Mark McHugh (born 22 August 1990) is an Irish Gaelic footballer and coach who plays for Cill Chartha and, formerly, for the Donegal county team.
[5] Under Jim McGuinness, his former manager at under-21 level, McHugh was part of the team that won the 2011 Ulster Senior Football Championship, and played in the final against Derry.
[20] McHugh sang his wee heart out at the homecoming when he joined in with Rory Gallagher on "Jimmy's Winning Matches".
[22] He returned for the 2013 Ulster SFC campaign, but was forced off injured early in the final, after a collision with Stephen Gollogly of Monaghan, and was hospitalised as a result.
[25][26] McHugh made a substitute appearance against Monaghan in the 2014 National Football League Division 2 final at Croke Park.
[30] In his absence Donegal also qualified for a second All-Ireland SFC final in three years, with McHugh's brother Ryan helping himself to two goals against Dublin in the semi-final after being left to the bus by Mark, who sat by "and watched as he became a household name in one afternoon".
[sic]"[28] With Rory Gallagher having succeeded Jim McGuinness as manager of Donegal, McHugh rejoined the county panel ahead of the 2015 season.
[38] Ahead of the 2015 Ulster SFC, McHugh cracked his ribs while playing a game with his club and was also having difficulty with a quad injury which had not properly healed.
[43] He also started the 2015 All-Ireland SFC qualifier defeat of Galway at Croke Park, and the next game against Mayo at the same venue.
[44][45] McHugh was included in the 2016 Dr McKenna Cup squad but was later reported to be training away from the team, with the manager stating: ""At present he is not in the squad… He is working on his own individual strength and conditioning programme under our supervision".
[47] He made further substitute appearances in the sixth and seventh fixtures, against Dublin at Croke Park and Monaghan in Castleblayney respectively.
[51][52][53] McHugh also made a substitute appearance in the 2016 All-Ireland SFC qualifier defeat of Cork at Croke Park.
[62] Under the management of Declan Bonner, McHugh made a substitute appearance against Galway in the second fixture of the 2018 National Football League.
[76] At his peak, he was considered "as lively a wire as his father Martin was in his heyday",[77] and has been called the "Lionel Messi" of a Donegal team widely said to resemble FC Barcelona in terms of the quality of their style and shock and awe tactics.
[81][82] In October 2022, McHugh was announced as Roscommon senior coach at the same time as Davy Burke was appointed manager.
[85] On Saturday, 31 December 2022, McHugh married Aisling Gormley, with the ceremony taking place at St Columba's Church in Carrick, the photographs being taken in Towney, and the reception being held at Letterkenny's Clanree Hotel.