Where next for Davy Fitzgerald? Who next for Wexford?

The Wexford players mightn’t have made the journey west as they did following the 2018 All-Ireland quarter-final loss but they lobbied Fitzgerald to reconsider

Davy Fitzgerald is and will always be held in the highest of esteem by all in Wexford GAA, says county chairman Micheál Martin.

No mini-bus full of Wexford players was going to convince Davy Fitzgerald to stay at the helm this time. After five seasons, the drives to Ferns and Wexford from Sixmilebridge had finally caught up with him.

It wasn’t that Fitzgerald believed he had taken them as far as he could. From the outside looking in, back-to-back Leinster semi-final and qualifier defeats after that glorious 2019 season spelt the end but there was the nagging doubt the excruciating extra-time loss to Kilkenny had illustrated how close they were to another Leinster title.

The players mightn’t have made the journey west as they did following the 2018 All-Ireland quarter-final loss but they lobbied the Sixmilebridge man to reconsider.

One senior player admitted he couldn’t countenance the idea of a rebuilding project. Another highlighted how they had become Kilkenny’s biggest rivals — Wexford went six games unbeaten against their neighbours up to last year’s league fixture.

As he indicated in his resignation statement, the decision had been a difficult one for Fitzgerald.

“The main reason for this is down to the six-hour round trip from my home in Sixmilebridge, which I have done for the last five years,” he wrote. “I have never felt closer or happier with any team in all my years coaching and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of my five years in Wexford. It has been an absolute privilege and an honour to have worked with every one of the players during my time in Wexford. There were ups and downs, highs and lows, as is the nature of sport, all of which was experienced with a sense of collective pride and enjoyment.

“To the players, county board, clubs, and people of Wexford, I wish to thank each and every one of you for playing no small part in every enjoyable second of the journey. From the first meeting in Gorey in October 2016 to last Saturday week in Thurles, you have all made me feel so welcome, supported, and proud to be involved with Wexford.”

Earlier this month, in the wake of the defeat to Kilkenny, Fitzgerald was sounded out by Wexford officials about remaining on for another two seasons. For all the suggestions his battles in Clare had begun to overshadow his work in Wexford, those at the coalface thought otherwise.

“Davy’s arrival in 2017 resulted in immediate promotion to Division One of the National Hurling League and a first Leinster final appearance since 2008,” county chairman Micheál Martin’s statement read. “In the last five years we have been consistently competitive, with the 2019 Leinster final victory the standout moment. Davy’s contribution to the activities of Wexford GAA went above and beyond those expected from a senior team manager. Davy is and will always be held in the highest of esteem by all in Wexford GAA.”

Where next for Fitzgerald, who next for Wexford? Turning 50 this Monday, Fitzgerald has not had a break from the inter-county scene since 2007 when he and then Clare manager Tony Considine had a falling out. But he began that season involved in an inter-county group as he has done every year since he was a minor in 1988.

His family have told and will tell him again that he is due a break — he himself said the last year has been the toughest he’s experienced in the GAA and there are challenges ahead as his father Pat is expected to pursue a civil case against individuals for online abuse.

A third Clare SHC title with his club is the immediate goal but in all three counties he has managed Fitzgerald has delivered progress and silverware so it is a certainty that approaches will be made to secure his talents.

Whenever Shane O’Neill’s tenure ends out west, Fitzgerald must be considered a candidate.

Indeed it was claimed that Galway chiefs had made enquiries two years ago before he agreed to extend his spell with Wexford. Athenry is only an hour’s drive from Sixmilebridge. Would Fitzgerald’s relationship with Joe Canning going back to when they were manager and player in Limerick IT be enough to convince the latter to make a retirement u-turn?

Of Fitzgerald’s potential successors in Wexford, Irish Examiner columnist Derek McGrath’s coaching philosophy is the closest to the Clare native. Ex-Laois manager and Cuala coach Eddie Brennan and former Tipperary U21 manager Willie Maher are also spoken of highly in the county.

Whoever it is, Fitzgerald has left them the field ploughed.