Alan Mulholland steps down as Galway football manager

There is to be ‘a parting of the ways’ between Alan Mulholland and the team that he has guided for the past three years.

Since Galway’s 1-20 to 2-10 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Kerry on August 3 last, there had been speculation as to whether Mulholland would be remaining on as manager – yesterday morning the County Board issued a statement confirming the break.

The statement from Galway GAA CEO, John Hynes, on Thursday morning, said that “due to work and family commitments he [Alan Mulholland] will be unable to continue in his role as senior manager for the coming season”.

Yesterday Mulholland told City Sport that after giving the matter plenty of thought, the time was right to make an early decision on his future and to clear the way for the appointment of the next manager.

“After the Kerry match, myself and my two selectors [Paul Clancy and Declan Meehan] had a chat about our future and we agreed to talk again in a couple of weeks.

“We all have young families and when the lads decided that they just weren’t in a position to commit for the coming year, I decided that the time was right to move on.

“The job takes up your life – and I don’t mean that in any bad way – but the one thing I didn’t want was for things to drag on. There has to be certainty about those things and now the way is clear for the new man to be appointed,” said Mulholland.

Already before the dust has settled on Mulholland’s departure, the clear favourite to take over as manager is Killanin’s Kevin Walsh, former manager of Sligo and currently enjoying a good run in guiding the fortunes of Connemara club side Micheál Breathnach.

Walsh is a 1/4 red hot favourite to get the football hot seat according to Mulholland Bookmakers, 10 ‘points’ ahead of Killererin’s Padraig Joyce, who is the 6/1 second favourite.

Other long shots on the betting list are Cork’s Billy Morgan (10/1), Rory Gallagher (ex-Donegal selector under Jim McGuinness at 12/1), Tommie Joyce and Kevin McStay (both 12/1), Seamus McEnaney (14/1), recent U-21 manager Alan Flynn at 16/1, Cork’s Conor Counihan 16/1 and former Galway manager and current Mayo TD, John O’Mahony also at 16/1.

Another man, not on that betting list, who could end up in the club nominations, is former Galway minor and U-21 manager, Gerry Fahy, who guided NUIG to their last Sigerson Cup success.

This week, Galway County Board Chairman, Noel Treacy, clearly indicated that the preference of the Board was for a Galway man to get the job. He told Galway Bay FM that the tradition and culture of the game in the county meant that the position would be eminently suitable for someone from Galway.

Coming from the top position in Galway GAA, this is a very clear indication that any possibility of an outside appointment is quite remote. In one swoop this reduces the field to about four candidates –Walsh, Joyce, Flynn and Fahy.