Galway hurlers set the record straight after acrimonious Anthony Cunningham resignation

A letter from the Galway hurlers to the county hurling committee, featuring particular misgivings with regard to the management of Anthony Cunningham, has emerged.

Cunningham resigned as Tribesmen boss last Monday night, before a county board meeting where delegates were due to vote on whether he should remain in his post.

The players requested that their letter be read in advance of that vote as they sought to provide clarity on how and why confidence in Cunningham had been lost.

At a meeting of the committee on Wednesday of last week, a letter from Cunningham was read, but according to the players, “much of what was contained in Anthony’s letter is simply not accurate. As players, we knew Anthony was fully committed to the job he did and we are anxious to avoid the impression anything we say is in the nature of a personal attack on Anthony or any of the management team. Unfortunately, however, we find ourselves in the position of having to set the record straight on certain issues”.

The letter addresses what the players believe to be key concerns of delegates, namely that “the level of support amongst the players for the removal of Anthony as manager is overstated and is being driven by a small number of disaffected players and by the GPA; that this is a show of player power that requires to be suppressed [sic]; that if it hadn’t been for a poor 30 minute in the All- Ireland final, no issues about Anthony Cunningham’s management would have arisen”.

According to the players, four of the panel met with Cunningham on September 27 and told him the vast majority of the squad had no confidence in him, but at a hurling board meeting the following night, Cunningham answered a direct question on the subject by saying he had the full support of the players and denied any unrest.

The letter also points out the squad took two votes on the level of confidence in Cunningham, at the end of September and again last weekend, with almost identical results. “The players accept some board delegates are worried that what they as a function of the county board – namely the power to appoint a manager – is being usurped by the players … however, this is not intended as an exercise of player power.

“The players ask the delegates to consider the issue in this light. We know delegates want Galway to win the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 2016. The players want Galway to win the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 2016 and are prepare to put much of their lives on hold to achieve that goal. The players’ view is the county is not best placed to win next year if Anthony Cunningham continues to be team manager.

“Rather than being an exercise of player power, it seems to us the players would be open to justified criticism if they did NOT make their views known. The issue has only only progressed to the current impasse because neither Anthony nor some county board members can or will accept the truth of what the players have been saying since April.”

In a brief synopsis of how the situation developed, the letter outlines how Cunningham was informed after a league quarter-final loss to Waterford in Galway the majority of the panel didn’t have confidence in him. The players maintain promises made by him after this meeting were not kept.