2016 Donegal Senior Football Championship

Donegal S.F.C.

Season	2016
Champions	Glenswilly (3rd title)
Relegated	Glenfin
Ulster SCFC	???
Winning captain	Gary McFadden (Glenswilly)
Man of the Match	Michael Murphy (Glenswilly)
Winning manager	Michael Canning
Matches	??
← 2015 2017 →

The 2016 Donegal Senior Football Championship was the 94th official edition of the Donegal GAA's premier club Gaelic football tournament for senior graded teams in County Donegal. The tournament consisted of 16 teams, with the winner going on to represent Donegal in the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship.

Naomh Conaill was defending champion after defeating St Eunan's by a scoreline of 0–11 to 0–10 in the 2015 final. However, the club relinquished its crown when losing to Cill Chartha at the semi-final stage.

This was Réalt na Mara's return to the senior grade after making the straight bounce back up from the I.F.C. since being relegated in 2014.

On 16 October 2016, Glenswilly claimed its third S.F.C. title when defeating Cill Chartha in the final in MacCumhaill Park 1-10 to 0-12.

Glenfin was relegated to the 2017 I.F.C. after losing a replay of the relegation final to Na Cealla Beaga, thus ending a 15-year stay in the top flight of Donegal football.

Team changes

The following teams changed division since the 2015 championship season.

To S.F.C.

Promoted from 2015 Donegal I.F.C.

• Réalt na Mara – (I.F.C. Champions)

From S.F.C.

Relegated to 2016 Donegal I.F.C.

• Cloich Cheann Fhaola

Format

The 2016 championship took the same format as the 2015 championship, in which there were four groups of four clubs, with the top two clubs qualifying for the quarter-finals. The club finishing bottom in each group contested relegation play-offs to determine which team would be relegated to the 2017 Donegal Intermediate Football Championship.

Group stage

Group 1

Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Glenswilly	3	2	1	0	40	25	+15	4
An Clochán Liath	3	2	1	0	44	35	+9	4
Réalt na Mara	3	1	2	0	32	51	-19	2
Ard an Rátha	3	1	2	0	36	41	-5	2

Round 1:

• An Clochán Liath 2-11, 0-7 Réalt na Mara, An Clochán Liath, 14/5/2016
• Ard an Rátha 0-8, 0-6 Glenswilly, Ard an Rátha, 15/5/2016

Round 2:

• Réalt na Mara 1-15, 0-13 Ard an Rátha, Bundoran, 27/8/2016
• Glenswilly 1-10, 0-10 An Clochán Liath, Glenswilly, 28/8/2016

Round 3:

• Réalt na Mara 0-7, 3-12 Glenswilly, Bundoran, 4/9/2016
• An Clochán Liath 0-17, 2-9 Ard an Rátha, An Clochán Liath, 4/9/2016

Group 2

Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Cill Chartha	3	2	0	1	58	27	+31	5
St Eunan's	3	2	0	1	56	44	+12	5
St Michael's	3	2	1	0	46	52	-6	2
Na Cealla Beaga	3	0	3	0	24	63	-39	0

Round 1'

• St Eunan's 0-13, 1-10 Cill Chartha, O'Donnell Park, 15/5/2016
• St Michael's 2-13, 0-8 Na Cealla Beaga, Dunfanaghy, 15/5/2016

Round 2

• St Eunan's 2-14, 1-6 Na Cealla Beaga, Na Cealla Beaga, 27/8/2016
• Cill Chartha 2-15, 0-7 St Michael's, Cill Chartha, 28/8/2016

Round 3

• Na Cealla Beaga 0-7, 0-24 Cill Chartha, Na Cealla Beaga, 4/9/2016
• St Michael's 2-14, 3-14 St Eunan's, Dunfanaghy, 4/9/2016

Group 3

Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Malin	3	2	0	1	52	39	+13	5
Seán Mac Cumhaills	3	2	1	0	59	45	+14	4
Naomh Muire	3	1	1	1	44	44	+0	3
Glenfin	3	0	3	0	40	67	-27	0

