Danny Magill – From cross-country to blazing a trail with Down

AS a teenager at St Colman’s College, Newry, Danny Magill would compete in cross country events. Anyone that has witnessed the Burren clubman in full flight, with a Gaelic football under his arm, won’t be overly surprised by that fact.

An All-Ireland Senior Cross Country winner for the school in 2019, that blistering pace, those lung-busting strides, the relentless end-to-end forays have now become Magill’s signature stamp on this Down team.

He has risen from a newbie bursting onto the scene to one of their main leaders. A go-to game winner. The upward trend the Down team have been on lately is due to players like Magill. Diehards that will do whatever it takes to reach the top.

Across the 11 league and championship games Conor Laverty’s men have played this season, Magill sits only second to Pat Havern in their list of top scorers. To date, he has registered a tally of 1-28 and is growing more and more comfortable to the new 40-metre arc.

In Down’s recent one-point victory over Louth at a packed Páirc Esler, Newry, Magill notched 0-6. He assisted a further Adam Crimmins score in the second half. He also raised two orange flags against Clare in the first round of the All-Ireland series.

Down All-Ireland winner Cathal Murray, a teacher at St Colman’s College, had the fortune of watching Magill grow from boy to man and has been keeping an eye on his steady progress ever since leaving school.

There was a stint at Liverpool John Moores University where Magill was again able to demonstrate his footballing ability, but it’s been on home soil, with club, county and university, that he’s really made his name.

Murray was part of the golden age of Down football in the ‘90s and won an Ulster and All-Ireland title with the Mourne men in 1994, the last Down team to not only capture Sam Maguire, but to hold the Anglo Celt Cup. He shared a dressing room with Miceal Magill, Danny’s father, at both minor and senior level. The pair collected Celtic Crosses alongside each other in 1994 and more than 30 years on, Murray can see some resemblance between young and old.

In the classroom, Magill was a very likeable student. Always up for a bit of messing and enjoying the craic, Magill was football on the brain and his passion for the game was clear to see from a young age.

“He was always well got and full of craic and very popular among his peers,” described Murray. “He was one of the lads that enjoyed the craic and got stuck in. He always had a yarn with you and always wanted to talk about football.

“I would have played football with his father Miceal with the Down minors and seniors and Danny just lived for football and lived for sport. He was very easy going and easy to get on with, a genuine sort of lad.

“They’d have been similar and they’d both have confidence about themselves, let’s put it that way,” laughed Murray on comparing Danny to his dad. “They’d have plenty of self-belief the pair of them, they’d definitely share those characteristics.”

On the football field, Magill was always a special talent, destined to reach the top. He just missed out on St Colman’s journey to the MacRory Cup final in 2017 but played two seasons at that level in the two the years after.

“Danny was a super player in our school; we got a lot out of him and Danny would have actually done a lot of cross country running as well and he’s developed an engine maybe at a younger age and that’s stuck by him.”

Magill, who is currently studying a strength and conditioning course and earning his stripes in the lecture halls at Ulster University, has changed his body shape. That knowledge learned at university has helped his physical development.

“Danny’s running ability is something that has really elevated him from being an average players to one of the leaders and one of the go-to men in the Down team, but he’s changed physically,” Murray, who led St Mary’s Ardee to the Leinster Club final last year, added.

“He did a degree in strength and conditioning, and you can see that he himself has invested so much time in changing his body composition. He’s not pushed off the ball easy and he’s able to win 50/50 ball and hold men off in tackles.

“It’s just that power and strength that he has, and it has made him a different player because of those attributes that he has now compared to what he maybe had when he left St Colman’s or even during the first year that he came into the Down squad.”

The running power is one thing, but he has added a scoring threat this season that makes him stand out. Instead of just being that versatile, box-to-box type player around that middle eight, the 23-year-old has grown into a sharpshooter at the top end of the pitch.

“Looking back at those teams that Danny was on, he would have played at wing half-forward in both of those (MacRory Cup) years, the 17/18 and 18/19 seasons and he was pacy and jinky but he wouldn’t have been as much of a scoring threat as he is now,” Murray recalled.

“He always had a lovely left foot and an eye for a pass and an ability to take scores. He was a very good wing half forward for us but compared to what he has become now, there really is no comparison to the player he is.”

He has lined out in both the half-back and half-forward lines while wearing the red and black. When Down captured the u-20 Ulster Championship title back in 2021, their first in 12 years, Magill lined out at wing forward and chipped in with a point as they saw off Monaghan.

He wore the number 13 shirt in the Down Senior Championship final for Burren last season when they fell to Kilcoo. He was wing forward the year before that when Burren experienced the same result against the Magpies in the decider.

At Sigerson Cup level however, Magill found his feet at wing half-back for UU in 2025 and memorably sailed over 0-5 in the first-round win over ATU Sligo. He played a starring role for Barry Dillon’s side as they reached the last four of the competition.

“He was brilliant at wing half-back for Ulster University and the modern game maybe suits him and that strong running power, the ball players are just a wee bit further back and then coming later into the attack,” Murray continued.

“They maybe don’t be picked up and they know they can get the shot away and they’re all coming from different positions as opposed to being ahead of the play, they’re coming with that later run and being a real threat and that suits him.”

When plotting the downfall of the Mourne men this week, Gabriel Bannigan will have lots of food for thought, but there’s no doubt that if Monaghan are going to get one over their Ulster rivals, they’ll need to put the clampers on Magill. Easier said than done.