Kavanagh leaving Lilies for Galway

James Kavanagh could be on the verge of a dramatic switch from Kildare to Galway.

It was confirmed yesterday the former All Star nominee had withdrawn from the Lilywhites panel for personal reasons.

Despite working as a Garda in Dublin and living in Kildare, Ballymore Eustace clubman Kavanagh owns a house in Milltown and it is expected the forward will be lining out for the Galway club come championship time.

Contacted earlier this week, Kavanagh (27) said his intention is to eventually settle in Milltown but a switch wasn’t yet on the cards.

Kavanagh, who grew up in Galway, played on the St Jarlath’s team alongside the likes of Michael Meehan in the early 2000s.

Kavanagh was part of the Kildare U21 team that won the Leinster title in 2004. He was still eligible for that grade when making his senior championship debut against Wicklow the following year. He also came on as Laois thrashed Kildare in the Leinster semi-final and was handed his first start by Padraig Nolan in the subsequent All-Ireland qualifier against Sligo in Markievicz Park.

Kavanagh has been a regular since then and flourished under Kieran McGeeney’s stewardship. His creativity and scoring threat off either foot earned him All-Star nominations in 2009 and 2010.

“James has opted out” confirmed the senior footballers’ spokesman, Morgan O’Callaghan yesterday. “He just felt he couldn’t give the time and so he won’t be involved this year anyway.

“He has given a lot to Kildare football for a long time and we all wish him well.”

Meanwhile Kildare chairman John McMahon is confident sponsorship will be in place for all Lilywhite county teams before the Allianz Leagues, and that Willie Sunderland will return as senior hurling manager.

The senior footballers will wear the old jersey containing the name of former sponsors Tegral for their Bórd na Móna O’Byrne Cup opener against Carlow IT on Sunday. The Athy-based roof and slates firm ended a 20-year partnership due to the rigours of the economic downturn.

McMahon is conscious that an opportunity to cash in on the lucrative Christmas market has been missed but is adamant the correct deal for the long term is achieved rather than a quick-fix solution.

The Naas man says that there has been plenty of interest in the Kildare brand and that negotiations have been continuing for some time.

“We’re working away at it and hopefully we’ll have something squared off in the next couple of weeks” said McMahon yesterday. “The negotiations are ongoing and we just need to mop it up now to the satisfaction of both parties. We want to get it right first time.”

McMahon believes Kildare hold a strong hand in terms of the spotlight the county offers potential suitors.

“We’re consistently in the last eight of the (football) championship the last number of years and in one year, the semi-final, and we’re up there with great support.

“There’s a big following. Please God we’re not too far away from achieving something major. There was positivity last year in achieving promotion to Division 1 (as Division 2 champions) in the football, to Division 2A (as Division 2B champions) in the hurling. The U21 hurlers got to an All-Ireland final. We’re a fairly strong brand we think and that’s our marketing ploy. Hopefully it’ll be in place before the league starts. It would be great if we had it wrapped today but these things take time. We all have to be patient and the important thing is to get it right.”

The focus is on attracting one sponsor for all county teams but that has yet to be nailed down, according to McMahon.

Meanwhile, McMahon has also revealed discussions are taking place with Sunderland, who announced his resignation just before Christmas following a significant cut in his budget for 2013.

The Wexford native launched a scathing attack on the county board when declaring that he had no option but to stand down.

But McMahon hopes that a resolution can be reached, with the hurlers due to get their Kehoe Cup campaign under way on Sunday fortnight. “The lads have a bit of a concern over budgets… haven’t we all? Willie and his lads are looking at various things; we’re looking at various things. We would be hopeful and confident that the management structure will stay in place.”