Nathan Mullins (born 1989/90)[1] is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for St Vincents and also, formerly, the Donegal county team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Gaelic football | ||
| Position | Midfield | ||
| Born | 1989/90[1] | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
201?– | St Vincents | ||
| Club titles | |||
| All-Ireland Titles | 1 | ||
| Inter-county(ies) | |||
| Years | County | ||
201?– | Donegal | ||
| Ulster titles | 1 | ||
Early life
editNathan Mullins is the youngest of three sons fathered by former Dublin midfielder Brian Mullins.[1] When Mullins Snr was made principal of Carndonagh Community School in 1991, the family moved to Inishowen, where they lived for a decade.[1] They then returned to Dublin, though one of Mullins Jnr's brothers later moved to Clonmany and Mullins Jnr maintained links with his adopted county.[1]
Playing career
editJim McGuinness was aware of this and persuaded Mullins to move north-west in 2011.[1] Mullins played for the Donegal under-21 team.[2]
He sustained numerous injuries early in his career, including hamstring issues and breaking both legs, so did not make much progress with his club St Vincents until he was aged 26.[1] He made a substitute appearance in the last seconds of the 2013–14 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship final.[1][3] Three years later he was awarded the title of Dublin club footballer of the year.[1]
The newly appointed Donegal manager Declan Bonner expressed interest in his services ahead of the 2018 season.[1] Mullins scored a first-half goal on his debut against Queen's in the 2018 Dr McKenna Cup.[1][4][5] Mullins became seen as potentially advantageous, in that Michael Murphy could be moved further forward during games. In the opening fixture of the National Football League away to Kerry, Mullins started alongside Hugh McFadden in midfield; his league debut lasted twenty minutes before he was shown a red card.[6] In his second league start for Donegal Mullins was sent onto the pitch to mark Brian Fenton (whom he was familiar with from playing against Raheny with St Vincents) in a game against Dublin at Croke Park; Mullins was substituted after 26 minutes.[1][7]
He appeared as a late substitute for Niall O'Donnell against Kildare in Ballyshannon and was also a second-half substitute for Leo McLoone in the away match against Monaghan.[8][9]
Mullins did not feature at all on the field of play during the 2018 Ulster Senior Football Championship, which Donegal won.[10][11][12][13] However, he received a medal.[1] Shortly after Donegal's season ended, Mullins sustained two broken ribs in a club game.[1]
He linked up again with Donegal ahead of the 2019 season.[1] Bonner suggested he return to his club to rediscover his form.[1] Mullins left.[1]
Mullins has since expressed the wish to play for Donegal again.[1]
Personal life
editHe lives in the coastal suburban settlement of Portmarnock.[1]
Mullins Senior was displeased that Mullins Jnr chose to represent Donegal over Dublin.[1] Mullins Jnr said: "People thought I lived in Donegal a few years and that I was using the county for a chance to play county football, but that couldn't be any further from the truth. Although the accent, and I'm living, working, playing down here [in Dublin], I'd be in Donegal as much as possible".[1]
Honours
edit- Donegal
- St Vincent's
- Individual
- Dublin club footballer of the year: ?[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x O'Kane, Cahair (17 April 2020). "Nathan Mullins not content to give up on Donegal dream". The Irish News. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ "Mullins set to join Donegal panel". Donegal News. 9 November 2017. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017.
- ^ "St Vincent's 4–12 Castlebar Mitchels 2–11". RTÉ Sport. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
- ^ "Donegal beat Queens: Declan Bonner Reaction". Highland Radio. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ McLaughlin, Gerry (4 January 2018). "Michael Langan impresses as Donegal get the better of Queen's". The Irish News. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
Declan Bonner handed a debut to Nathan Mullins, son of Dublin legend Brian…
- ^ O'Toole, Fintan (28 January 2018). "Casey hits winning point, O'Shea fires 0–7 and 3 red cards shown in Kerry Donegal clash: The sides met in Killarney today". The42.ie. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ^ O'Brien, Kevin (10 February 2018). "Dublin survive strong Donegal fightback to make it three wins from three". The42.ie. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
- ^ Campbell, Peter (25 February 2018). "Donegal scrape by 14-man Kildare in relegation dogfight". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
- ^ Graham, John (18 March 2018). "Monaghan ease past relegation-threatened Donegal". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ McNulty, Chris (13 May 2018). "Ulster SFC: Donegal too good for Cavan". Retrieved 13 May 2018.
- ^ Mooney, Francis (27 May 2018). "McBrearty excels to fire Donegal past Derry". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
- ^ Mooney, Francis (10 June 2018). "14-man Donegal cruise past Down into Ulster decider". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ Mooney, Francis (24 June 2018). "Energetic Donegal end Fermanagh's Ulster title dream". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2018.