Gabriel Bannigan steps down as Monaghan football boss

The Aughnamullen man says the 'goalposts have moved'.

Then Monaghan manager Gabriel Bannigan. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

A “disappointed” Gabriel Bannigan has been forced to step down as Monaghan senior football manager after two seasons, stating “t𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝”.

In a surprise move following a season where they reached an Ulster SFC final and qualified for the All-Ireland quarter-finals despite a slew of injuries, the Aughnamullen man’s departure means the county are looking for their third manager in four years.

Bannigan succeeded Vinny Corey having served as his selector in 2023 and ’24 before guiding Monaghan to a Division 2 title in 2025. Monaghan were relegated from Division 1 this past season but followed it up with an inspiring run to the last eight.

In a statement released via Monaghan GAA, Bannigan said he was preparing for the 2027 season and did not want to quit but came to the conclusion that matters had changed in recent weeks.

Bannigan remarked: “𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨, 𝐈 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨.

“𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐈𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐮𝐩𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐆𝐀𝐀, 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐬𝐚𝐲-𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞

He continued: “𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤

“𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝟏𝟎𝟎% 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨.

“𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝟏𝟔𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚

“𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦, 𝐈 𝐛

“𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟕 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦, 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐚s 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨.

“𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚

Bannigan thanked the players, county board, family, his club, Corey, coaches and backroom team and sponsors.