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Irish Times
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Malachy Clerkin: Ger Brennan's time with Louth will be remembered long after his shoes are filled
In a sense, Ger Brennan will never achieve more anywhere else than he already has with Louth . He will manage more teams, he will presumably win more trophies. But none of it will have the same impact as the shake, rattle and roll he gave Louth football this summer. Think about it. If he does become the Dublin manager, be it now or in the future, what can he do there that will compare? The next Dubs team to win a Leinster title will be met by little more than a shrug. The next All-Ireland will be hailed to the heavens, celebrated lustily in all parts of the city. But it won't be like a spaceship falling out of the sky in the way Louth's Leinster title was. [ Ger Brennan steps down as Louth football manager Opens in new window ] In the week after they beat Meath at the end of May, everyone you talked to in Louth kept falling back on the same mantra. The kids have something to latch on to now in the GAA, in a way no Louth people have had for generations. If you're a Dublin supporter under the age of 20, you've spent essentially your whole sentient life watching your team win All-Irelands. If you're a Louth supporter under the age of 75, all your memories have been bitter ones. Until now. Ger Brennan didn't change that all by himself but he'll be forever remembered as the man whose name was above the door when it happened. Given the players they have and the underage success the county has been racking up, maybe it looks from this vantage point like it was only a matter of time. But nobody was saying that when Mickey Harte skedaddled to the Derry job at the end of 2023. READ MORE Louth's Sam Mulroy lifts the Delaney Cup after their Leinster final win over Meath. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho This was not inevitable. Anything but, in fact. When Brennan came on board, Louth had been to a Leinster final earlier in the year but had been torched by Dublin to the tune of 5-21 to 0-15. It was a day out for their supporters – a first Leinster final in 13 years and only a second since 1960. But that's all it was. Or all it looked like, from the outside anyway. We all presumed that nobody was going to be taking Dublin's Leinster crown anytime soon. And that if anyone was going to, it would be when either Meath or Kildare got their house in order. Louth had been a decent league team under Harte, making it all the way up to finishing third in Division Two. But once he and Gavin Devlin left, that was surely going to be that for a while. We were wrong. All of us. Not only did we underestimate Brennan, we didn't give the players themselves the credit they deserved. These were serious intercounty players, not starry-eyed kids with a ponytail and a dream. They had been around long enough to take Harte's departure in a notably more grown-up fashion than a lot of the people who were outraged on their behalf. 'Look, it was never Mickey Harte's county,' Sam Mulroy told The Irish Times when Brennan took over. 'It's players who represent Louth on the pitch. Managers come and go. When they're there, they give it their all. There's a respect there between managers and players and you get on with it. It's as exciting having Ger in as it was having Mickey there. Sam Mulroy after scoring a goal for Louth in the Leinster final. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho 'It's a serious position to be in for a Louth footballer to be going playing under All-Ireland winners. Nothing has changed in that way. Life goes on. We've played under many managers before, we'll play under many in years to come. It is what it is. We do a job when we cross those white lines, we do it to the best of our ability every time. It's just a different message, a different voice every few years. That's the way GAA is.' And so they kicked on. They led Dublin at half-time in last year's Leinster final and finished second in their group behind Kerry before beating Cork to make the All-Ireland quarter-final. Craig Lennon won their first All Star since 2010. Brennan's first season was so much more than a consolidation of the Harte era and it gave them a sniff of more. Along the way, Brennan's management style turned out to be exactly what they needed, when they needed it. He is a deep believer in numbers and data and his time in UCD has certainly left him well acquainted with the more jargony end of the sports science world. He is no seller of pipe dreams. The Louth players always knew what was expected of them and what was achievable when they fulfilled those expectations. But on top of all that, there's a decency and an emotional intelligence to Brennan the manager that, let's just say, wasn't always visible in Brennan the player. He was able to relate to the younger members of the squad just as readily as the likes of Tommy Durnin, alongside whom he actually played for a summer in Boston back in the day. The Louth players responded and he took them beyond themselves. Ger Brennan and Dessie Farrell after last year's Leinster final. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho So what now? There had been rumours on the ground in Louth over the past while that Brennan would be moving on – and maybe Dessie Farrell's admission over the weekend that the Dublin County Board had known all year that he would be finishing up at the end of the 2025 championship bears that out. He's the obvious choice for the Dublin job, if for no other reason than the list of viable candidates is not overly long. With more departures likely and no underage success coming through to feed the next wave of Dublin teams, following Farrell, Jim Gavin and Pat Gilroy is no picnic. But then, neither was the Louth job when Brennan arrived. As for Louth, they will be fine. More than fine, in fact. They have the All-Ireland under-20 runners-up to start filtering into the senior ranks, as well as an excellent minor team that was just pipped in a thrilling Leinster final this year, many of whom are eligible again in 2026. They have a good age profile too – Mulroy, Lennon and Ryan Burns are all still in their mid-20s, with Durnin the only one of their main men over 30. Regardless of who takes over, they will be a force in what is suddenly a revitalised Leinster championship. One way or another, they are still rising. Brennan played a huge part in that and they will be forever intertwined.
