Michael Boyle (born 1986/7) is an Irish sportsperson and

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. He plays with his local club Termon and also, formerly, for the Donegal county team. Educated at St Eunan's College in Letterkenny, he was his county's number one goalkeeper in the past, though Paul Durcan had something to say about that. Boyle has also played soccer for Finn Harps in the League of Ireland.

Playing career

College

Boyle studied Sports Science and Health at Dublin City University (DCU). Boyle won the Sigerson Cup twice in 2010 and 2012 with the DCU GAA team. He was goalkeeper on both occasions, on the team that beat UCC in the 2010 final and the team that beat Maynooth in the 2012 final. The Higher Education GAA later barred him for playing for his college due to a new rule it introduced, prompting the team manager to consider a

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

Club

Despite being a goalkeeper, Boyle was Termon's top scorer with four points in an away fixture against Aodh Ruadh at Fr Tierney Park in 2012. Termon defeated Aodh Ruadh by a total of five points, a score of 0–13 to 0–8. Boyle's performance led to media comparisons with Dublin goalkeeper

Stephen Cluxton Stephen Cluxton (born 17 December 1981) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who played as a goalkeeper at senior level for the Dublin county team. Cluxton made his senior debut for Dublin during the 2001 Championship. Since then he has established ...

, who would regularly do likewise for his team, including scoring the winning point in the

2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final The 2011 All-Ireland Football Final was the 124th event of its kind. It was the culmination of Gaelic football's premier competition, the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, and was played between Kerry and Dublin on 18 September 2011 at ...

. Later that year, Boyle won the Donegal Intermediate Football Championship, again against Aodh Ruadh. He also played for

Donegal Boston Donegal Boston GFC is a Gaelic football club which was founded in 1988 in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston is the second largest division of the GAA on the North American continent, after New York. They train on Malibu Beach, Dorchester. Among ...

, winning the North-East Men's Senior Football Championship in 2015. Boyle did not play for Termon in 2020 as he was based in London, where he opted to remain for 2021.

Inter-county

Boyle was a member of the Donegal squad that won the 2007 National Football League. He played in the first team for periods in 2005 and 2009. Rivalling Paul Durcan for a place in the Donegal team, Boyle appeared at half-time in a 2009 All-Ireland qualifier after Durcan fouled

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

player Gary Brennan and conceded a penalty. Boyle retained his starting place for the games against Galway at Markievicz Park and Cork at

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

. Boyle was named on the bench for the 2012 Ulster Senior Football Championship final against

Down Down most often refers to: * Down, the relative direction opposed to up * Down (gridiron football), in American/Canadian football, a period when one play takes place * Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing * Downland, a ty ...

, although he later claimed to have picked up 43 points playing golf at Slieve Russell in Cavan. He was also on the bench for the

2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final The 2012 All-Ireland Football Final, the 125th event of its kind and the culmination of the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, was played at Croke Park, Dublin, on 23 September 2012. Donegal and Mayo, widely considered "one of the mos ...

against Mayo. A noted penalty saver, he was named on the "Future Champions 2012" football team. In 2014, Boyle sustained a cruciate injury. This left him lacking match fitness in 2015 when the chance to play for Donegal presented itself following Durcan's transfer to Dubai. He made a substitute appearance for Durcan in the second round of 2015 National Football League fixtures against Dublin at Croke Park. He also started the league games against Tyrone and Mayo, as well as the NFL semi-final against Cork. Ahead of Donegal's 2015 Ulster semi-final, Boyle left the panel to travel to Boston for the summer. He was "not fit" for the 2016 championship, leaving the goalkeeping position vacant for

Mark Anthony McGinley Mark Anthony McGinley is an Irish sportsperson. He has played Gaelic football as a goalkeeper for St Michael's and was formerly number one keeper with his county team, Donegal. McGinley has also been involved in the sport of association footb ...

and

Peter Boyle Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American actor. Known as a character actor, he played Frank Barone on the CBS sitcom ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' and the comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof ''Young Fra ...

. McGinley was selected ahead of Peter Boyle.

Coaching

Boyle assisted Mervyn O'Donnell during Gaoth Dobhair's successful

2018 Donegal Senior Football Championship The 2018 Donegal Senior Football Championship was the 96th official edition of Donegal GAA's premier Gaelic football tournament for senior graded clubs in County Donegal. Sixteen teams compete with the winner representing Donegal in the Ulster S ...

and Ulster Senior Club Football Championship campaign. Boyle left his position with Gaoth Dobhair ahead of the 2020 season. He has also been involved with the Donegal under-20 backroom team. In 2022, he was coaching North London Shmarocks, which included his former Termon teammate Nathan McElwaine. Further details in the print edition.

Personal life

As of 2021, Boyle was employed as a commercial manager in the London office of construction recruitment firm, 3D Personnel.

Honours

;Donegal * All-Ireland Senior Football Championship:

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 ...

* Ulster Senior Football Championship:

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 ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* National Football League:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

;Termon * Donegal Intermediate Football Championship: 2012 ;Donegal Boston * North-East Men's Senior Football Championship: 2015 ;College * Sigerson Cup: 2010, 2012

References

External links

Official profile
*
2009 All Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final: Cork vs Donegal: Cork goalkeeper Alan Quirke consoles Donegal goalkeeper Michael Boyle after the game
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyle, Michael 1980s births Living people Alumni of Dublin City University Donegal Boston Gaelic footballers Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers DCU Gaelic footballers Gaelic football coaches Gaelic football goalkeepers Gaelic footballers who switched code Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States People educated at St Eunan's College Termon Gaelic footballers Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football) Association football goalkeepers Finn Harps F.C. players League of Ireland players Republic of Ireland association footballers