The Donegal Junior Football Championship (abbreviated as Donegal JFC) is an annual football competition organised by Donegal GAA.
Na Rossa are the title holders (2023) defeating Moville in the Final.
History
The competition has been won by 44 clubs, 23 of which have won it more than once. Castlefinn Robert Emmet's are the most successful club with seven titles to their credit.
Donegal county team manager Declan Bonner brought national attention to the competition when he lined out for his club Na Rossa in 2019, notably making saves while playing as goalkeeper when his team's regular goalkeeper transferred to New York.[2][3][4]
The Donegal JFC winner qualifies for the Ulster Junior Club Football Championship. It is the only team from County Donegal to qualify for this competition. The Donegal JFC winner may enter the Ulster Junior Club Football Championship at either the preliminary round or the quarter-final stage. It often does well there, with the likes of Naomh Colmcille[5] and Red Hugh's[6] among the clubs from Donegal to win at least one Ulster Championship after winning the Donegal Junior Football Championship.
The Donegal JFC winner — by winning the Ulster Junior Club Football Championship — may qualify for the All-Ireland Junior Club Football Championship, at which it would enter at the semi-final stage, providing it hasn't been drawn to face the British champions in the quarter-finals.
^"Downings take county junior final". The Derry People. Letterkenny. 12 October 1957. p. 2. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via www.irishnewsarchive.com.
^"Convoy sweating on Dolan". Donegal News. 3 October 2019. p. 73. Laurence McMullan starred the last time Convoy won the Junior Championship in 2005 when he was 20…
^McNulty, Chris (23 January 2015). "John Paul Gallagher takes over at Cloughaneely as clubs gear up for new season". Donegal News. Archived from the original on 15 May 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015. Donegal Junior champions Urris have also had a change of the guard as Mark Gilmore has been appointed to the hotseat at Straid. Danny Kelly led Urris to the Junior title, overcoming Naomh Ultan in the final and the Inishowen side went on a memorable march to the Ulster JFC final, where they lost out to Rock St Patrick's of Tyrone.