'You need to show a small bit of respect' - Colin Healy has his say on FAI exit and 'worst year of his life'

Despite being let go, along with Eileen Gleeson, the recently-installed Kerry FC manager does not rule out a return to the association. 

WEST ALONG THE ROAD: Kerry manager Colin Healy after the First Division match against Wexford at Mounthawk Park. Pic: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

Anyone who’s dealt with Colin Healy can attest to his aversion to the spotlight so it’s taken a deep injustice to speak out.

His deviation boiled simply down to the fact that he felt no other choice was available to him in the circumstances.

When the FAI announced, on December 11, the cessation of Eileen Gleeson and her assistant Healy as the Ireland management team, it seemed another routine dismissal by the association.

Yet there was a backstory of what really went on leading up to the decision – added to by a couple of subplots since.

The Corkman issued a statement on his behalf within a day of receiving the four-minute phone call from Marc Canham. Another first person account came on the January day Gleeson’s successor Carla Ward was unveiled.

He hadn’t elaborated any further or taken questions on the topic over the six months until this week.

“I’m good for my word,” he said on Wednesday in a hotel conference room, referencing the promise he made three weeks ago, on the day he resumed football employment as manager of Kerry FC.

He’s described the last year as the worst of his life, understandable given his wife and mother of their two children, Kelly, passed away in April 2024 after eight years battling illness.

What he didn’t foresee was his personal anguish being compounded professionally by his employers.

It says a lot for centurion Denise O’Sullivan to accuse the FAI of lacking compassion in their dealings with Healy but the events he illustrates over an hour raise major questions around their ability to function on a human level.

For starters, nobody from the FAI hierarchy, either the main executives or board members, travelled to attend his wife’s funeral.

“Football people were there – like the U19 manager Tom Mohan along with Stephen Bradley and his staff – but others weren’t,” he said.

“I mean, I was the assistant of the national team. I come up to Dublin to do my job; Cork is only a drive down the road. Obviously, it’s probably a longer drive to some people. I think you need to show a small bit of respect.

“The support I had was from Eileen, the staff and the players. People from the outside too like Damien Duff and other coaches. No, honestly I didn’t get any support from them (the FAI). When Kelly passed away, I had a few text messages but other than that - no.” 

As far as the FAI is concerned, they have no regrets from a footballing perspective.

Canham, their chief football officer working out his notice, and chief executive David Courell have reaffirmed that position over the past two months.

They also contend Healy was provided with ‘no absolute guarantees’ of his contract being renewed when he mulled over the offer of a two-year full-time contract with Cobh Ramblers last November.

“They didn’t want me to go and I was talked out of it,” he says, detailing the phone conversation he had with Canham.

“The Wales playoff game was coming up and having the chance of going to the Euros, as well as the World Cup next year, was thrown at me.

“But I needed some assurances that if I do stay, what’s happening next year? I had two kids who’ve lost their mother that I need to support and a mortgage.

“You need to think about it. I’m not going to turn down two years at Cobh just for the sake of it. That’s common sense.

“We were assured that, bar a hammering against Wales, we would be staying on.” 

Ireland lost the tie 3-2 over two legs, missing out on the upcoming Euros in Switzerland. Central to the FAI’s justification for ditching the management team was their feedback from a review.

Healy was 15 months in the post and hadn’t been subjected to a review after the previous Nations League campaign nor regulation Euro qualifiers.

“That was the first time for a review but, looking back at it now, it was ticking a box,” he said. “Maybe a few people in the FAI thought the Wales game was straightforward but it was never going to be the case from our perspective.

“I find it hard to accept that there was a review with some staff and some players. Our captain, Katie McCabe, wasn’t part of that review. I got asked a few questions over the phone.” 

His last phone call stung most.

“It was brief, to say we were being let go,” he recounts of the conversation with Canham. “There was no mention of the previous assurance because it was presented as a board decision, not his.

“I was just in shock. But a phone call? Why not go meet the person and explain why, particularly after the year I’d gone through.

“I didn’t have to go back to work after Kelly died. I could easily have stayed off for the year, saying my head wasn’t right.

“I’d never been let go over the phone. Even as a player at Sunderland, Mick McCarthy said I was too much of a risk after two broken legs to get a new contract. I was gutted but accepted it.

“This was totally wrong and why I’ve come out publicly.” 

Despite the annoyance over the nature of his exit, and some of the senior figures remaining, Healy doesn’t rule out returning to the FAI.

“I would never say no to my country,” he affirms. “Kerry is my job but there’s some great people working in the FAI. Some were in touch thanking me for speaking out.

“For me, the biggest honour is to represent your country and that will never change.”