New Galway WFC boss faces daunting first game in charge

By Mike Rafferty

The sudden departure of manager Billy Clery and coach Dave Bell last week presented a midseason headache for the Galway WFC board, but they reacted quickly to the situation with the appointment of Stephen Lally as the new boss.

It will not be Lally’s first involvement in the women’s game, as he was the manager of the Galway League side that won the FAI Cup back in 2007 and then went on to play in the Women’s European Cup as Irish representatives.

Of course, the Shantalla native is an FAI Cup winner himself as he was part of the Galway United side that defeated Shamrock Rovers 1-0 in the 1991 final and it is not his first time stepping into such a senior management role, as he also managed United for an 18-month spell in 2005/2006.

His movement into the women’s game has come at a difficult time and with his new side on a three-match losing run, and matters are not getting any easier when they travel to Dublin tomorrow to face the unbeaten Airtricity Women’s National League leaders and defending champions, Peamount United (4pm).

The new manager was introduced to the players after last week’s game against Athlone Town, and afterwards he said “look the circumstances were not great after the result of the match, but I just wanted to introduce myself and that we would start preparing for the Peamount match at training on Tuesday”.

“It has been a very difficult and emotional week for the girls and indeed all the coaches involved with the management change and we will work hard together to get back on track,” he said.

From a playing point of view, it looks like the new manager will be working with the same squad that featured in that game against Athlone, which means the likes of Rachel Kearns, Shauna Brennan and Kate Slevin are all likely to miss out due to Gaelic football commitments.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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