Limavady’s link to the All-Ireland final on Sunday

Ahead of this Sunday’s game against County Mayo, the man preparing to lead Donegal out as coach has spoken fondly of days in Limavady – what he described as the “best buzz” he ever got in coaching.

Before taking charge of Donegal, McGuiness coached the first ever GAA team at the former Limavady College, now part of the North West Regional College.

Even then, his coaching abilities were plain for all to see – the new Limavady College side, which included players who had never before set foot on a GAA pitch or even kicked a ball, won the league in their first year under the watchful eye of the man dubbed variously ‘the Jose Mourinho’ and ‘the Sherlock Holmes’ of Gaelic football.

The following year, Jim McGuinness’ young Limavady College team went on to win the Championship.In fact, under the man from Glenties near Letterkenny, the team went on to win two All-Ireland Further Education Championship titles.

McGuinness has since went on to make headlines around Ireland after taking charge of his native Donegal team two years ago. In 2010, after a disappointing Championship campaign, John Joe Doherty resigned as manager and McGuiness found he was the only candidate to replace him. He was appointed on July 26, 2010.

A former lecturer in sports psychology at the North West Regional College in Limavady, Jim McGuinness quickly set about transforming the fortunes of Donegal. They reached an Ulster final for the first time in six years, defeating a Count Derry team to claim the Anglo-Celt Ulster Championship title.

This year, his team have gone a step further – defending the Ulster Championship and going on to overcome Gaelic football heavyweights such as Kerry and Cork to reach their first All-Ireland final since 1992.

In the process, Donegal have attracted varying degrees of both scorn and praise for their highly physical and organised style of football – with McGuiness both heralded and criticised as the mastermind responsible for the formidable tactics.

Now, despite being on the cusp of an All-Ireland final, he still maintains that his greatest coaching experience came as coach of a Limavady College Gaelic Football team, which he had set up.

The sight of a player who had never kicked a ball before his time at the old Limavady College, where Jim McGuiness was lecturing in sports psychology, and going on to set up a score in a college final, was “the best buzz” he ever got in coaching.

He said: “When I went up there and I had to try and get a team together. We won the league in the first year, won a championship in the second year and there was a young lad that never played the game before who came on in the final in the second year for about five minutes and dropped his first ball.

“And he won the ball. And he slipped the ball and about a couple of minutes after that, he won the ball and slipped the ball and somebody else kicked it over the bar. And that was the best buzz I ever got out of football coaching. Because this young fella had never set foot on a pitch before and all of a sudden, at a very small level, he was part of a winning team. And his face and his team-mates’ faces looking at him was unbelievable.”

Even as the All-Ireland final approaches, his previous experience coaching a Limavady team to victory in an All-Ireland final, albeit at College’s level, is sure to stand him in good stead.

His playing career was at a similarly high level. Before making his name as a manger, McGuiness competed at the highest level as a player and has many trophies to prove that.

He was the youngest of the 1992 Donegal All-Ireland winning panel and with his club, Naomh Chonaill (Glenties), he won two Donegal Senior Championship medals.

At college level he collected three Sigerson Cup medals. Two were won with Tralee IT in 1998 and 1999 (as captain) and then, in 2001, he captained the University of Ulster, Jordanstown to victory.

Capitalising on his wealth of experience at the highest levels of club, county and college football, the team he set up at the old Limavady College went on to claim a host of accolades.

Now, as part of the North West Regional College (NWRC) after merging with the North West Institute of Further and Higher Education (NWIFHE), the current Gaelic footballers in Limavady can already look back at a legacy of success in Gaelic Athletics.

A spokesperson for the NWRC said: “Jim McGuinness was a Lecturer in Sports Science at the former Limavady College (now North West Regional College).

“He was a popular member of staff at the College, and both Staff and students alike were very impressed with his ability to transfer his knowledge and experiences of sports science into the practical coaching and development of the game.”

He is sure to be able to count on an enormous suport this Sunday from all those who remember his time Limavady.