior Football Championship The Donegal Senior Football Championship (abbreviated as Donegal SFC) is an annual football competition organised by Donegal GAA and contested by the highest-level clubs, to determine the best team in County Donegal. Since 2016, it has been known ...

runner-up:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McFadden, Antoin Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian Football League coaches Donegal Boston Gaelic footballers Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic football coaches Irish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Limerick county football team People educated at St Eunan's College St Michael's (Donegal) Gaelic footballers Strength and conditioning coaches