Jim McGuinness was born on 16 November 1972 and is a Gaelic football coach, and former player, who won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as a player with, and later manager of, the Donegal county team.
55 Facts About Jim McGuinness
1.
2.
Jim McGuinness ended his first spell as Donegal manager shortly after that defeat of Dublin.
3.
Jim McGuinness then became one of very few county team managers to have taken a role at a professional sports team outside Ireland.
4.
Jim McGuinness began working with the Scottish association football club Celtic as a coach in 2012, progressing to the position of assistant manager its under-20 squad.
5.
Jim McGuinness was called up to the county minors in 1990.
6.
Jim McGuinness was a star of Third-Level Colleges football, winning Sigerson Cups with Tralee in 1998 and 1999 as captain, and again as captain in 2001 with the University of Ulster at Jordanstown.
7.
Jim McGuinness played club football with Naomh Conaill, winning a Donegal Senior Football Championship in 2005.
8.
Jim McGuinness scored a goal against Armagh ten minutes from the end of the 2002 Ulster Senior Football Championship final.
9.
Jim McGuinness started the first game of Brian McEniff's last spell as Donegal manager, a league defeat to Galway in Tuam in February 2003, during which he scored a point.
10.
Jim McGuinness made a substitute appearance for Paul McGonigle in the 2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final against Armagh.
11.
At the age of 18 Jim McGuinness was coaching underage teams.
12.
The story goes that one day Jim McGuinness tore his cruciate ligaments, broke a leg and smashed a kneecap in a game against Killybegs, leading to months spent languishing at home in self-pity and lethargy.
13.
Jim McGuinness was turned down several times by the Donegal County Board, on one occasion being thwarted by the lack of a plug socket for the projector needed for his PowerPoint display.
14.
Jim McGuinness had offers from other counties but held out, determined to become senior boss even when those at the top did their utmost to deprive him of the opportunity.
15.
Jim McGuinness was interviewed for the role of Donegal senior manager in 2007 following Brian McIver's resignation, though McIver was reappointed after reapplying when he decided to carry on.
16.
One year later when the role became available again, Jim McGuinness was still the youngest candidate.
17.
Jim McGuinness has a really good knowledge of all sports and knows what makes people tick.
18.
The last time he was rejected as senior manager Jim McGuinness was given the under-21 team to manage as a consolation.
19.
Jim McGuinness guided his county to the 2010 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship final, in which they were narrowly defeated by Dublin.
20.
In July 2010, Jim McGuinness, having led Donegal to the 2010 All-Ireland U-21 Football Championship final, was appointed as manager of the senior team when his colleague John Joe Doherty resigned in the wake of a disastrous season.
21.
Jim McGuinness's first meeting with the downcast and "demoralised" senior panel occurred at Downings Bay Hotel on 6 November 2010.
22.
Jim McGuinness outlined his intentions: to be in the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final after four years of hard labour akin to an Olympiad.
23.
Jim McGuinness drafted Kevin Cassidy into his first McKenna Cup panel, despite Cassidy announcing his intention to retire the previous season's disappointing campaign.
24.
However, TV pundit Pat Spillane claimed Bradley was "the best of a bad bunch" and didn't deserve the award at all, causing Jim McGuinness to react furiously.
25.
On 10 November 2011, Jim McGuinness dropped Kevin Cassidy from the Donegal panel after Cassidy contributed to a book.
26.
In what went down as a "surreal moment for the viewer", Micheal O Domhnaill famously interviewed Jim McGuinness following a live 2012 league game on TG4 while Cassidy, in the role of television analyst, stood beside him with his head bowed.
27.
Jim McGuinness then masterminded a comprehensive defeat of Kerry in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final between the teams.
28.
Jim McGuinness then led his team to the 2012 All-Ireland SFC final, with a comprehensive semi-final defeat of title-favourites Cork at Croke Park.
29.
Jim McGuinness duetted with Daniel O'Donnell on "Destination Donegal" at the homecoming.
30.
Jim McGuinness was later awarded Donegal Person of the Year.
31.
In September 2013, Jim McGuinness confirmed he would be staying on for the 2014 season, but that Rory Gallagher, Maxi Curran and Francie Friel had stepped down from his backroom team.
32.
Martin McHugh said afterwards that Jim McGuinness was "the best manager Donegal have ever had, and one of the best in any county in the modern era", while Ireland manager Paul Earley hailed the victory as Jim McGuinness's greatest coaching achievement.
33.
On 4 October 2014, Jim McGuinness terminated his first tenure as Donegal manager.
34.
Jim McGuinness had managed Donegal through 54 league and championship matches.
35.
In October 2020, Jim McGuinness was seen taking charge of a training session for the Galway football team.
36.
Jim McGuinness later stated it was a once off session that happened as a result of being asked by Galway manager Padraic Joyce.
37.
Jim McGuinness assisted his club Naomh Conaill with their defensive system during the 2022 Donegal Senior Football Championship, working with the team between the semi-final and final.
38.
Jim McGuinness did this without his All-Ireland SFC-winning captain Michael Murphy, who had decided to retire from inter-county football after the 2022 season.
39.
Jim McGuinness spent three years as a pundit for Sky before departing in 2017.
40.
Jim McGuinness returned as an analyst for Sky in 2020.
41.
In May 2015, Jim McGuinness said he would begin his UEFA B Licence coaching badge.
42.
Jim McGuinness began his UEFA A Licence in July 2017.
43.
Jim McGuinness successfully applied to the Football Association of Ireland to study for a UEFA Pro Licence in 2019, his classmates including Damien Duff and Robbie Keane.
44.
Jim McGuinness did work with an association football team in Limavady.
45.
When Stephen Kenny left Derry City, Jim McGuinness was appointed the team's trainer, only for Kenny to return from Scotland and Jim McGuinness to depart.
46.
In June 2017, Jim McGuinness was named as assistant coach of Chinese Super League side Beijing Sinobo Guoan, under coach Roger Schmidt.
47.
Jim McGuinness resigned for "personal, family reasons" just over six months later in January 2018.
48.
In December 2018, Jim McGuinness was named as the new head coach of Charlotte Independence in the USL Championship, where he signed a three-year contract.
49.
Jim McGuinness was unveiled at a press conference in Montrose, South Dublin.
50.
Jim McGuinness said that if the chance to join Celtic had not emerged, he "would be as happy as Larry still managing Donegal".
51.
On 17 January 2019, Jim McGuinness appointed former Athletic Bilbao manager Felix Sarriugarte as his assistant coach.
52.
Jim McGuinness secured the loan signings of defender Andrew Gutman and Scotland national team midfielder Mark Hill, in February and March 2019 respectively.
53.
However, on 12 June 2019, Jim McGuinness was sacked as head coach after just one win in 14 games in the 2019 USL Championship season.
54.
Independence President and Managing Partner Jim McPhilliamy thanked McGuinness for improving the club "in many ways, including bringing talent to our roster and instituting new training methodologies", and blamed the club's hierarchy, saying they wanted to keep some of his training methods in the future.
55.
The family moved to the United States when Jim McGuinness took up the job as manager of Charlotte Independence, and continued to live there afterwards.