Donegal players bet on beating Dublin

Jim McGuinness has revealed the Donegal players bet on themselves to beat Dublin in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final. Donegal were at odds of 10/1 with bookmakers to upset a team that had, by then, won 10 consecutive championship games under Jim Gavin. McGuinness’ side ended that run, winning on a 3-14 to 0-17 scoreline.

In his book “Until Victory Always - A Memoir”, to be released next week, McGuinness also recalls when his club Glenties, who he was coaching at the time, won a senior county final in 2005. After they drew with St Eunan’s, the players punted on themselves to win the replay at 6/1.

“When we played St Eunan’s in 2005, our boys had us backed,” he recalls. “Now, our boys had us backed to beat Dublin. We were available at 10/1. They had a few hundred euro on themselves. And we knew leaving the hotel that we were going to win.”