Mark McHugh


Mark McHugh is an Irish Gaelic footballer and coach who plays for Cill Chartha and, formerly, the Donegal county team. He is the brother of Ryan and the son of Martin.
He won one All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and three Ulster Senior Football Championships with his county.

Playing career

Club

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

Inter-county

Under-age

McHugh did not play at minor level, what with the Leaving Certificate and a broken collar bone.
He played for Donegal throughout the 2010 Ulster Under-21 Football Championship campaign, a competition which they 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 narrowly lost to Dublin, though McHugh scored one point in that match.

Senior

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.
McHugh returned to the Ulster Senior Football Championship Final in 2012 in his third campaign, winning a second Ulster SFC and scoring two points against Down in the final. then helping 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 Senior Football Championship but was forced off injured early on 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 Ulster Championship 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 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 Senior Football Championship, which Donegal won. In his absence Donegal also qualified for a second All-Ireland 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."
With Rory Gallagher having succeeded Jim McGuinness as manager of Donegal, McHugh rejoined the county panel ahead of the 2015 season.
Under the management of Declan Bonner, McHugh won his third and final Ulster SFC in 2018, appearing as second half substitute in the final against Fermanagh and scoring a point. He did not return after the winter. Alongside clubmates Ciaran McGinley and Stephen McBrearty, McHugh opted out the Donegal panel for 2019.

Inter-provincial

McHugh has played for Ulster in the Inter-Provincial Series.

Style of play

McHugh's performances in 2012 earned him repeated descriptions of being "Donegal's pivotal player". At his peak, he was considered "as lively a wire as his father Martin was in his heyday", and has been called the "Lionel Messi" of a Donegal team widely said to resemble FC Barcelona in terms of the quality of their style and shock and awe tactics. Daniel O'Donnell himself has personally thanked McHugh.

Coaching

He joined the Fermanagh minors as their coach for 2020, saying: "I want to get a wee bit of experience in the coaching and they train in Irvinestown which is as close to me as Letterkenny or Convoy". McHugh had earlier wished to be part of a Gary Duffy-led Donegal under-20 management team; however, Shaun Paul Barrett was instead appointed manager.

Personal life

McHugh is the son of Martin, the BBC television analyst and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winner in 1992. He was born the Wednesday after his father's Donegal side were defeated by Meath in the semi-final of the 1990 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.
Mark McHugh's brother, Ryan, also plays for the Donegal team and was playing for the county minors when Mark won the 2012 All-Ireland SFC.
Their uncle, James, also played in the 1992 All-Ireland Final and received an All Star in 1992. James's son Eoin also plays for the Donegal team.
Mark McHugh has a dog called Miley, who has been photographed inside the Sam Maguire Cup. Miley is named after J. R. Ewing's dog from the US TV show Dallas.

Honours

;Donegal
;Cill Chartha
;Individual