Micko set to march on for 57th season

MICK O’DWYER is to be ratified tonight as the Wicklow senior boss for a fifth successive season – his 57th consecutive season in inter-county football.

The Waterville native, involved as either a player or manager with a county team since featuring for the Kerry minors in 1953, is understood to have met with Garden County officials yesterday to finalise a return to the helm.

The Garden County’s loss to Cavan in the first round of this year’s All-Ireland qualifiers seemed to signal the end of the Kerryman’s tenure. With the 2010 showing not matching that of the previous year, when he guided Wicklow to the last 12 of the All-Ireland after wins over Fermanagh, Cavan and Down, there was speculation that O’Dwyer’s services were up for grabs.

As a result, the eight-time All-Ireland-winning manager was linked with managerial vacancies including Mayo, Limerick and Monaghan.

However, after the Wicklow County Board announced that the manager for next year will be revealed in Arklow tonight, sources confirmed the 74-year-old will be staying on.

“Wicklow County Board will have a press conference at the Arklow Bay Hotel tonight at 8pm. That is all we have to say at this moment,” a board spokesman said last night.

Staying as Wicklow manager for a fifth year in a row would exceed his time with Laois (2003-06 inclusive) and his first term with Kildare, which encompassed seasons 1991-94, as well as equalling his second coming with the Lilywhites, from the beginning of 1998 until the end of the 2002 season.

Meanwhile nominations to fill the vacant post of Waterford hurling manager must be submitted by next Monday, with the expectation that the new manager will be confirmed at the October meeting of the county board.

All nominations must come from the clubs. A sub-committee comprising county chairman Tom Cunningham, vice chairman John O’Leary, secretary Timmy O’Keeffe, and treasurer Michael Hogan will interview candidates and present a recommendation to next month’s board meeting when a decision will be taken by delegates.

Davy Fitzgerald’s two-year term as manager ended with Waterford’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Tipp, and while he has yet to publicly state his interest in continuing, the belief is Fitzgerald would be happy to remain at the helm. But already Fourmilewater’s Michael Ryan has announced his intention to seek the job.

In a report to last night’s county board meeting, Davy Fitzgerald said despite that loss to Tipperary, 2010 had been a “great’’ year for Waterford hurling – a year in which the county won a fourth Munster title in nine years.

The former All-Ireland-winning Clare goalkeeper said he would be happy now to sit down with the board officers and discuss the future of Waterford hurling.

“I have given everything in my heart to this Waterford team since I took over in June 2008,’’ Fitzgerald added.