Kevin McHugh criticizes Finn Harps board after departure
Kevin McHugh has never been one to hide. Not as a ruthless finisher in front of the Shed End, not as the figurehead of Finn Harps’ academy, and not now, as he walks away from the dugout at Finn Park with a parting shot that lands squarely in the boardroom.
Days after the club confirmed his departure as first-team manager, the Harps legend has laid bare his frustration, accusing senior figures at the club of a lack of “honesty, decency and support” and insisting “lines have been crossed way beyond” what he is prepared to accept.
For a man who has given the best part of three decades to Finn Harps, the tone is striking. The message is clear.
“Lines have been crossed”
McHugh stepped into the Finn Park hot seat in April 2025 after the exit of Darren Murphy, while still serving as Head of the Finn Harps Academy, a role he has held since 2017. He tried to juggle both, tried to steady a club in turmoil, and says he was willing to absorb the criticism that came with it.
“Here, after nearly three decades, I am well hardened to the mayhem and nonsense that happens around this club in a normal season,” he said in a statement to Donegal Daily, “and how you have to just roll sleeves up and get on with things.
“I was more than prepared to take a hit in-terms of my own reputation for the club with two hands tied behind my back whilst doubling up with first team and academy roles to help us in a tough period.
“Having pieced things together over the past few days, lines have been crossed way beyond what I am prepared to let slide.”
This is not a man shocked by the rough edges of League of Ireland life. McHugh, who scored 186 goals in 439 games for Harps across two spells, knows the “ugly nature of football”. But he made it plain that what has unfolded in recent weeks has left him “extremely disappointed” in people he expected to stand with him.
A pointed blast at the board
His sharpest criticism is aimed at the very top of the club.
“I am extremely disappointed in the chairman and a few of his close board members that are supposed to be directing this football club,” he said.
“Their behaviour over the past few weeks in particular, because of the lack of honesty, decency and the lack of support shown towards myself and my staff during a period when we needed it most.”
On the pitch, Harps have been sliding. They have dropped to the bottom of the First Division, stripped of key players and shorn of resources. McHugh had publicly signalled his willingness to endure that pain, believing there might be a brighter horizon under a prospective new owner.
But the pressure kept mounting. In the space of six weeks, Harps lost Max Johnston, Idir Zerrouk, Perrault Tokam, Daniel De Lacerda and Temi Ajibola. The squad was weakened, the budget “drastically” cut. McHugh and his staff were left to compete at that level with diminishing tools.
“Lesser men would have walked months ago with the conditions we were left in to compete at this level,” he said. He stayed, he insists, out of loyalty to the dressing room and the terraces.
“We had too much time for the players and supporters who showed up to Finn Park and away grounds each week to walk out on them. People deserve better.”
Dirty linen and loyal staff
McHugh admits he did not want to air grievances in public. For years he has been one of the club’s internal problem-solvers, not a public agitator. But he says he felt compelled to speak now, not for his own reputation, but for those around him.
The 46-year-old believes his staff have been let down.
He says he has been forced to “show support for my staff who have shown nothing but full on commitment, professionalism and dignity throughout all of this and deserved much better treatment from the people involved.”
Those are heavy words from a man who has grown up with the club, from his senior debut in August 1998 against Fanad United in a League Cup tie to his current status as one of the most recognisable faces in Finn Harps history.
A new owner, a new direction?
Even as he departs the technical area, McHugh is already looking at what comes next for the club he clearly still loves.
He has held talks with prospective new owner Freddy Gonzalez, the Filipino entrepreneur whose proposed takeover is expected to go before shareholders in the coming weeks. McHugh has been briefed on Gonzalez’s vision and believes that, if approved, the buy-out would bring “complete change within the club”.
The club’s own statement on his exit claimed McHugh would move into a new position “as part of the club's transition to a professional structure”. The Killea native, though, says nothing concrete has been agreed.
“(Freddy) stepped me through his short and long-term plans and he also understands I need time to assess everything before discussing any potential roles he has planned for me,” McHugh explained.
“Whether I decide to be part of this journey or not, there is certainly exciting times ahead for this brilliant football club when Freddie does come on-board.
“What I can also say, is the direction the club will go under him is hugely positive and what I like most, he has complete clarity in his plans.”
For all the anger and disappointment at the current hierarchy, his optimism for what Harps might yet become under Gonzalez is unmistakable.
From survival mode to development mode
Strip away the politics and the bitterness, and one thing remains constant: McHugh’s attachment to Finn Harps and its people.
He has seen the club at its best and worst, has watched volunteers and fans “go through the mill” to keep it alive. Now, even as he steps away from management, he dares to imagine something different.
“I am delighted for each and every fan, current and past volunteer and staff members who have gone through the mill in some shape or form down through the years for this club,” he said, “to eventually, in their lifetime be hopefully be able to watch Finn Harps FC come out of survival mode and into development mode.”
For now, the club sits at the bottom of the First Division, minus its long-serving talisman on the touchline and with a board under fire from one of its greatest servants. A takeover looms, promises have been made, and a new era is being sold as “hugely positive”.
The question, as the dust settles on McHugh’s exit, is whether Finn Harps can finally match the loyalty of its legends with the leadership they have long deserved.