Irish Times
01-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Ger Brennan steps down as Louth football manager
Ger Brennan has stepped down as Louth senior football manager. Brennan's surprise departure adds fuel to speculation he is to become the new Dublin manager as his decision to leave Louth comes just three days after Dessie Farrell resigned from his role with the capital's footballers . Brennan, in the second of a three-year term, this summer guided Louth to a first Leinster title in 68 years, beating Meath in May's provincial decider at Croke Park. The St Vincent's clubman was expected to remain at the helm for a third year with Louth but Tuesday's news means they must begin the search for a new manager. READ MORE [ Dessie Farrell played a diminishing hand well, but Dublin will continue to struggle at the top table Opens in new window ] Brennan was appointed in October 2023, succeeding Mickey Harte after the Tyrone man made a swift and unexpected exit to take over Derry. Brennan has been the bookies favourite to become Dublin manager since Farrell made his announcement after Saturday's All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Tyrone. However, Louth officials had remained hopeful that Brennan would stick with the Wee County for 2026. Louth have called a management committee meeting for Tuesday tonight and a county board statement is expected later. The county's Leinster under-20 winning boss Fergal Reel would be seen as an early front-runner for the Louth vacancy, while Gavin Devlin is also working with underage teams in the county.
Irish Daily Mirror
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
What time and TV channel is Mayo v Louth on today in the U-20 Championship?
The good times could well continue for Louth Football as they compete in the Under-20 All-Ireland semi-finals this evening. Although the senior outfit stole all the headlines, winning their first Leinster Football title in 68 years, something special is brewing in the Wee County. Their under-20s beat Meath in a Leinster final thriller, while the county's minor side also compete in a Leinster final against Offaly meaning they could win an unprecedented three provincial titles. Mayo, however, will be out to spoil the party this evening. Here is everything you need to know about the game. The game takes place at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park in Longford. The game throws in at 7 pm. The game will be available to watch live and for free on the TG4 Player HERE. Deferred coverage will also be available on TV from 10.15 p.m. Mayo 8/13 Draw 8/1 Louth 8/5
Irish Times
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Sam Mulroy's storybook second half sees Louth win Leinster for the first time since 1957
Leinster Senior Football final: Louth 3-14 Meath 1-18 Liberation comes wreathed in red flare smoke, swirling down from the Hill and down through the decades. The Louth players skittered around Croke Park like bowling pins at the end, sent flying by 68 years of history. Leinster champions for the first time since De Valera was Taoiseach. They beat Meath here thanks to a storybook second-half from Sam Mulroy, who missed his first four shots after the break and then didn't miss again. They hung in there with three first-half goals, haymakers that just about kept them in a fight that they had been losing to a jabbing, accurate Meath. They are Leinster champions, the first non-Dublin ones since 2010 and all that. Mulroy shrugged afterwards when asked if the noise and controversy from that game 15 years ago had any affect here, shaking his head as if the very idea was ludicrous. He was a 12-year-old boy in tears in the Hogan Stand that day. Winning Leinster in 2025 has nothing to do with any of those old ghosts. 'I think it's just dedication and effort and buy-in from everyone bringing it to a new level and demanding more of themselves. People coming in, like Ger, and demanding more from us and seeing the bigger picture that we can do it. READ MORE 'As Ger always says, 'They have two legs and two arms, just like us.' No matter who we're playing. It was just a case of bringing everyone up to a level and up the ante and going after what we had to go after.' Meath's Mathew Costello and Louth's Peter Lynch. