P. J. McGowan (born 1951/52) 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 ...

manager and administrator. He succeeded

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 ...

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

manager in 1994 and lasted until 1997, thus preceding

Declan Bonner Declan Bonner (born 11 August 1965) is an Irish Gaelic footballer and manager. He played at senior level for the Donegal county team, winning an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 1992. He later managed the Donegal county team for tw ...

's first spell in charge. He also managed

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of al ...

Career

McGowan is from

Ballybofey Ballybofey ( , ; ) is a town located on the south bank of the River Finn, County Donegal, Ireland. Together with the smaller town of Stranorlar on the north side of the River Finn, the towns form the Twin Towns of Ballybofey-Stranorlar. Ba ...

. His club is Seán Mac Cumhaills. He first became involved in football when he was ten years of age. McGowan managed Donegal to the

1987 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship The 1987 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship was the 24th staging of the All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1964. Cork entered the championship as defending champions; ...

. In the early 1990s, he spent a short time as senior manager of

. McGowan took over as Donegal's senior manager in the wake of Donegal's success in the

1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final The 1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was the deciding match of the 1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland. The 105th All-Ireland SFC final, the e ...

, at a time when players such as Anthony Molloy and Martin McHugh had retired. He managed Donegal to the finals of the 1994–95 and 1995–96 National Football Leagues. In between he managed Donegal to an

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 ...

victory over reigning All-Ireland champions Down in 1995, a game which took place one week after the first league final loss. They then lost to

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7 ...

in a game he described as the lowest point of his time as manager. His last championship game in charge was a heavy defeat to

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

, managed by McHugh. McGowan announced his departure as Donegal manager in 1997, ''

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 ...

'' reporting: "His statement was equivocal — saying that he would not oppose anyone who wanted to take over the position - but he admits it amounts to a resignation", though McGowan told the newspaper: "I'd have taken it on if no-one else was willing… I don't have a divine right to this job". Among the players he introduced during his time as manager were

Damian Diver Damian Diver (born 1973/4) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Ard an Rátha and the Donegal county team. He played at half-back for his county. He made 120 appearances, 36 of which were championship, for the team between 199 ...

, Peter McGinley,

James Ruane James Ruane is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for the Donegal county team. Ruane won an Ulster Under-21 Football Championship with Donegal in 1995. P. J. McGowan was the manager to introduce Ruane to the Donegal senior team. H ...

and Brian Roper. McGowan was later part of the backroom team of

when he returned as manager. McGowan has been an administrator on the Ulster Council. As vice-chairman of the county board, he was part of the selection committee tasked with choosing a new senior football manager in 2008. He completed five years as Donegal County Chairman in December 2012. He managed Aodh Ruadh in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGowan, P.J. 1950s births Living people Chairmen of county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association Donegal County Board administrators Gaelic football managers Gaelic football selectors People from Ballybofey Ulster Provincial Council administrators