Talking Points: Dual-management role not sustainable once club team reaches All-Ireland
Na Fianna manager Niall O Ceallacháin with Paul O’Dea. Pic: Leah Scholes/Inpho
In December 2018, the Mullinalaghta squad pitched up on The Late Late Show, shooting the breeze with Ryan Tubridy, the bright smiles and happy body language reflecting the inner glow still shining on the soul of the community only days after they’d beaten Kilmacud Crokes in the Leinster final.
Captain Shane Mulligan, chairman John Keegan, goalscorer Gary Rogers and manager Mickey Graham all spoke before Jason Matthews belted out a song commemorating Mullinalaghta’s success.
It was all jingoistic stuff but when Tubridy spoke to Graham, he digressed for a moment by asking how he hoped to combine his upcoming duties as Mullinalaghta and Cavan manager.
“I’m just hoping for an extra day in the week,” said Graham.
Mullinalaghta’s Leinster success was a remarkable breakthrough achievement for Graham but he was still on edge over the unknown of dealing with such a hectic upcoming schedule.
By the time Mullinalaghta played Dr Crokes in the 2019 All-Ireland semi-final in mid-February, Cavan had already lost their opening three Division 1 league games.
After Mullinalaghta were beaten, Cavan were relegated from Division 1 just a few weeks later.
The schedule was intense but Graham wasn’t the first to take on that dual role in the previous 15 years. During the winter of 2002-2003, John Maughan and Mickey Harte found themselves in a similar position with Crossmolina and Mayo, and Errigal Ciarán and Tyrone respectively.
Pat O’Shea was Dr Crokes and Kerry manager when Crokes reached the 2007 All-Ireland final while Anthony Cunningham led Garrycastle to the 2012 All-Ireland football final while he was managing the Galway hurlers.
Cunningham and O’Shea lost All-Ireland finals — both after replays — to Crossmaglen Rangers while Harte’s Errigal and Maughan’s Crossmolina were overcome by Nemo Rangers in an All-Ireland semi-final and final respectively in 2003.
And yet, all four guided their county to All-Ireland senior finals in either the same, or following, season to reaching those All-Ireland club finals; Harte and O’Shea guided Tyrone and Kerry to All-Ireland success just months after those club defeats; Maughan was back in Croke Park with Mayo for another All-Ireland final in 2004, 18 months after he’d been there with Crossmolina; Cunningham led Galway to the 2012 All-Ireland final, which they lost to Kilkenny after a replay.
The challenge for Cunningham was all the greater again because he was double-jobbing in two codes. That 2012 spring was more difficult again considering where Galway found themselves during that league.
Less than 24 hours after Garrycastle lost an All-Ireland replay to Crossmaglen by 15 points, a 25-point defeat to Kilkenny plunged Galway into a league relegation final.
Although Colm Collins managed to double-job with Cratloe and Clare for a decade, and Cratloe reached a Munster final the same winter that Collins was first appointed in 2013, their seasons never overlapped afterwards.
Circumstances and context define the future pathway but the dual-management role is not sustainable once the club team gets into the All-Ireland series.
Cunningham, O’Shea, Harte and Maughan all walked away from their club jobs once their involvement in those All-Ireland series concluded. Mattie McGleenan, was Scotstown manager when he was appointed to the Cavan job in October 2016, but he departed Scotstown after they were beaten by Kilcoo in the 2016 Ulster championship.
A few months back, the word on the ground was that Robbie Brennan, the new Meath manager, was going to step down from Kilmacud Crokes if they found themselves chasing a fourth successive Leinster championship. Brennan didn’t have to make that decision, stepping away after Crokes narrowly lost the county final to Cuala.
After taking over as Tyrone manager, the initial expectation was that Malachy O’Rourke may be double-jobbing up until the outset of the 2025 league as his Glen side had their sights set on retaining their Ulster and All-Ireland titles. That excess workload ceased once Glen lost the county final to Newbridge in October.
As recently as two weeks ago, Tom Mullally, the Carlow hurling manager, was still involved in the Leinster club championship with Naas, but Mullally is no stranger to those demands. On one Sunday afternoon in January 2022, Mullally guided Naas to the Leinster Intermediate title just hours before leading Carlow to a Kehoe Cup win against Kildare.
Offaly hurling manager Johnny Kelly was also managing Nenagh Éire Óg in the Tipperary championship this year while Antrim football manager Andy McEntee was coaching his own club’s senior team in St Peter’s Dunboyne.
