Shaun Patton (born 1995) is an Irish

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

who has played in that position in two different sports. A former professional soccer player in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

with Derry City, Finn Harps and

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 192 ...

, Patton changed to

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

in 2018, playing for St Eunan's and the Donegal county team. He has twice won the

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in early May. The final is us ...

with Donegal.

Early life

Patton is from

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the ...

. He went to

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

at Lurgybrack in

. He attended

St Eunan's College St Eunan's College ( ; ga, Coláiste Adhamhnáin), known locally as The College to distinguish it from the cathedral and GAA club, is a voluntary Roman Catholic all-male secondary day school (and former boarding school) in County Donegal, Ir ...

for his secondary education. Patton played in a MacLarnon Cup Final for the college. He did so while on the books of Finn Harps, a soccer team. His teammates on an earlier St Eunan's College team (when Patton was 14) included future professional footballer

Dale Gorman Dale Anthony Gorman (born 28 June 1996) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Barnet. Gorman began his career at hometown club Letterkenny Rovers before signing a scholarship with Stevenage in 2013. He bro ...

. He also played for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

at schoolboy level. He made his

debut at the age of 16 before becoming disillusioned with that game at the age of 22 and pursuing

instead. He did not attend a third-level institution as he was playing full-time football. He joined Derry City in November 2014 in what was considered a surprise development, though he had lost his position in the Harps team after taking time off to study for his

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...

the previous year. Michael Murphy employed Patton to work in his shop in Letterkenny. Patton became a Garda in 2020. He was posted to

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the tenth largest settlement in Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Blackwater, around 50&nbs ...

, a town in

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...

Playing career

Club

Upon being reappointed Donegal Gaelic football manager in 2017,

Declan Bonner Declan Bonner (born 11 August 1965) is an Irish Gaelic footballer and manager. He played at senior level for the Donegal county team, winning an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 1992. He later managed the Donegal county team for t ...

set about trying to recruit Patton. The goalkeeper had never before played a local league or championship game in the sport of Gaelic football, only appearing for St Eunan's in two Ulster club games against Roslea and

Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. Northern Ireland's capital city Belfast is 68 m ...

during the

2014–15 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship The 2014–15 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship was the 45th annual gaelic football tournament since its establishment in 1970. Corofin won the title after a 1–14 to 0–7 win against Slaughtneil in the final. Provincial Champio ...

. At the time of Bonner's request, Patton was negotiating the possibility of joining soccer outfit

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the c ...

. He was doing so from a position of having played for one year for

— where he deputised for Micheál Schlingermann when Schlingermann was injured — and had started 12 games for the Sligo soccer outfit in 2017. Patton said at the time: Patton won the 2021 Donegal Senior Football Championship with his club, scoring one point (from a '45) in the final.

Inter-county

Patton began training with Donegal for the first time in January 2018. He had fractured his ankle the previous October while playing for the Sligo soccer team against an outfit from

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

. Under the management of Declan Bonner (second spell), Mark Anthony McGinley was initially the first choice goalkeeper, having been brought in by Bonner's predecessor

Rory Gallagher William Rory Gallagher ( ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995) was an Irish guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. Due to his virtuosic playing, but relative lack of fame compared to some others, he has been referred to as "the greatest ...

. However, during the opening fixture of the 2018 National Football League against Kerry, McGinley sustained an injury and second choice goalkeeper

Peter Boyle Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American actor. Known as a character actor, he played Frank Barone on the CBS sitcom '' Everybody Loves Raymond'' and the comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof ''Youn ...

came on as a substitute. Boyle then started against

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city ...

in the second league fixture, and again started in the third fixture against

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

(at

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and h ...

). Then, in the fourth league fixture against

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cent ...

, manager Declan Bonner opted for Patton as Donegal's first choice goalkeeper, prompting Boyle to quit. Patton continued in goal for the remainder of the season. He made his

championship debut from the start against

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Ba ...

, and played every minute against

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. Th ...

and

Down Down most often refers to: * Down, the relative direction opposed to up * Down (gridiron football), in American/Canadian football, a period when one play takes place * Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing * Downland, a ty ...

on the way to the final against

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of ...

, which Donegal won. He then played every minute of Donegal's 2018 All-Ireland challenge, making his

debut against

in the quarter-final group stage on 14 July 2018, only for Donegal's challenge to come undone against eventual finalists Tyrone. Patton started the opening game of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

, before briefly alternating with McGinley, until taking over completely as Donegal's first choice goalkeeper when McGinley withdrew from consideration in March due to his reluctance to commit in the competition against Patton. Patton won his second Ulster Senior Football Championship later that year, again completing every minute of play. He did so while competing against

Paul Durcan Paul Durcan (born 16 October 1944) is a contemporary Irish poet. Early life Durcan was born and grew up in Dublin and in Turlough, County Mayo. His father, John, was a barrister and circuit court judge; father and son had a difficult and for ...

(regarded as having the sport's closest ability in the goalkeeping position to Stephen Cluxton); Durcan had availed of McGinley's departure to seek a return to Donegal.

Style

Patton's short and long range kick-outs, as well as his and shot-stopping abilities, have garnered him comparisons with

and Stephen Cluxton. His kicks have been likened to "laser darts". RTÉ noted as early as the

2018 Ulster Senior Football Championship The 2018 Ulster Senior Football Championship was the 130th instalment of the annual Ulster Senior Football Championship organised by Ulster GAA. It is one of the four provincial competitions of the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. T ...

victory over Derry that "Patton's long, accurate kick-outs were highly effective in setting Donegal back on the attack". His ability at saving was also on display against Down in the following match, when he used a trailing right boot to prevent a goal from a Donal O'Hare shot. In the next game, the final, Patton showed his saving ability again.

Honours

;Donegal *

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* National Football League Division 2:

;St Eunan's *

Donegal Senior Football Championship The Donegal Senior Football Championship (abbreviated as Donegal SFC) is an annual football competition organised by Donegal GAA and contested by the highest-level clubs, to determine the best team in County Donegal. Since 2016, it has been know ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

;Individual * All Star: 1 Ulster Schools All Star **Nominated in 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patton, Shaun 1995 births Living people Association footballers from County Donegal Association football goalkeepers Derry City F.C. players Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Finn Harps F.C. players Gaelic footballers who switched code Gaelic football goalkeepers Garda Síochána officers League of Ireland players People educated at St Eunan's College People from Letterkenny Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers St Eunan's Gaelic footballers Sligo Rovers F.C. players