Shaun Patton (born 1995) is an Irish

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who has played in that position in two different sports. A former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

with

Derry City Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

and

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

, Patton changed to

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 ...

in 2018, playing for St Eunan's and the Donegal county team. He has twice won 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 ...

with Donegal.

Early life

Patton is from

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 ...

. He went to

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

at Lurgybrack in

. He 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 ...

for his secondary education. Patton played in a MacLarnon Cup Final for the college. He did so while on the books of

, a soccer team. His teammates on an earlier St Eunan's College team (when Patton was 14) included future professional footballer Dale Gorman. He also played for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

at schoolboy level. He made his

debut at the age of 16 before becoming disillusioned with that game at the age of 22 and pursuing

instead. He did not attend a third-level institution as he was playing full-time football. He joined

in November 2014 in what was considered a surprise development, though he had lost his position in the Harps team after taking time off to study for his

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...

the previous year.

Michael Murphy Michael, Mick, or Mike Murphy may refer to: Artists and entertainers * Michael Murphy (actor) (born 1938), American actor * Mike Murphy (musician) (1946–2006), American drummer for the Bee Gees and Chicago * Michael Bryan Murphy, lead singer o ...

employed Patton to work in his shop in Letterkenny. Patton became a Garda in 2020. He was posted to

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland by population, tenth largest settlement in ...

, a town in

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

Playing career

Club

Upon being reappointed Donegal Gaelic football manager in 2017,

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 ...

set about trying to recruit Patton. The goalkeeper had never before played a local league or championship game in the sport of Gaelic football, only appearing for St Eunan's in two Ulster club games against

Roslea Rosslea or Roslea () is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, near the border with County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. It stands on the Finn River and is beset by small natural lakes. Roslea Forest, also known as Sprin ...

and

Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. North ...

during the 2014–15 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship. At the time of Bonner's request, Patton was negotiating the possibility of joining soccer outfit

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

. He was doing so from a position of having played for one year for

— where he deputised for

Micheál Schlingermann Micheál Schlingermann (born 23 June 1991) is an Irish professional association footballer who plays for Athlone Town in the League of Ireland and a former Gaelic footballer for the Mayo county team. Gaelic football career Born in Ireland to ...

when Schlingermann was injured — and had started 12 games for the Sligo soccer outfit in 2017. Patton said at the time: Patton won the

2021 Donegal Senior Football Championship 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

with his club, scoring one point (from a '45) in the final.

Inter-county

Patton began training with Donegal for the first time in January 2018. He had fractured his ankle the previous October while playing for the Sligo soccer team against an outfit from

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

. Under the management of Declan Bonner (second spell),

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 ...

was initially the first choice goalkeeper, having been brought in by Bonner's predecessor

Rory Gallagher William Rory Gallagher ( ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995) was an Irish guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. Due to his virtuosic playing, but relative lack of fame compared to some others, he has been referred to as "the greatest ...

. However, during the opening fixture of the 2018 National Football League against

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...

, McGinley sustained an injury and second choice goalkeeper

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 ...

came on as a substitute. Boyle then started against

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

in the second league fixture, and again started in the third fixture against

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 ...

(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 ...

). Then, in the fourth league fixture against

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

, manager Declan Bonner opted for Patton as Donegal's first choice goalkeeper, prompting Boyle to quit. Patton continued in goal for the remainder of the season. He made his

championship debut from the start against

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 ...

, and played every minute against

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

and Down on the way to the final against

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 ...

, which Donegal won. He then played every minute of Donegal's 2018 All-Ireland challenge, making his

debut against

in the quarter-final group stage on 14 July 2018, only for Donegal's challenge to come undone against eventual finalists Tyrone. Patton started the opening game of the

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 ...

, before briefly alternating with McGinley, until taking over completely as Donegal's first choice goalkeeper when McGinley withdrew from consideration in March due to his reluctance to commit in the competition against Patton. Patton won his second Ulster Senior Football Championship later that year, again completing every minute of play. He did so while competing against

Paul Durcan Paul Durcan (born 16 October 1944) is a contemporary Irish poet. Early life Durcan was born and grew up in Dublin and in Turlough, County Mayo. His father, John, was a barrister and circuit court judge; father and son had a difficult and forma ...

(regarded as having the sport's closest ability in the goalkeeping position to

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 ...

); Durcan had availed of McGinley's departure to seek a return to Donegal.

Style

Patton's short and long range kick-outs, as well as his and shot-stopping abilities, have garnered him comparisons with

and

. His kicks have been likened to "laser darts". RTÉ noted as early as the

2018 Ulster Senior Football Championship The 2018 Ulster Senior Football Championship was the 130th instalment of the annual Ulster Senior Football Championship organised by Ulster GAA. It is one of the four provincial competitions of the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. T ...

victory over Derry that "Patton's long, accurate kick-outs were highly effective in setting Donegal back on the attack". His ability at saving was also on display against Down in the following match, when he used a trailing right boot to prevent a goal from a

Donal O'Hare Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

shot. In the next game, the final, Patton showed his saving ability again.

Honours

;Donegal *

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* National Football League Division 2:

;St Eunan'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 ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

;Individual * All Star: 1 Ulster Schools All Star **Nominated in 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patton, Shaun 1995 births Living people Association footballers from County Donegal Association football goalkeepers Derry City F.C. players Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Finn Harps F.C. players Gaelic footballers who switched code Gaelic football goalkeepers Garda Síochána officers League of Ireland players People educated at St Eunan's College People from Letterkenny Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers St Eunan's Gaelic footballers Sligo Rovers F.C. players