However, Niall Ó Ceallacháin, the new Dublin hurling manager, is still on this two-road journey with Na Fianna, who are aiming for a first Leinster title on Saturday evening.
“It’s busy,” said Ó Ceallacháin recently. “There’s a lot going on day to day, but you could have worse problems in life.” Fact.
Six weeks after St Finbarr’s lost the 1986 Cork county football final to Imokilly, they had to go to Tralee to take on Austin Stacks in the Munster club semi-final. The county final was a devastating defeat. Imokilly only scored six times but it was still enough to win. The ‘Barrs managed just 0-9, but they’d only averaged 0-10 in that championship.
They’d scraped past St Nicholas and Na Piarsaigh en route to the final. So where was their form?
Still, the club had a proud record in the club championship. Stacks were nowhere near the team they were in the 1970s. The ‘Barrs beat them by six points. And then they went on and won the All-Ireland.
Along with Castleisland Desmonds, that ‘Barrs team is the only other side to win an All-Ireland as non-county champions.
Castlehaven won Munster in 1997 after losing the county final to another divisional side, Beara. Yet no Cork club hurling side has gone close to winning Munster from that same starting point.
Prior to this year, Cork’s non-county champions had only won two matches out of 11 in Munster. The nadir was in 2017 when Limerick’s Na Piarsaigh annihilated Blackrock by 22 points.
Midleton were the first side to test those waters in 1994. Unsurprisingly, given their history in the province, Midleton made a huge statement when hammering Mount Sion by 16 points before losing the semi-final to Kilmallock by one point after a replay.
Two years later, Na Piarsaigh lost the Cork semi-final to Imokilly, while Glen Rovers lost the other semi-final to Avondhu, so both clubs faced a play-off to see who went into Munster.
The Glen players withdrew, leaving Na Piarsaigh to plough on. They didn’t get far – Ballygunner hammered them by 10 points.
After losing the 1997 final to Imokilly, Sars drew with Ballygunner in the Munster quarter-final in Páirc Uí Chaoimh before losing the replay in Walsh Park by seven points. In 1998, Blackrock beat Causeway before being edged out in the semi-final by Toomevara.
After Blackrock’s dismal showing in 2017, Midleton ran Ballygunner to two points the following year, while Glen Rovers only lost to Borris-Ileigh by two points in the 2019 semi-final.
The advantage Sars had before playing Feakle was that they’d played in Munster last year, which made them just the second Cork club to compete in successive years in the province across the last 22 years.
That experience stood to the Glen in 2016 when they beat Patrickswell, which was the last time a Cork club won a game in Munster.
Sars finally broke that losing streak two weeks ago. Now can they become the first Cork non-county champion to win two games in Munster? If they can, the prize is monumental.
In the inaugural year of the All-Ireland club football championship, the pairing for the Leinster football final was everything that the club championships hoped they could be, giving clubs from some counties a chance they’d rarely get on the inter-county stage; Gracefield from Offaly beat Newtown Blues from Louth by three points.
It also showed all Louth clubs what was possible. Cooley Kickhams reached finals in two of the next six years, losing to UCD in 1973, and Portlaoise in 1976.
It took 26 years for another Louth club to get back to that stage, when Mattock Rangers beat Starlights, Tullamore and Moorefield before Dunshaughlin sacked them in the 2002 final by six points.
Twenty-four years on and Ardee St Mary’s are trying to become the first Louth club to win Leinster. Loaded with inter-county players, including Liam and Tom Jackson, Shane Matthews, Donal McKenny, Daire McConnon and Ciarán Keenan, they are carrying on the confidence they gained in Leinster last year when Ardee ran Kilmacud Crokes to five points.
Twelve of the panel have been part of Louth senior and U20 squads in recent years. Along with that experience, Ardee are trading on the belief coursing through the county. As well as Louth reaching a maiden All-Ireland quarter-final this year, two more of this side – Seán Callaghan and Tadgh McDonnell – were part of the Louth U20 side that reached the Leinster final.
In the semi-final, Louth beat Dublin for the first time in any grade from minor, U21/20 and senior since 1996. Craig Lennon won an All-Star, which was only Louth’s second award, while Ardee’s Donal McKenny was nominated for an All-Star.
After beating a good St Loman’s team away last Saturday, can St Mary’s keep the momentum going now against Cuala? If they can, glory and history awaits.
