Éamonn Fitzmaurice: 'I haven’t slept well because there has been adrenaline coursing through the body'

Fitzmaurice has already got a lesson in the politics of Galway football

Éamonn Fitzmaurice: 'I have loads of ideas around the game in general and I have loads of ideas around the rules and we will see if they can become more than a concept.' Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie

This is a different Éamonn Fitzmaurice. The Finuge man who gave 25 years of service to Kerry finally stepped away from it and saw the wider world. All this will matter for this new chapter.

The newly appointed Galway manager held his first press conference on Saturday before meeting a selection of players and heading down south again. For Galway GAA, this is an important juncture too. Despite the plaudits for the process by which he secured Pádraic Joyce’s replacement and a generous nod to his persuasive powers from Fitzmaurice, the current chairperson was not in attendance. There will be a new person in that role for 2027. Instead, football chairperson Micheál Geraghty welcomed the media to the Lough Rea Hotel and stood in for photos.

What he has done since leaving the top gig in Kerry has led to this day. Fitzmaurice’s enduring love for Gaelic football was only reinforced by his work with the Football Review Committee.

“I've loads of ideas in my head over the last two weeks, I suppose,” he said. “I haven't slept that well because there has been adrenaline coursing through the body and ideas and how we can play and things that we can try.

“But I'm realistic to know that at the top end of the game there are some serious people involved and if there aren't things that I have theories about that could work, if they're not happening, they're probably not happening for a reason that they've been tried and they just don't work at the highest level.

“I have loads of ideas around the game in general and I have loads of ideas around the rules and we will see if they can become more than a concept.” 

On the footballing front, there are questions that require immediate attention. Can he persuade the likes of Cian Hernon and Paul Cooke to commit for 2027? What do they do about their number one, particularly given Eamon McGrath’s superb club form? Are there any young prospects ready to step up?

Fitzmaurice was 35 when he was appointed Kerry manager in the autumn of 2012. It is a lifetime ago now. That is evidently something he has given consideration to. He is conscious of his age and his circumstances and how time is a factor that changes things.

“This is my ninth year as principal in Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne. I've learned a lot in that role. A lot about life in that role. Since I've taken over Kerry, my father passed away. Tina, my wife, her mother passed away. I've probably matured a lot in the meantime. I've learned a lot about myself and about life in general. I just feel now that I'm probably at a good age and have life experience to be able to hopefully lead a group and get the best out of them.” 

He can draw on previous experience too. Before Kerry won their unlikely All-Ireland in 2014, the squad climbed Galtymore mountain for a bonding session. At the top, Fitzmaurice presented each player with a jersey. There were two jerseys for every position. The point was that they needed that competition to drive them. Players left their jerseys on and ran back down the mountain.

He recounted that story at a coaching course in Galway in 2024. Eventually, it grew to become an insightful column.

As for his backroom team, there has been plenty of speculation within the county, the majority of which is simply wrong. All he would say is that it will be finalised in the coming weeks. He smiled when asked by a local journalist whether there would be a west Galway representative on the ticket. These are the idiosyncrasies he must now embrace.

“I've got my first lesson on the politics of Galway football,” he said.

“That is the thing. I've a lot to learn about Galway. There is an intimidating factor around that, learning everything to do with the county and trying to learn this on the fly as well as managing the team then.

“I know that tradition is there and in place and I'm giving thought to that as well.”