Pascal McConnell

Pascal McConnell

Personal information
Irish name	Pascal Mac Dhónaill
Sport	Gaelic football
Position	Goalkeeper
Born	(1980-04-10) 10 April 1980 (age 44) Tyrone
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Nickname	Packie
Club(s)
Years	Club
1999–	Newtownstewart St Eugene's
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
1999–2013	Tyrone
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles	5
All-Irelands	3
NFL	1
All Stars	0

Pascal McConnell (born 10 April 1980) is a former Gaelic footballer who played for the Tyrone county team.

He is an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winner.

McConnell competed with John Devine and Niall Morgan to be first choice goalkeeper for Tyrone.^[1]

Early life and family

McConnell's older brother is Tyrone's All Star-winning goalkeeper of the nineties, Finbar McConnell.^[2]

Playing career

In 1998, McConnell played alongside Stephen O'Neill in the MacRory Cup semi-final for Omagh CBS.^[3]

Over the course of his career with Tyrone GAA, McConnell helped win three All-Ireland senior medals for the county.^[4]

Retirement

McConnell announced his retirement from inter-county football in November 2013.^[5][6]

When asked about this decision, McConnell said, "There is a big commitment required in order to stay performing at the top level and I feel the time is right to bow out and start a new chapter in my life. I have absolutely no regrets from my playing career with Tyrone, although, I suppose if I was a bit greedy, I would say that I felt that we could have won the All Ireland in 2009 and 2010."^[7][8]

His retirement from inter-county football left Conor Gormley, Dermot Carlin, Stephen O'Neill and Seán Cavanagh as the only remaining links to the Tyrone team that won the county's first All-Ireland senior title in 2003.^[9]

References

1. "TGoalkeeper Pascal McConnell calls time on Tyrone career". BBC Sport. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
2. "Brian McConnell: Father of Tyrone goalkeepers was big in stature, character and heart". The Irish News. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
3. "We were going to empty out the county... Fermanagh was going to wage war on Tyrone that day". The Irish News. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
4. "Pascal Mcconnell · TheJournal.ie". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
5. "Tyrone goalkeeper Pascal McConnell retires". RTÉ Sport. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
6. "Pascal Mcconnell · The42". The42. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
7. "Tyrone's Pascal McConnell retires from inter-county football". Irish Independent. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
8. "Pascal's superb decade at an end". Belfast Telegraph. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
9. "Cavanagh to skipper Tyrone as McConnell retires". Hogan Stand. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.

• http://www.breakingnews.ie/archives/2004/0804/sport/kfgbauaueygb/
• http://www.westernpeople.ie/news/story.asp?j=36557&cat=sport^{[permanent dead link‍]}