Mark McHugh

Mark McHugh (born 22 August 1990) is an Irish Gaelic footballer and coach who plays for Cill Chartha and, formerly, for the Donegal county team.

He is the brother of Ryan and the son of Martin.

He was born the Wednesday after his father's Donegal side was defeated by Meath in the semi-final of the 1990 All-Ireland SFC.

He is also the son of Martin, the BBC television analyst and All-Ireland SFC winner in 1992.

Mark's uncle, James, also played in the 1992 All-Ireland SFC final and received an All Star in 1992.

James's son, Eoin, also played for Donegal up to, and including, senior level.

Mark McHugh's dog Miley was photographed inside the Sam Maguire Cup.

Miley is named after J. R. Ewing's dog from the American TV show Dallas.

In his early career, McHugh admitted his club did not have many big games.

He played for Donegal throughout the 2010 Ulster Under-21 Football Championship campaign, a competition which the team won and in the final of which McHugh assisted Dermot Molloy in his team's second goal.

He then played in the final of the 2010 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship, which Donegal (managed by Jim McGuinness) narrowly lost to Dublin (managed by Jim Gavin), though McHugh scored one point in that match.

McHugh made his senior championship debut as a substitute against Down in Ballybofey in 2010.

Under Jim McGuinness, his former manager at under-21 level, McHugh was part of the team that won the 2011 Ulster Senior Football Championship, and played in the final against Derry.

He won one All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title (2012) and three Ulster Senior Football Championship titles (2011, 2012 and 2018) with his county.

McHugh is the son of Patrice and the brother of Rachel.

Mark McHugh's brother, Ryan, also plays for the Donegal team, though he was playing for the county minors when Mark won the 2012 All-Ireland SFC. In 2016, the year he won his first award, Ryan joined Mark, and their father Martin, as an All Star winner.

McHugh returned to the Ulster SFC final in 2012 in his third campaign, winning a second Ulster SFC title and scoring 0–2 against Down in the final.

He was man of the match in the Ulster final.

He then helped Donegal all the way to the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, in which he played.

Donegal won.

After that game he said, "The woman I'm going to have to marry is going to have to be very, very good to top this day off for me".

McHugh sang his wee heart out at the homecoming when he joined in with Rory Gallagher on "Jimmy's Winning Matches".

McHugh won an All Star and attended the Football Tour of New York.

McHugh missed Donegal's 2013 National Football League campaign with a pelvis injury.

He returned for the 2013 Ulster SFC campaign, but was forced off injured early in the final, after a collision with Stephen Gollogly of Monaghan, and was hospitalised as a result.

He was ruled out for a month with the multiple injuries Gollogly's rough play gave him, including concussion, a perforated eardrum and a quad muscle injury.

McHugh made a substitute appearance against Monaghan in the 2014 National Football League Division 2 final at Croke Park.

Three days later, it was confirmed that McHugh was one of four players to have left the Donegal county panel, less than a month before the county's 2014 Ulster SFC game against Derry.

Later he admitted, "I just needed a break. I wasn't enjoying what I was doing and me being there didn't help the mood in the camp. And I thought its [sic] not good for me being here and it's probably not good for other players so I stepped away. Going away was a decision I made and I knew I wouldn't be in the team if I stepped away. I made that decision."

He spent his time away from the team in New York.

He thus missed out on the 2014 Ulster SFC campaign, which Donegal won.

In his absence Donegal also qualified for a second All-Ireland SFC final in three years, with McHugh's brother Ryan helping himself to two goals against Dublin in the semi-final after being left to the bus by Mark, who sat by "and watched as he became a household name in one afternoon".

Ahead of the final, McHugh the Elder admitted he was "looking forward to… rebuilding for next year of myself and the club championship, playing well and hopefully with Jim next year or whoever that may be and ask me back into the panel. [sic]"

With Rory Gallagher having succeeded Jim McGuinness as manager of Donegal, McHugh rejoined the county panel ahead of the 2015 season.

He started the opening fixture of the 2015 National Football League at home to Derry.

He also started the next game against Dublin at Croke Park, the third fixture against Cork in Ballyshannon, the fourth fixture against Monaghan and the fifth fixture against Kerry.

He won the 2017 Donegal Senior Football Championship, scoring the opening point in the first minute of the final.

It was the first time his club had won the title in 24 years, having been defeated by Glenswilly at the same stage the previous year.

He has also played as a goalkeeper for his club.

McHugh did not play at minor level, what with the Leaving Certificate and a broken collar bone.