Aaron Kernan has unfinished business with Crossmaglen

Aaron Kernan has revealed his ambition is to manage Crossmaglen some day, but feels he still has a few more trophies to win before retiring.

The wing-back has been a huge part of the club’s golden era, and victory against Scotstown in Sunday’s Ulster club final would be an 11th provincial title in two incredible decades.

Kernan got a buzz out of seeing his father Joe back in big-time management last weekend, with the former Armagh boss taking charge of Ireland’s International Rules win over Australia.

When asked if he wanted to follow former team-mates like Oisin McConville, John and Tony McEntee by managing Cross, he said: “I would love to. Not for the time being, I would like to put it off for a while.

“But when I do pack it in I will get involved in the underage structures and hopefully one day progress up the ranks,” he said.

People in Crossmaglen don’t really subscribe to the theory that teams can only stay at the top for so long.

Since making the breakthrough under Joe Kernan in 1996, they have won 19 out of 20 Armagh SFC titles and captured six All-Irelands, which suggests they believe form is temporary but class is permanent.

With the proper structures in place, Kernan sees no reason why the good times can’t continue, irrespective of who is on the playing field.

“From a personal point of view, I will be 32 in December and the clock is ticking down but I like to think I have a few more years in me yet,” he said.

“On a personal level, you might think that it might be a last one but as far as the club is concerned, we have a lot of good young players coming through and they are being set the right example.

“I don’t see why it should ever stop if you put in the right time and effort, because the structures are there in the club. If we can get the boys to have the same hunger as the men that have gone before us then there is no reason why they can’t go on to win titles for years to come.

“But right now, I don’t really care about what happens next year. It’s all about this weekend and making sure that we can put in a performance,” he said.

Kernan only watched Armagh play three times this year and says it helped him move on after his inter-county career ended.

After quitting the county squad after the 2014 season in frustration at a lack of game-time under manager Kieran McGeeney, Kernan now thinks it was a good thing to put some distance between himself and the Armagh set-up.

“Maybe from a personal point of view that helped me because if you are sitting there watching them all the time, it can seep back into you what you are missing and make you want to get out there again and help. But I think once you are finished, you are finished and you should accept it.”