No surprise as Martin Murphy opts out of Offaly senior football manager's job

MARTIN Murphy has formally opted out of the race to be the Offaly senior football manager in 2024. The Gracefield man had stepped into the hot seat during the National Football League this year after the sudden death of manager, Liam Kearns.

The Kerry man died suddenly midway during the Division 3 campaign and Murphy was an obvious choice to step into the vacuum.

A selector under Murphy alongside Tullamore's John Rouse, Murphy had won widespread respect for his work on the club scene, leading Portarlington to Laois Senior Football Championship titles most recently.

A passionate football man, he did very well to steady the Offaly ship in the traumatic weeks after Kearns' sudden passing. He steered them to safety in Division 3, got over Longford in the first round and they then had a fantastic win over Meath in the Leinster Senior Football Championship. They almost reached the Leinster final, missing a gilt edged chance to advance as Louth eventually over powered them in extra time of the semi-final.

Unfortunately the wheels came off in the second tier Tailteann Cup. While Murphy did his utmost to galvanise his forces, the appetite of most of the players was just not there, their energy levels way off from what was needed. Offaly scraped out of their group in second place and then suffered a bad defeat to Wexford in the preliminary quarter-final.

There had been immediate speculation that Murphy would not remain as manager for 2024, though there had been a feeling during the Leinster championship that he would put himself forward for a full year.

Now, however, he has confirmed that he is not going forward, explaining that he would not be able to give the “100% commitment” required “due to circumstances outside my control”.

While the formal announcement was only made at 1pm today, it comes as no surprise and it had been widely anticipated among those close to the scene that Offaly would be seeking a new manager.

The County Board would have been aware of this for some time and are already likely to have commenced the process of seeking a new manager.

There will be plenty of speculation about the new man and the initial favourite and front runner is Kilclonfert man, Declan Kelly, who guided Offaly to the All-Ireland U-20 Football Championship title in 2021.

The time has come for a number of that team to make the step up to senior level, including the likes of Edenderry's Rory Egan and Lee Pearson who established themselves this year. A number of them have had to deal with very bad injuries but Kelly would be the ideal man to guide them onto the next level. It remains to be seen, however, if he will go for it and if agreement can be reached with the County Board and they will be considering all options.

In the meantime, Martin Murphy bows out with his head held high and the County Board and all supporters remain very grateful to him and his backroom team for the job they did in such tryiing circumstances in 2023.

Martin Murphy's full statement is:

“Following recent media print speculation that Offaly would likely seek a new football manager, as a review of management teams commenced, I wish to state the following: 

“I became a selector and part of Liam Kearns's management team in October 2022. 

Following Liam’s sudden passing on the 12th of March, 2023 (RIP), I was asked to step into the manager role.  

“The aftermath of Liam’s sudden death was a challenging and emotional time, and it profoundly affected the players and the management team for some time afterwards. Despite the unexpected and traumatic loss of Liam, the players and management endeavoured to give it our very best for the remainder of the year.  

“Several weeks ago, I met with the chairman of the County Board, Michael Duignan, to discuss and review the past year.  

“We discussed the targets we had set for ourselves as a team at the beginning of the year.  

“As it transpired, 2023 proved to be Offaly’s most successful Leinster championship campaign in sixteen years. The team played some outstanding football, beating Longford and Meath and reaching the Leinster semi-final against Louth in Croke Park, only to lose after extra time. 

“Disappointingly, our performance in the Tailteann Cup competition differed from what we had hoped for or expected. Despite qualifying for the preliminary quarter-final, we exited the competition losing to Wexford in Tullamore.  

“The team played nineteen games since January 7th, sixteen of which were competitive; all games were condensed into twenty-four weeks. 

“The chairman asked if I was interested in remaining in the position for 2024. I explained to him that I felt extremely privileged and proud to have been allowed to manage my own County. “Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of my control, I am not in a position to be able to give the necessary 100% commitment required to manage the team, and I will not be remaining on as the manager for 2024.  

“I want to thank the players for their hard work, the massive effort and the support they gave me throughout the year. I thank the management and backroom team for their time and expertise and their excellent work in preparing the team, the selectors/coaches, the S&C coaches, the analysts, the physiotherapists, the doctor, kit men, the catering staff and the team secretary.  

“Many thanks to Faithful Fields and Glenisk O’Connor Park staff, who were always extremely helpful and courteous and were a pleasure to deal with. 

“It was amazing to be part of and witness the joy the team brought to the Offaly supporters this year, especially the scenes following our quarter-final win against Meath in Tullamore and the many supporters who travelled to Croke Park. To all Offaly supporters, thank you.  

“I want to sincerely thank Michael Duignan and the officers of the County Board for their support and for allowing me to manage this team; I am truly grateful and deeply honoured.  

“Finally, I wish the players and incoming management team a successful 2024.”