Fitzmaurice given Kingdom keys

After just one season in charge of the under-21’s, Eamonn Fitzmaurice was last night formally ratified as Kerry senior football manager for a three-year term in succession to Jack O’Connor.

He was the recommended choice of the County Board executive and gained the unanimous approval of club delegates at the monthly meeting in Austin Stack Park, Tralee.

Fitzmaurice, a 36 year-old teacher in Pobal Scoil Corca Duibhne in Dingle, was given approval to delay naming his management team until the Board convenes again on October 15.

It is speculated that he wants Seamus Moynihan and Mikey Sheehy to come on board as selectors. He was in Nenagh on Saturday to see Kerry juniors win their All-Ireland final and was also in Croke Park on Sunday to see Donegal surprise Cork.

Former great Darragh Ó Sé was named as the new U21 manager and given a two-year term while the appointment of coach to the senior hurling team is pending. Ó Sé’s selectors are Harry O’Neill, the former Dr Crokes manager, former Kerry senior Noel Kennelly from Listowel and Valentia clubman John Shanahan.

In formally proposing Fitzmaurice’s appointment, Kerry County Board chairman Patrick O’Sullivan paid tribute to Jack O’Connor for his dedication and also thanked the other management team members for their commitment.

Fitzmaurice quickly emerged as the firm favourite to replace O’Connor, after having served with him as a selector for the 2009 and 2010 campaigns and re-joined the management team this year following the departure of Donie Buckley.

It quickly became apparent after the August 5 defeat by Donegal that O’Connor was unwilling to continue, reportedly resisting strong efforts by the Executive to persuade him to stay in charge. Then, just six days after the match came confirmation that he was, in fact, stepping down.

Fitzmaurice was reportedly reluctant to take on the position so soon, but under pressure quickly changed his mind. An official statement on August 17 pointed out that a sub-committee would bring forward ‘a recommended candidate’ to a full meeting of the County Committee for ratification, but days earlier the Irish Examiner reported exclusively that Fitzmaurice was the man being proposed.

A member of the Kerry squad from 1997 to 2007, he made 48 senior championship appearances, manning the centre-back position with distinction for most of that time until he was tried as a centre-forward in 2006. That year, he made several appearances as a substitute, including the All-Ireland final win over Mayo. The following year he retired.

He is the holder of three senior and two All-Ireland U21 medals (1996 and ’98) and won county senior championship medals with both Feale Rangers and UCC. He also won an All-Ireland club championship medal with Finuge in 2005 and won respect as a hurler with his native Lixnaw.

Jack O’Connor had two spells as Kerry manager, succeeding Paidi Ó Sé in 2003 and then opting out after the ’06 final success. Pat O’Shea stepped into the breach, leading the team to the historic victory over Cork in the 2007 decider and walking away from the job following the loss to Tyrone in the final 12 months later.

O’Connor’s second spell in charge produced another win over Cork in the 2009 final, but he tasted defeat for the third time in a final when going under to Dublin by a point last year and suffered another disappointment when losing to Donegal at the beginning of the month.

In relation to the appointment of the senior hurling manager, the chairman informed delegates that ‘he was speaking to a certain person’ and hoped to be in a position to bring a recommendation before the next meeting.