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Former Kerry boss takes charge on a three-year term after Pádraic Joyce’s departure
In the days after Pádraic Joyce stepped away as Galway boss, the name of a former All-Ireland-winning manager was tossed about as a potential successor.
It was easy to see why Jim Gavin was linked with the position. Here was a man who had led Dublin to a trove of Sam Maguire triumphs, a man who had spearheaded a committee that introduced the most seismic changes in the history of the sport and, well, a man who isn’t currently managing a county team. But that train never quite departed speculation station.
And when Gavin was out of the running, it’s fair to say the buzz around some of the other potential candidates being bandied about wasn’t quite electric. Would they stay in-house? Would they go outside? Any chance Kevin Walsh might return?
What about the club scene? A couple of former Mayo managers were even mentioned. And while the late John O’Mahony will forever rightly be revered in Galway, one can make their own mind up as to what some would have made had Stephen Rochford or James Horan been handed the keys to the Tribesmen’s dressingroom at a time when the noisy neighbours are whooping and hollering across the border with Sam Maguire. Insult to injury.
A Mayo man in charge of Galway next year was never going to work. In terms of ‘available’ managers who had an All-Ireland title on their CV, it wasn’t exactly a stacked field. With Gavin out of the equation, the only other potential candidates who had won All-Irelands in the last decade were Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher and Dessie Farrell .
Beyond that, Mickey Harte has not returned to intercounty management since stepping away from Offaly and then you were looking at Conor Counihan and Pat Gilroy . Tucked within that field though, Galway managed to persuade an outlier sitting in plain sight – Éamonn Fitzmaurice . The former Kerry manager and player had previously intimated he was unlikely to return to intercounty management in the near future.
He is a school principal in Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne in Dingle and has a young family, so intercounty management was not on his to-do list. He had carved out a strong reputation for himself as an insightful GAA analyst in the media and was a key member of the Football Review Committee. He was linked to various intercounty coaching positions over the years, but they never amounted to anything much beyond rumour and bar-stool conversations.
In short, it appeared Fitzmaurice was happy with his lot for now. Perhaps in the future there would be a Kerry return. And there still might be. But for the next three years, he will be managing a team with the raw ingredients to stir the Sam Maguire pot – and that could be at Kerry’s expense.
His return to the intercounty sideline also means there will be five All-Ireland SFC-winning managers hatching plans in 2027 – Fitzmaurice in Galway, Andy Moran in Mayo, Jack O’Connor in Kerry, Kieran McGeeney in Armagh and Jim McGuinness in Donegal. There are others with All-Ireland credentials at various grades too – including Meath’s Robbie Brennan and Tyrone’s Malachy O’Rourke , who both managed teams to All-Ireland senior club titles.
Offaly manager Mike Solan guided his native Mayo to an All-Ireland under-21 title in 2016 while Kildare boss Brian Flanagan led the Lilywhites to All-Ireland under-20 glory in 2023. Waterford boss Ephie Fitzgerald managed his native Cork to an All-Ireland women’s senior football title in 2016. Galway have not had a Sam Maguire-winning manager since Armagh’s Joe Kernan in 2010.
And whether he will admit it publicly or not, as Joyce did at the outset of his reign, Fitzmaurice is travelling to Galway with the end-goal of leading the county to a first Sam Maguire title since 2001. Connacht championships and league titles are all fine and dandy, but Fitzmaurice is in town to win Sam.
There remains a feeling this current Galway group have yet to fulfil their potential – the team have failed to consistently reach the heights due to several factors, one of which has been a litany of injury problems to key players including Shane Walsh, Damien Comer and Seán Kelly. Walsh did not play for Kilmacud Crokes in this year’s Dublin SFC and is currently recovering from surgery with the aim of being fresh and fit in 2027, while Comer looks to have hit form at club level with Annaghdown.
When you consider the other attacking weapons they boast – including All-Star nominee Rob Finnerty – the Tribesmen aren’t lacking scoring power. Fitzmaurice’s arrival will also inject fresh energy to a group that was in danger of becoming stale. It is fair to say Galway chairman Paul Bellew pulled off the surprise appointment of the off season by attaining Fitzmaurice.
And in many ways, it mirrored the shock and excitement that greeted Henry Shefflin’s appointment as Galway senior hurling manager in October 2021. The plan was that Shefflin would bring Liam MacCarthy back across the Shannon. It never happened. Galway failed to even contest an All-Ireland final during his three years at the helm.
Expectation and reality never met. There is a warning from recent history in that for all involved. Ultimately, Fitzmaurice’s tenure will be judged by results and silverware. Or, more specifically, whether or not Galway win Sam Maguire.
It’s a high bar, but Fitzmaurice wouldn’t have taken on the challenge unless he felt he had the pieces to reach it.
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