Jimmy’s back to winning matches once again – and now Rory and the Island is preparing himself for another Summer of All-Ireland insanity.
Rory Gallagher penned Jimmy’s Winning Matches in the run-up to the 2012 All-Ireland Final, the song which has come to represent not only the optimism felt throughout the county during that spell of remarkable success – but can never be separated from Jim McGuinness himself.
Not even Rory could have seen Jim returning to his native county after a decade away, before dragging the county from one of its lowest ebbs straight into the All-Ireland Final in just two years.
Now for the Jimmy’s Winning Matches singer, he’ll be finding himself dragged away from Lanzarote once again as the county gears up for its biggest sporting event in the last decade.
Indeed, Rory will be one of the county’s biggest representatives on RTE’s Up for the Match prior to the game next week.
He made the announcement via social media earlier this week.
“I’m delighted to have been asked by RTE to sing on their Live TV show ” Up for the Match” on Saturday 26th in the build up to Donegal v Kerry in the All Ireland Final,” Rory posted on social media.
“I will be performing a surprise mashup of some Donegal classics! It’s been 13 years since I appeared on the show , unlucky for some… hopefully Kerry!”
This also spurred some surreal memories for the singer, who was launched into stardom when he released his viral hit.
“It’s so strange still as I remember all those years ago Jim McGuinness coming up to me, putting his arm around me and whispering gently into my ear: ‘See that song you wrote, it has my head melted!’”
“It got even worse for him when RTE then made a comedy sketch of him waking around Donnybrook and everyone running up to him shouting ‘Jimmy’s Winning Matches!’ as he kept trying to walk away faster!”
“But to be honest I think this genuinely stems from his modesty, he always pushes how brilliant the team are and that they do the harder work, and deserve all the credit.”
“However, when we see the effect he has had since his return as Donegal manager this past two years nobody can deny there is something very special about Jim McGuinness, so even if he gets modestly embarrassed by the song … it’s his own fault… for just constantly Winning Matches!”
Jimmy’s Winning Matches again – Rory and the Island to perform on Up for the Match! was last modified: July 19th, 2025 by