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho They dug a fair hole for themselves here with a first half that threatened to get away from them a few times. Meath started better, bucking out to a 0-5 to 0-2 lead after 20 minutes. Ruairí Kinsella was everywhere, goalkeeper Billy Hogan came up and kicked a two-point free. On a day when Croke Park was in full bottle rocket mode, Robbie Brennan's side settled into it with minimal fuss. Louth caught hold of a lifeline when Mulroy iced a penalty on 20 minutes, after Donal Keogan fouled Kieran McArdle as he went to shoot for goal. And when the excellent Craig Lennon burst through to put Ryan Burns in for Louth's second goal soon after, you would have forgiven Meath for shrinking into themselves. They were suddenly 2-3 to 0-6 behind, pretty much out of nowhere. Meath didn't wilt though. Brennan has a mostly youthful team on his hands but they don't lack for courage. They came back at Louth and reeled off the next six scores in a row, one of them a two-pointer from the outstanding Kinsella. The young Meath centre-forward laid on scores from James Conlon and Seán Coffey into the bargain, leaving Meath 0-13 to 2-3 ahead a minute short of the break. There's a reason Lennon was Louth's first All Star in 14 seasons last year. He scythed through the Meath cover with a roadrunner break on 35 minutes, burying his finish into Hogan's top corner to keep his side breathing. It meant they were just a point down at half-time and bounced into the dressingrooms much the happier bunch. Meath's Donal Keogan dejected after the game. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho You wouldn't say they changed very much after the break but they were definitely much more on the front foot. There wasn't much of a wind in Croke Park but what there was, they had at their back in the second half, meaning they could take more shots and attack more of Hogan's kick-outs. Mulroy wasn't going to die wondering anyway – he came out blazing for two-pointers and missed with his first four efforts. But by bit, he found his radar. After missing an early 45, he finally nailed one on 50 minutes to bring Louth back to within a point. Meath had just seen Jordan Morris announce his return from injury with a point off the bench with his first involvement in the game. Little did the Meath fans celebrating at the time know that his point in the 47th minute would be their last of the day. Louth kicked on. Mulroy landed a beauty on the loop and then another off his left. With 10 minutes to go, they were back in the lead – 3-11 to 0-18. But some over-elaborate messing on the halfway line gave Meath a chance of a break. Again, it was Kinsella who got them going, feeding Morris who put Matthew Costello away for their only goal. Eight minutes to go, Meath ahead by a point. Louth's Bevan Duffy celebrates with his daughter Lydia after the game. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho The place was in orbit now, every possession a heart attack. The killer decision came on 65 minutes, referee Martin McNally award Louth a soft enough free 47 metres out. Mulroy didn't need to be asked twice and he nosed Louth into the lead again. For there on, they used all the experience from being in last year's final to see themselves home. Meath chased and chased but couldn't get the ball back. History can take a number. It's Louth's turn now. MEATH: B Hogan (0-2-0, 2tpf); S Lavin, S Rafferty, B O'Halloran; D Keogan (0-0-1), S Coffey (0-0-1), C Caulfield; J Flynn, B Menton; C Duke, R Kinsella (0-1-2), K Curtis (0-0-1); M Costello (1-0-1), J Conlon (0-0-1), E Frayne (0-0-4, 2f). Subs: J Morris (0-0-1) for Curtis (45 mins); S Walsh for Duke (53); A Lynch for Kinsella (62); D McGowan for Conlon (68). LOUTH: N McDonnell; D Nally, D Campbell, D McKenny; C McKeever, P Lynch, C Lennon (1-0-1); T Durnin, A McDonnell; B Duffy (0-0-1), C Downey (0-0-1), C Grimes (0-0-1); K McArdle, S Mulroy (1-1-5, 1-0 pen, 1tpf, 2f, 1 45), R Burns (1-1-1). Subs: C Keenan for McArdle (45 mins); Pl Matthews for McDonnell (46); C Byrne for Burns (62); D McDonnell for Duffy (65); E Carolan for Nally (70). Referee: M McNally (Monaghan).
