John Duffy is an Irish former

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 ...

er who played for Aodh Ruadh and the Donegal county team. His position was

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He twice contested the final of the

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 ...

, in 1993 and 1998, but never won the competition as a player. He is a resident of

Killygordon Killygordon () is a small village in the Finn Valley in the east of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. , the population was 614. It is located on the N15 between Ballybofey and Castlefin. The separate hamlet and townla ...

Playing career

Club

P. J. Buggy and Josie Boyle mentored Duffy. ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' later described him as "improviser-in-chief rom age 12on an Aodh Ruadh team that dominated at all grades through to senior." In Autumn 1994, Duffy scored five points as Aodh Ruadh defeated reigning Ulster club champions Errigal Ciaran, featuring

Peter Canavan Peter Canavan (born 9 April 1971) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer, manager and pundit. He played inter-county football for Tyrone, and is one of the most decorated players in the game's history, winning two All-Ireland Senior Football Ch ...

. Eventual All-Ireland finalists Bellaghy defeated them by a point in the following match. Duffy is also remembered for chipping goalkeeper Tony Blake with a penalty in the final of the 1999 Donegal Senior Football Championship. He won three Donegal Senior Football Championships, in 1994, 1997 and 1998.

Inter-county

Duffy played at minor level for two years and played at under-21 level for four years. He spent the summer of 1991 abroad, playing with Tir Chonaill Gaels and the London senior county team.

Brian McEniff Brian McEniff (born 1 December 1942) is a former Gaelic football manager, administrator and player. McEniff played as a wing-back for the St Joseph's combination of clubs from Bundoran and Ballyshannon. He won seven Donegal Senior Football C ...

drafted him into his team following the 1992 All-Ireland win. Duffy scored 1–2 on his full debut, a substitute appearance against

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

in that season's Ulster Championship. He played 49 times for his county between 1993 and 1999, losing two Ulster finals (in 1993 and 1998), as well as two league finals. He played for Civil Service GAA club as well. He featured in Donegal's top 125 footballers in the 125-year history of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

in a poll carried out by the ''

Donegal Democrat The ''Donegal Democrat'' is a twice-weekly local newspaper, covering County Donegal, Ireland. The paper was traditionally based in the town of Ballyshannon in the south of the county, but now has offices in Donegal Town (southern edition) and Let ...

'' in 2009. After his playing career with Donegal, he went to Australia "for a couple of years". After serving as assistant manager/coach of Aodh Ruadh in 2007, Duffy served as a selector and ''maor foirne'' (runner) under former Donegal teammate

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 ...

, as the county senior team progressed to the 2014 All-Ireland final.

Personal life

Duffy works as a physical therapist in

and stood unsuccessfully for the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

in Donegal South-West at the 2011 general election. He has three children with his wife. Kennedy has coached

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...

, managed the Donegal Schoolboys Kennedy Cup team in 2021 and, — with Nikki Galvin — was appointed joint manager of the Killygordon-based Curragh Athletic soccer club in May 2022, succeeding Niall Fitzsimons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duffy, John Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Aodh Ruadh Gaelic footballers Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Futsal coaches Gaelic football forwards Gaelic football selectors Green Party (Ireland) politicians Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish physiotherapists Irish sportsperson-politicians London inter-county Gaelic footballers Tír Chonaill Gaels Gaelic footballers Health professionals from County Donegal