Round 1

• Malin 2-9, 1-9 Seán Mac Cumhaills, Connolly Park, 15/5/2016
• Naomh Muire 3-7, 0-11 Glenfin, Glenfin, 15/5/2016

Round 2

• Seán Mac Cumhaills 3-16, 1-10 Glenfin, MacCumhaill Park, 27/8/2016
• Naomh Muire 1-8, 1-8 Malin, The Banks, 28/8/2016

Round 3

• Seán Mac Cumhaills 4-10, 0-17 Naomh Muire, MacCumhaill Park, 4/9/2016
• Malin 2-20, 1-13 Glenfin, Malin, 4/9/2016

Group 4

Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Naomh Conaill	3	3	0	0	65	30	+35	6
Termon	3	2	1	0	38	40	-2	4
Gaoth Dobhair	3	1	2	0	38	50	-12	2
Four Masters	3	0	3	0	43	64	-21	0

Round 1

• Naomh Conaill 1-11, 1-2 Termon, Glenties, 14/5/2016
• Gaoth Dobhair 2-12, 1-9 Four Masters, Gweedore, 15/5/2016

Round 2

• Termon 1-11, 0-9 Gaoth Dobhair, Termon, 27/8/16
• Four Masters 1-11, 5-12 Naomh Conaill, Pairc Tir Conaill, 28/8/16

Round 3

• Termon 2-13, 2-11 Four Masters, Termon, 4/9/2016
• Naomh Conaill 2-18, 0-11 Gaoth Dobhair, Glenties, 4/9/2016

Knockout stage

Last Eight

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	Naomh Conaill		1-13
	St Eunan's		1-8			Naomh Conaill		1-11
	Cill Chartha		0-19			Cill Chartha		5-10
	Termon		0-4								Cill Chartha		0-12
	Glenswilly		2-20								Glenswilly		1-10
	Seán Mac Cumhaills		1-14			Glenswilly		0-9
	Malin		0-13			Malin		0-7
	An Clochán Liath		1-8

Quarter-finals

• Cill Chartha 0-19, 0-4 Termon, MacCumhaill Park, 24/9/2016,
• Glenswilly 2-20, 1-14 Seán Mac Cumhaills, O'Donnell Park, 24/9/2016,
• Naomh Conaill 1-13, 1-8 St Eunan's, MacCumhaill Park, 25/9/2016,
• Malin 0-13, 1-8 An Clochán Liath, O'Donnell Park, 25/9/2016,

Semi-finals

• Cill Chartha 5-10, 1-11 Naomh Conaill, MacCumhaill Park, 2/10/2016,
• Glenswilly 0-9, 0-7 Malin, O'Donnell Park, 2/10/2016,

Final

16 October 2016

15:30

Final

Glenswilly	1-10 – 0-12	Cill Chartha
Michael Murphy 1-5 (0-3f, 0-1 '45), Ciaran Gibbons 0-2, Brian Farrelly, Gary McFadden (0-1f), Darren McGinley 0-1 each	Report	Patrick McBrearty 0-5 (0-4f), Ryan McHugh 0-3 (0-2f), Michael Hegarty, Stephen McBrearty (0-1 f), Conor Doherty, Ciaran Bonner 0-1 each

MacCumhaill Park

Referee: Shaun McLaughlin (Malin)

Relegation playoffs

Relegation Semi-finals

• Four Masters 1-13, 0-7 Glenfin, Killygordon, 24/9/2016
• Ard an Rátha 1-9, 1-5 Na Cealla Beaga, Dunkineely, 25/9/2016

Relegation final

• Na Cealla Beaga 1-11, 2-8 Glenfin, O'Donnell Park, 15/10/2016,
• Na Cealla Beaga 2-13, 1-6 Glenfin, O'Donnell Park, 22/10/2016, (Replay)

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship

Main articles: 2016 Ulster Senior Club Football Championship and 2016–17 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship

Gradam Shéamuis Mhic Géidigh

Michael Murphy was named as the recipient of the inaugural Gradam Shéamuis Mhic Géidigh.