Irish Times
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Peter Fitzpatrick: ‘Joe should have told the truth at the time in 2010, he knew it wasn't a goal'
This, he hopes, is the end. Though he knows it's unlikely to ever end. No matter what happens in Croke Park on Sunday a part of Louth football and a part of him will remain frozen in 2010. Nothing has ever been the same since. Peter Fitzpatrick sits in the restaurant of the Gateway Hotel in Dundalk, sipping green tea and maintaining the same lean frame that granted him a 16-year Louth playing career. Two weeks ago, after destiny pulled Louth and Meath together for another Leinster final, the former Louth manager felt compelled to look back at the last one. A final that has never really ended. He could run the game through his mind without the need for footage but he just wanted a gut-check. His thoughts on how it all unspooled haven't changed and neither has the result. Meath left with the Delaney Cup and Louth left with nothing, but everybody lost something from the wreckage of that afternoon. READ MORE 'It still feels like only yesterday. Without a doubt that day changed my life,' says Fitzpatrick. 'After all these years, there's probably still not a day goes by that it doesn't cross my mind. It is brought up by people in conversation with me all the time. Some of us will be linked to that game forever. 'So, in that regard it's important for Louth to try to put some of the ghosts from that match to rest this Sunday.' During the week Fitzpatrick was listening to LMFM when he heard a voice he recognised. Joe. On the 10th anniversary of the 2010 Leinster final, The Sunday Game had gathered Fitzpatrick and Joe Sheridan together in studio to look back on the controversy. Louth manager Peter Fitzpatrick remonstrates with referee Martin Sludden after the 2010 Leinster SFC final, which Meath won courtesy of a controversial goal. Photograph: Donall Farmer/Inpho Before going on air, the pair chatted and agreed to leave the jerry cans in the green room. It wouldn't have taken much for the whole thing to catch a spark. 'We were very courteous to each other, there was no point butting heads, what would it have achieved?' Sheridan received threatening letters and messages in the aftermath of the game. 'Joe should have told the truth at the time in 2010, he knew himself it wasn't a legitimate goal,' adds Fitzpatrick. Those umpires realised the mistake but the referee didn't have the decency to ask them or listen to them — Peter Fitzpatrick 'But he shouldn't have had to deal with that kind of stuff afterwards, it wasn't on.' The build-up to Sunday's final has facilitated a meme-fest, introducing a piece of GAA folklore to a new generation. But the sequence of that last play leading to Sheridan's match-winning goal continues to haunt Louth fans. 'Martin Sludden had very experienced umpires with him and those umpires realised the mistake but the referee didn't have the decency to ask them or listen to them. He just told them to put up the flag,' adds Fitzpatrick. 'That's the question I put to him in his dressingroom afterwards, 'Why didn't you check with your umpires?' He couldn't give me an answer and just told me to leave. 'He said he could have awarded a penalty, but a penalty could have been saved. He just wouldn't admit he'd made a mistake.' In the immediate aftermath, Fitzpatrick likened Sludden to 'Dick Turpin without a mask'. He felt Louth were robbed back then. He still does today. Fitzpatrick and Sludden have never spoken since. [ Eoghan Frayne and Meath out to right some wrongs against Louth in Leinster final Opens in new window ] [ Louth boss Ger Brennan declares neutrality but admits his players cheered Meath on in semi-final against Dublin Opens in new window ] He spotted the Tyrone referee at Michaela McAreavey's wake the following year but it wasn't the time. There are, ultimately, more important things. In December 2022, Sludden was elected Tyrone chairman. Fitzpatrick was Louth chairperson then, but their paths never crossed. 'Look, I would love to sit down with Martin Sludden and have a chat about it, I'm not going to be vicious or anything but I would like to sit down and chat to him.' The inaction of others also rankled. Manager Peter Fitzpatrick with Adrian Reid after Louth's All-Ireland SFC qualifier defeat to Dublin in 2010. Photograph: Donall Farmer/Inpho 'Croke Park should never have asked the Meath players to sort the situation out. They should have made the decision themselves but Croke Park hadn't the balls, they tried to palm the decision off. 'And I thought Louth County Board was very weak in representing us, we all felt let down by our own county board. 