Long-serving Donaghy calls time on Armagh career

Armagh defender Brendan Donaghy has announced his retirement after 17 years representing the Orchard County.

The Clonmore player first appeared in a 2006 Dr McKenna Cup match against Fermanagh, and he would make his championship debut a year later against Donegal in what would be Joe Kernan's penultimate match in charge of the county with an All-Ireland qualifier loss to Derry following.

Donaghy established himself as a key man in the full-back line from there and helped them to an Anglo Celt success in 2008, the last time Armagh have claimed provincial honours.

He captained the side for a spell under Paddy O’Rourke in 2010, however a series of injuries curtailed his involvement in latter years with his last championship appearance coming in the 2021 Ulster victory over Antrim.

Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney, who played alongside Donaghy at county level, paid tribute to the retiring defender.

"The way I look at any player is would you like to mark him when you were playing and definitely a 'no' when it comes to Brendy," McGeeney said at the Armagh GAA All-Stars on Thursday night.

"His toughness, his courage, his ability to win ball in tough situations and drive the team was second to none.

"The second metric I use is would you love to stand beside him going into battle to play any team and the answer is definitely 'yes.'

"He’s been an inspirational player since I’ve come back into the set-up in terms of how he drives the team on."