Dessie Dolan has been appointed Westmeath senior football manager, succeeding Jack Cooney in the position.
The 2004 All Star is expected to be joined in the backroom team by his former Westmeath teammate John Keane, but the management team was not confirmed at Wednesday night’s county board meeting. Both Dolan and Keane served as selectors in Cooney’s setup.
“Westmeath GAA are pleased to announce the appointment of Dessie Dolan as senior football manager for 2023 following tonight’s county committee meeting. Dessie’s backroom team will be announced shortly,” stated Westmeath GAA.
Dolan and Keane were key players on the 2004 history-making Westmeath side that won the county’s first, and still only, Leinster senior football championship. Both were named All Stars that season, while Keane picked up a second personal accolade in 2008. Dolan was one of Westmeath’s most talented players and at the height of his intercounty career the Garrycastle clubman was regarded as one of the best forwards in the country. He retired from intercounty football in 2014.
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“Dolan is one of our county’s greatest ever footballers and played with the senior team from 1998-2014, scoring 15-449. All associated with Westmeath GAA wish Dessie the very best of luck for the year ahead,” added Westmeath GAA.
Westmeath finished third in Division Three of the National Football League this year, missing out on promotion, but they won the inaugural Tailteann Cup at Croke Park in July. That triumph over Cavan guarantees the Lake County participation in the All-Ireland SFC next year, irrespective of their league finish in 2023.
Cooney was appointed manager of his native Westmeath in September 2018. They won promotion from Division Three in his first year and retained their status in Division Two in 2020. However, Westmeath were relegated back to Division Three following the regionalised league format of 2021, and they remain in the third tier of league football for next season.
Still, Cooney’s tenure is generally regarded as having been positive, that view aided by the recency bias from the outpouring of emotion that followed the Tailteann Cup success during the summer and subsequent homecoming celebrations in the county. Cooney, who was a selector with Páidí Ó Sé in 2004, had one more year left to run as Westmeath manager but stepped down in late August to take on a full-time role in Croke Park as a National Player Development Lead.
“Since becoming manager of my native county, I have worked with a fantastic bunch of players, whose commitment to playing and preparation at this level is second-to-none,” said Cooney in his farewell statement.
“They certainly deserved the success they achieved this year when we overcame Cavan in the first-ever Tailteann Cup final. I would like to thank each one of them for their support to me. I have also worked with a wonderful group of coaches and selectors, and I thank them for their support. We have a wonderful backroom team, all of whom are totally committed to Westmeath football, and I thank them for their hard work and dedication.”
At least two key members of that backroom team are now going to try harness the momentum of the Tailteann Cup success, and there are reports that even more of Cooney’s management team could remain involved to help maintain continuity from the progress that was made.
It will be Dolan’s first senior intercounty management role, and he becomes the latest RTÉ GAA analyst to swap the studio for the sideline. Kevin McStay has taken on the position of Mayo manager, Colm O’Rourke is the new Meath manager while Oisín McConville recently agreed to become Wicklow boss.
Former Roscommon manager Anthony Cunningham’s name had been linked with the vacancy in Westmeath, but Dolan was always seen as the favourite and will now step up as Lake County boss in 2023. One of his first targets will be to try lead Westmeath to promotion in the National Football League.
Joe Fortune has also been reappointed as Westmeath senior hurling manager for 2023.
