Ryan McHugh


Ryan McHugh is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Cill Chartha and the Donegal county team. He is the brother of Mark and the son of Martin.
A former county minor, McHugh propelled himself onto the national stage in 2014 with a 2–2 blitz of reigning All-Ireland champions Dublin in their live televised semi-final meeting at Croke Park.
McHugh has been likened to a child of school-going age — "You'd think he had just stepped off a school bus", GAA pundit Benny Tierney once said. His former county manager Jim McGuinness has suggested: "Even when the big hits are going in, Ryan has the ability to summon that little shimmy that helps to take him past defenders and allows him to set up colleagues." Ciarán Kilkenny is another admirer.

Playing career

Club

With his club Cill Chartha, McHugh won the 2012 Donegal Minor Football Championship. He scored one point in the final.
He also won the 2017 Donegal Senior Football Championship, scoring a point in 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 won an All-Ireland Vocational Schools Championship and captained the 2012 Donegal minor team.
He played in the under-21 team that lost to Cavan in the 2013 Ulster final, though had been troubled by a calf injury beforehand.
He also played on the under-21 team that lost to Cavan in the 2014 Ulster final.
He played in the 2015 Ulster Under-21 Football Championship final loss to Tyrone.

Senior

drafted McHugh into his senior squad ahead of the 2013 season, with Donegal the defending All-Ireland champions. Colm Keys of the Irish Independent named him as the third of his "ten young guns aiming to fire in the league" ahead of the 2013 National Football League.
McHugh made his senior competitive debut in a home game against Down in the 2013 National Football League on 9 February 2013. He made his senior Championship debut against Down as well later that year in June. Photographs of him appeared in the media the following day.
McHugh won his first Ulster Senior Football Championship in 2014, scoring one point as Donegal defeated Monaghan in the final.
McHugh propelled himself onto the national stage with a 2–2 blitz of All-Ireland champions Dublin in the 2014 semi-final meeting at Croke Park on 31 August. Man of the match in that game, McHugh described himself as "fortunate" to have scored his two goals. His brother Mark left him to the bus that morning, then sat by "and watched as became a household name in one afternoon". In October 2014, McHugh was named as that year's All Stars Young Footballer of the Year.
McHugh scored yet another Championship goal at Croke Park against reigning All-Ireland champions Dublin in 2016, though Dublin emerged with a five-point win on that occasion. McHugh won an All-Star for his performances during the year.
McHugh started the final and scored a goal as Donegal secured the 2018 Ulster Senior Football Championship. On 26 September 2018, however, it was announced that McHugh had accepted medical advice and would be sidelined for the remainder of the year due to concussion. His injury came while playing for his club in a challenge match against Dublin champions St Vincents in Cavan in late August 2018 — he received a blow to the head during that match. Concussion had also caused McHugh to spend six weeks on the sideline following a 2018 National Football League game earlier that year. The injury meant he could take no part in the 2018 Donegal Senior Football Championship, news which was worsened when taken in the context of the earlier loss of McHugh's club and county teammate Patrick McBrearty to a cruciate ligament injury. McHugh won a second All-Star at the end of the season. This remarkable achievement was further contextualized when McHugh later revealed he had suffered a "a slight bleed" in his brain and two concussions in seven months during that season.
McHugh won his third Ulster SFC in 2019, scoring one point as Donegal defeated Cavan in the final.

Other activities

English Football League Championship

McHugh, though from a football family, often used to play a bit of soccer with St Catherine's "as a distraction". A scout for the professional English league side Reading spotted him at the age of 16 and McHugh was invited to England for a trial. However, after playing several games, McHugh decided he would prefer to return to football so off he went, back home. That Reading team, then managed by Brian McDermott, were one year away from promotion to the Premier League.

Peil Star video

In 2016, Ryan appeared in a street Gaelic football film created by Peil Star with Kieran Hughes, Richie Donnelly and Niall McKeever. The film was shot at Belfast's Titanic Quarter.

Personal life

McHugh is the son of Martin, the BBC television analyst and 1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winner. His son Mark, Ryan's older brother, is also an All-Ireland SFC winner with Donegal. Ryan McHugh's uncle James also played in the 1992 All Ireland Final and received an All Star in 1992. His cousin Eoin is James's son.
As of 2020, Ryan McHugh was working at Ocean Knowledge, a fertiliser company, in Kilcar. His cousin Eoin also works there. The McHugh cousins often play golf together. Ryan McHugh has a girlfriend.

Honours

;Donegal
;Cill Chartha
;Individual