Surprise vacancy emerges in Edenderry as Offaly clubs seek senior football managers

SOME big vacancies have emerged in the Offaly senior football clubs managerial world, one anticipated and one a bolt from the blue.

Ferbane are on the hunt for a new manager after Ger Rafferty called time on his reign there. Cloghan man Rafferty has been desperately unlucky during his term in charge, guiding Ferbane to three Senior Football Championship finals but they were beaten by Tullamore on each occasion.

Ferbane have been easily the second best team in Offaly in recent years but the emergence of an excellent, dominant Tullamore meant that they have been unable to get across the line.

Rafferty was offered another year by Ferbane but has confirmed that he won't be taking it. The former Offaly defender said he needed a break himself while he also felt that a “fresh voice will do them no harm”.

It was always likely that Rafferty would opt out after this year's final but Richie Dalton's decision to leave the Edenderry job is a big surprise. Edenderry performed very well to top their group this year and qualify direct for the semi-finals. They destroyed Rhode in the opening round and looked to be motoring well and to be title contenders. However, it all unravelled for them in the semi-final when they had a horror show and Ferbane blew them out of the water.

While that defeat was very unpalatable for Edenderry, Dalton had done enough to get a second year at the helm and all the indications are that the club officers would have backed him but he has now decided to step away. A long serving county and club midfielder in the 2000s and 2010s, Dalton had a couple of stints in charge of Raheen intermediate footballers before taking over Edenderry this year.

He showed faith in some young players who had won junior football medals in 2024 as well as emerging young talent, and Edenderry looked to be turning a corner until that semi-final. The Ferbane defeat followed by Dalton's quick departure means that it is very much back to the drawing board for all involved and there will be plenty of soul searching in the coming weeks as they bid to secure a new manager.

Shamrocks are also on the search for a new manager. Joint managers John Monaghan and Brian Kinnarney stepped aside in the wake of a desperately unlucky quarter-final defeat to Ferbane. They are expected to make an announcement in the coming days – there is speculation linking long serving player, Nigel Dunne with the job. Shamrocks' star footballer for the guts of two decades, he has been one of the most accurate finishers in Offaly.

He played well for Shamrocks this year but it has also been clear in recent times that he is moving towards management. He played an important role as a coach as Offaly won the Leinster Minor Football Championship in 2025 and will continue in that role with manager Roger Ryan with Offaly U20 footballers next year.

If Dunne is the new manager, he is unlikely to combine that with playing – it is understood that the Rahan man intended retiring from club senior football in any event.

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Rhode have not made any announcement yet but local man Paschal Kellaghan is favourite to be given another year in this, his second stint as manager. Tullamore's year only ended on Saturday with defeat by Ballyboden St Enda's in the Leinster semi-final but former defensive star Paul McConway will get a second year if he wants it. Former Mayo manager Stephen Rochford was a shock appointment as a coach during the year and it remains to be seen if he is back for a second year.