'If I was Central Council rep at the time, Louth would have got a replay, I certainly would have fought for it anyway.' It is often forgotten in the discourse that this was a breakthrough Leinster final for Louth – a first appearance in the decider for 50 years. They hadn't won the Delaney Cup since 1957. On that July afternoon in 2010, Louth's great longing was seconds away from fulfilment. With the finish line in sight, Croke Park grew taut and anxious. An emotional timebomb. Tick, tock, boom! At least one Louth fan suffered a heart attack in the stadium that afternoon. Dismay and despair for those in red and white, but the scenes after the final whistle were unacceptable. A clearly angry Fitzpatrick had to gather himself to protect Sludden from furious Louth fans who had stormed the pitch. Two men were later convicted and each fined €1,000 for attacking the referee. 'What happened to him after the game should never have occurred,' says Fitzpatrick. 'It was utterly wrong, I could see the fear in his eyes. I tried to calm the whole thing down. He has a family too. It wasn't right.' But there has always been enough blame to go around, Fitzpatrick has never shied away from that. He knows Louth had plenty of opportunities to win the game, to not allow the mess of Sheridan's injury-time goal to come about. Mistakes were made. Still, the outcome has never sat right with him. They needed a draw to stay up but we beat them in the last round and that relegated Meath, so I suppose we got something in the end — Peter Fitzpatrick 'I'm not trying to be smart, but it is tarnished,' adds Fitzpatrick. 'Meath are officially 2010 Leinster champions but I have spoken to a few players since that day and some of them don't recognise it.' Andy McDonnell, who came out of retirement at the start of this year, is the only survivor of from the game 15 summers ago. Bryan Menton was part of Meath's extended panel in 2010 but did not play. Louth captain Sam Mulroy was 12 at the time and remembers bawling his eyes out at Croke Park. Current Meath manager Robbie Brennan watched the drama unfold from the Hogan Stand. The ties that bind. Louth footballer Sam Mulroy was 12 in 2010. The nature of the county's Leinster final defeat to Meath left him in tears. Photograph: Leah Scholes/Inpho But the fallout damaged both counties. Fitzpatrick stepped down at the end of the 2012 season with Louth's standout result that year a nine-point league win over Meath. 'They needed a draw to stay up but we beat them in the last round and that relegated Meath, so I suppose we got something in the end,' he smiles. Louth football drifted thereafter, eventually plummeting to Division 4. Meath spent one season in Division 3 and 14 years in Dublin's back pocket. In 2019, Fitzpatrick took on the role of Louth chairman, setting off with a clear dual ambition – to get Louth's eternally delayed stadium built and to restructure the development squads to ensure the best players would ultimately graduate to play for the senior team. Louth were going to build a Leinster SFC winning team upon solid foundations. From the ground up. Fitzpatrick cast an ambitious net to find a senior manager. Jim Gavin was approached. Pat Gilroy too. In November 2020 Mickey Harte said yes. For three years, Harte and Gavin Devlin propelled Louth football forward. Mickey Harte in 2023, during his time as Louth manager. Photograph: Lorraine O'Sullivan/Inpho Fitzpatrick pauses and points over to a cluster of seats in the hotel lobby. That's where Harte, on a Monday morning in September 2023, bolted Fitzpatrick to the chair with news he was absconding to Derry. It could have derailed everything. 'I was obviously disappointed but Mickey was always open and honest with me, I have nothing but admiration for him, great work was done here and great structures put in place, it's just a pity the way it ended. 'I still think Mickey made a mistake leaving Louth because there was an awful lot more for him to achieve here.' In our lifetime, it could be the biggest day in the history of Louth GAA — Peter Fitzpatrick In finding a replacement for Harte, Fitzpatrick landed on Ger Brennan. On Sunday, the Dubliner could become a trailblazer. Just over a week ago, Louth's under-20s beat Meath to claim a first Leinster title at that grade since 1981. Fitzpatrick played on the team 44 years ago. Last Wednesday night the Louth minors beat Dublin by 12 points to qualify for their Leinster final. For the first time ever, Louth will contest Leinster finals in all three grades in the same season. Those landmark moments don't just happen. It's a rising tide. Donal McKenny celebrates with manager Ger Brennan after Louth's league victory against Meath earlier this year. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho The stadium has finally got the go-ahead from the GAA too. Having stepped down as chairman in 2023, if all goes to plan Fitzpatrick will return to a position on the board next year to help oversee the project to completion. But on Sunday he will travel as a fan to Croke Park with his kids and grandkids. 'I'm not a good watcher,' he says. 'I'm dreadful, I'll be sweating. In our lifetime, it could be the biggest day in the history of Louth GAA.' It will be a day when past and present collide. 'Here we both are again, Louth and Meath. But instead of harping back to 2010 all the time, wouldn't it be great to wake up on Monday morning and be talking about Louth as Leinster champions. That's the dream.' After all the tossing and turning, there might just be one more sleep left.
