Dermot McNicholl (born 6 November 1965) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

former Gaelic footballer who played for the Derry county team in the 1980s and 1990s. He was part of Derry's 1993 All-Ireland Championship winning side, also winning

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 ...

s in 1987 and 1993. An All Star winner, he usually played in the half-forward line and was regarded as one of the best footballers in Ireland at a time. McNicholl is from Glenullin, County Londonderry,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, and played club football with John Mitchel's GAC Glenullin, where he won a Derry Senior Football Championship in 1985. He was described by former Derry teammate

Fergal McCusker Fergal P. McCusker is a Gaelic footballer who played for the Derry county team in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. He played club football with Watty Graham's GAC Glen until retiring in 2007. McCusker was part of Derry's 1993 All-Ireland C ...

as "impossible to mark". He managed home-club Glenullin in 2009.

Football career

School/college career

McNicholl attended school at

St Patrick's College, Maghera St. Patrick's College, also known as St. Patrick's Co-Ed Comprehensive College, is a co-educational 11–18 secondary school in Maghera, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It teaches within the Roman Catholic ethos. St Patrick’s’ Maghe ...

. He played in five consecutive

MacRory Cup The MacRory Cup is an inter-college (school) Gaelic football tournament in Ulster at senior "A" grade. The MacLarnon Cup is the competition for schools at senior 'B' grade. Players must be under nineteen at the start of the tournament. The win ...

finals (1980–1984), winning four of them. He was only in third year when playing on his first MacRory team. In 1980 and 1984 he was runner-up in the

Hogan Cup The Hogan Cup ( ga, Corn Uí Ógáin), also known as the All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Senior A Football Championship, is the top level Gaelic football championship for secondary schools (sometimes referred to as colleges) in Ireland. The com ...

to Carmelite College, Moate and St Jarlath's College, Tuam respectively. At university he won three

Sigerson Cup The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. ...

and two Ryan Cup medals with UUJ. McNicholl was once asked by Adrian McGuckin what did he learn at school, McNicholl replied, "I learned how to kick a ball."

Club career

Despite being only 19 at the time, McNicholl captained Glenullin to their 1985 Derry Senior Football Championship success. Prior to this he had won two Derry Minor Football Championships with the club in 1981 and 1982. In 2007 he was awarded a Northern Bank Ulster Minor Club Football All Star, being recognised as one of the best players to ever have competed in the

Ulster Minor Club Football Championship The Ulster Minor Club Football Championship ( ga, Comórtas Pheil Mhionúr Chumann Uladh), often referred to as the St. Paul's Tournament, an annual Gaelic football tournament organised and hosted by the St Paul's club in Belfast. It is played bet ...

, in the competition's 25th year. He also won U-14 and U-16 Derry Championships with Glenullin. McNicholl was in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

for a short period the early 1990s and while there played with St Columbkille's GFC,

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 ...

. He along with fellow Derry man

Éamonn Burns Éamonn Burns (born 24 January 1972) is a Gaelic footballer who played for Ballinascreen and the Derry county team in the 1990s and early 2000s. He was part of Derry's first ever All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winning side in 1993 an ...

helped the club win a Boston Senior Football Championship in 1991.

Inter-county career

McNicholl was known as one of Derry GAA's best ever underage players. He played Minor football for Derry for four years from 1980 (when he was 14) to 1983. He won three

Ulster Minor Football Championship The Ulster Minor Football Championship is the Minor "knockout" competition in the game of Gaelic football played in the province of Ulster in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Ulster Council. The trophy for the winning side is Th ...

s (1980, 1981 and 1983) and played in All-Ireland Minor Championship finals in those years, winning in 1983, where he was captain. He also won three

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 in ...

s in 1983, 1985 and 1986 and was runner-up in 1983 and 1985 in the All-Ireland Under-21 Championships. McNicholl made his Senior debut against Louth in the National League in October, 1983, while still a Minor. He won an All Star for his performances in the 1984 Championship, while still at school and is the youngest ever recipient of an All Star. He won an Ulster Senior Championship in 1987, but was badly affected by a hamstring injury during the All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Meath. He missed the 1989 and 1990 campaigns due to being in Australia playing professional Australian rules football. He was part of Derry's

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

winning team in 1992. McNicholl added a second Ulster Senior Championship medal in 1993, before going on to win the 1993 All-Ireland Championship after a semi-final victory over

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

and final defeat of Cork. Injury prevented him from starting these two games, but came on as a substitute in both. He won a further two National League medals in 1995 and 1996. He was plagued by injury in the latter years of his career, often preventing him from starting matches and was forced to retire soon after.

