Michael Darragh Macauley has retired from inter-county football, bringing an end to his 11-year involvement with the Dublin senior team.
The Ballyboden St Enda’s clubman made his championship debut against Wexford in 2010, making a substitute appearance in the Leinster Championship victory for Pat Gilroy’s team.
The athletic midfielder became a mainstay in the Dublin team from 2010 onwards and was a key component of the 2011 All-Ireland winning side that ended Dublin’s 16-year wait for the Sam Maguire Cup.
Jim Gavin took over as manager in 2013 following Gilroy’s decision to step down. Despite the managerial change, Macauley remained integral to the new managers plans and won Footballer of the Year in 2013 after helping Gavin taste All-Ireland success in his first year in charge.
He suffered from a serious ACL injury in 2017 and failed to fully re-establish himself among Jim Gavin’s starting line-up for the remainder of his inter-county career. Macauley did have an impressive 2019, but was dropped for that year’s All-Ireland final replay victory over Kerry that clinched an historic five-in-a-row All-Ireland victories for Dublin, the first team to do so in either GAA code.
Macauley hangs up his boots with eight All-Ireland, ten Leinster and five National League medals. He is also a two-time All Star winner in 2011 and 2013 respectively.