Willo McDonagh (born 14 March 1983) is an Irish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. The

defensive midfield A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

player played for

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

Monaghan United Monaghan United F.C. ( ga, Cumann Peile Mhuineacháin Aontaithe) is an Irish association football club based in Monaghan currently playing in the Ulster Senior League. The club joined the League of Ireland in 1983 and subsequently went on to pl ...

and Shelbourne.

Biography

He made his Rovers debut on 18 March 2005 and went on to make a total of 31 appearances in all competitions scoring 6 goals. McDonagh arrived at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

in January 2006 from Shamrock Rovers, and was one of former manager Roy Coyle's final signings before resigning. McDonagh scored his first goal for the club in a 3-2 success against

Newry City Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, although ...

at the Oval in March, this would be his only for the season. 2006/2007 was a mixed year for McDonagh, with consistency being the main hindrance to him becoming a favourite with the Glentoran crowd. Arguably his best performance for the Glens came in a 4–1 win over Belfast rivals

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay. The original Palm Bay estate was ...

at the Oval in December 2006, where he made surging runs from midfield and scored with a directed header, and many hoped he would have continued this great form into the annual Boxing Day derby clash with arch rivals Linfield, but McDonagh was handed a two-game suspension by the IFA. Infamous for his disciplinary record, with 11 bookings to his name this season, he has gained a reputation with officials up all over the country after his alleged two-foot stamp on Cliftonville's Ronan Scannell in December's televised CIS League Cup Final, a game which Glentoran went on to win 1-0 thanks to a 32nd minute Gary Hamilton goal. This is McDonagh's only winners medal to date. In 2007 McDonagh was placed on the transfer list. In February 2008 he was loaned out to

Armagh City Armagh City was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency in Ireland. Boundaries This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Armagh in County Armagh. It was the successor constituency to the Armagh City constituency of the Parliament of ...

for one season Following his release by the Glens, McDonagh signed for

Glenavon Glenavon Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club that competes in the NIFL Premiership. Founded in 1889, the club hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Gar ...

. In August 2011, he signed for

, again linking up with

Roddy Collins Roderick Collins (born 7 August 1962), is an Irish former professional football player and manager. During a playing career of 18 years, Collins played for many sides across England, Ireland and Northern Ireland. While towards the end of his ...

. On 18 June 2012, the club announced their withdrawal from 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 ...

and all of their playing staff were released by the club. He subsequently signed for

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

in June 2012, scoring on his debut against Mervue United, in a 5–4 win for his new club. McDonagh is currently operating in a centre back role under Longford manager Tony Cousins.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonagh, Willo Living people 1983 births Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Bohemian F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players League of Ireland players Glentoran F.C. players Glenavon F.C. players Armagh City F.C. players Monaghan United F.C. players Longford Town F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players NIFL Premiership players English Football League players Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders Association footballers from Dublin (city)