Club full of Jim's trusted lieutenants has led the Donegal revolution

WHEN the Jim McGuinness revolution led Donegal to All-Ireland success back in 2012 at the very heart of it was his Glenties club.

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The club where he cut his playing and managerial teeth, the latter when he stepped in to coach the side back in 2005 after he was sidelined for the year with a serious knee injury.

Glenties, well, they won their first Donegal Senior Football Championship that season — from Division 2 — and have since gone on to win seven in total.

A coaching and managerial phenomenon was born — even if very few knew about it at the time. And a club legacy began.

Back in 2012, the beating heart of Donegal was Leo McLoone, a warrior who had no reverse gear, often taking and giving hits and punishment for others with little regard for his own safety.

Ferocious. If you thought Donegal were soft, McLoone was your answer. His club, Glenties.

Powering up and down the field past McLoone like Mario Kart in his running style was Anthony Thompson, vying with Frank McGlynn to top the GPS.

Thompson's club? Glenties. McGuinness. McLoone. Thompson. Three tough men. Three Glenties men.

Fast forward to 2025. Walk down the main street in Glenties and there are 12 cardboard cutouts festooning across the lamp posts.

Twelve Glenties men involved in the current Donegal setup, five of them players and seven on the management, coaching, medical or logistics side some of them McGuinness' family.

Former Donegal star John Gildea, who won that first county title with Glenties in 2005 at 34 years of age “wheeled in and wheeled out” laughs that he's the only one in the town not involved.

“Listen, the way it works up here, is a code of omerta,” he smiles. “You can’t argue with success.”

And you couldn't 20 years ago either.

“We came from nowhere,” continues Gildea. “We weren't rated at all — had never won a Championship.