| Damian Diver | |
| Sport: | Gaelic football |
| Icposition: | Half-back |
| Birth Date: | 1973/4 |
| Occupation: | Quantity surveyor Centra owner and retail manager[1] |
| Code: | Football |
| Clyears: | 19??– |
| Clubs: | Ard an Rátha |
| County: | Donegal |
| Clcounty: | 2 |
| Colyears: | 1990s |
| Colleges: | DIT |
| Sig: | 0 |
| Icyears: | 1995–2006 |
| Counties: | Donegal |
| Icapps(Points): | 120 |
| Iculster: | 0 |
| Icallireland: | 0 |
| Nfl: | 0 |
| Allstars: | 0 |
Damian Diver (born 1973/4) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Ard an Rátha and the Donegal county team.
He played at half-back for his county. He made 120 appearances, 36 of which were championship, for the team between 1995 and 2006. He was noted for owning his own gym equipment in a time before this was commonplace.
Diver twice won the Donegal Senior Football Championship with his club. He took a free that led to the goal scored during the 2004 final.[2]
He was also captain of DIT during their 1995 cup-winning season, but missed the final with influenza.[3]
Diver first featured on the county panel in 1994. P. J. McGowan was the manager to introduce Diver to the Donegal senior team.[4] He made his debut in an away game to Meath in Navan in the 1994–95 National Football League, during which he marked Colm Coyle and Trevor Giles.[5] Based in Dublin as a student with DIT while training to become a quantity surveyor at the time, Diver did not expect to play and was thus not monitoring his diet.[5] He travelled west from Dublin to meet the team. Diver said later: "I was stuffing myself with grub. I'll never forget it, P. J. McGowan came up to me after and says 'you're starting wing-back today'. Well holy Christ, the colour must've gone out of my face".[5]
Diver made his senior championship debut for Donegal against Down in 1996.[6] [7] He played in the 1998 Ulster Senior Football Championship final.[6] He started Mickey Moran's first game in charge of Donegal, a league win at home to Offaly in October 2000.[8]
Diver made an appearance as a first-half substitute against Armagh in the 2002 Ulster SFC final.[9] He then played against Dublin in the 2002 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (in which Donegal earned a replay), but Diver returned home on the bus with only three teammates.[5] He started the first game of Brian McEniff's last spell as Donegal manager, a league defeat to Galway in Tuam in February 2003.[10] He played in an All-Ireland SFC semi-final later that year.[11] He played in the 2004 Ulster SFC final, after Donegal defeated All-Ireland champions Tyrone in the semi-final.[5] [6] He also made a substitute appearance in the 2006 Ulster SFC final against Armagh in Croke Park, in what proved to be his last game as a county player.[6] According to Declan Bonner, Diver famously never won anything with Donegal (i.e. seniors).[12] He announced his retirement from inter-county football in November 2006.[13] Donegal won the National Football League less than six months later.[14] [15]
Never an All Star, Diver was, however, selected as a replacement All Star (2003 vintage) ahead of an exhibition game in 2005 due to Tom Kelly breaking his collarbone.[16]
Upon being appointed Donegal manager in 2010, Jim McGuinness appointed Diver as a defensive and strength and conditioning coach.[17] [18] However, Diver was unable to commit and missed out on winning Ulster SFC titles in 2011 and 2012, as well as the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.[18] [19] [20] [21]
In September 2013, McGuinness parted ways with his backroom team.[18] Diver said he would not take a position.[18] However, shortly afterwards, McGuinness announced him as part of his new backroom team.[18] [22] [23] Diver was a selector when Donegal reached the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.[24]
When McGuinness departed after this game, Diver was linked with the managerial vacancy.[25]
In 2017, Diver was coaching under-10s with his club.[5]