International and Australian rules career

Dermot McNicholl represented

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in three

International Rules Series The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team (se ...

, firstly in 1984. He was so impressive during the 1987 series that Victoria Football Association (VFA) club

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a po ...

enticed him to move to Melbourne in October 1989. Two weeks later, St Kilda drafted him with the 99th selection in the 1988 VFL draft, one of the first three Irish players to be drafted. He spent the 1989 season playing for Prahran, before injury forced him to miss the first half of the 1990 season, after which he recovered and made his senior debut for St Kilda. He played three senior games before returning to Ireland to complete his university studies. In 2008 Australian Football League agent

Ricky Nixon Ricky Lee Nixon (born 3 April 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer in the VFL/AFL and a former sports agent. At the height of his career, he was one of the most high-profile sports agents in Australia, and a powerful figure in the AF ...

recruited McNicholl as one of four Irish scouts to look for talented young Gaelic football players for possible recruitment to AFL teams.

Management career

McNicholl teaches at

, and has managed many of the school's teams at different age levels since 1994, helping them to four MacRory and three Hogan Cups successes. He was involved with Slaughtneil Minors for two years and during that time they won the Derry Minor Football Championship twice (1998 and 1999) and also won the 1998 Ulster Minor Club Championship (and finished runners up in 1999). At Senior level he has also been involved with Dungiven and Tyrone club

Ardboe Ardboe () is a large parish civil parish in east County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It borders the western shore of Lough Neagh and lies within the Mid Ulster District Council area. It is also the name of the local civil parish, which incorporat ...

. After a three-year break from club management, McNicholl was confirmed as new Glenullin manager at the club's Annual General Meeting on 4 January 2009. He guided the club to victory over reigning champions

Ballinderry Ballinderry () is a small civil and ecclesiastical parish on both sides of the County Londonderry / County Tyrone border in Northern Ireland. It is a rural parish of about 350 houses and lies on the western shores of Lough Neagh. The parish c ...

in the quarter-finals of the 2009 Derry Senior Football Championship. They were however defeated by Dungiven in the semi-final stage. It was announced in December 2009 that he would not be seeking another term with the club.

Honours

County

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 ...

- Winner (1): 1993 *

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

- Winner (3): 1992, 1995, 1996 *

- Winner (2): 1987, 1993 *

- Runner up: 1985, 1992 *

Dr McKenna Cup The Dr McKenna Cup is an annual Gaelic football competition played between counties and universities in the province of Ulster. It is the secondary Gaelic football competition based in Ulster behind the Ulster Senior Football Championship, an ...

- Winner (1): 1993 *

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: 1983, 1985 *

- Winner (3): 1983, 1985, 1986 *

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under ...

- Winner (1): 1983 *

- Runner up: 1980, 1981 *

- Winner (3): 1980, 1981, 1983

Club

* Derry Senior Football Championship- Winner (1): 1985 * Boston Senior Football Championship - Winner (1): 1991 *Derry Minor Football Championship - Winner (2): 1981, 1982 *Numerous underage awards including U-14 and U-16 Derry Championships

Province

* Railway Cup - Winner (?): Years?

College

- Winner (3): 1986, 1987, 1991 * Ryan Cup - Winner (2): Years? *

- Runner-up: 1980, 1984 *

- Winner (4): 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984 *

- Runner-up: 1981

Individual

* All Star - Winner (1): 1984 * All Star - Nominated: ? *Captain Derry Minor Ulster and All-Ireland winning side: 1983 *Captain Glenullin Derry Championship winning side: 1985 *Represented Ireland in three International Rules series: 1984, other years?

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNicholl, Dermot 1965 births Living people Alumni of Ulster University VFL/AFL players born outside Australia Derry inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic footballers who switched code Gaelic football in Massachusetts Glenullin Gaelic footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Irish international rules football players Irish players of Australian rules football Prahran Football Club players St Kilda Football Club players Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football)