GAELIC GAMES:THE KERRY Under-21 manager John Kennedy and his management team of Tom Prendergast and Liam Brosnan, have informed county board chairman Jerome Conway they have stepped down after two years in charge.
Kennedy is at pains to point out he was going to step down this year anyway even if the under-21 team had gone on to win the All-Ireland, but admits that the 22-point defeat to Cork in the Munster Under-21 final was “extremely disappointing”.
Kennedy, explained he intended taking time out from management after Kerry lost to Armagh in the All-Ireland minor semi-final in 2009, but when Conway asked he could not turn down the opportunity to manage the under-21 side.
Kennedy who is the holder of three All-Ireland senior football medals ( 1984-86) had his first taste of intercounty management with the Clare senior team for a three-year spell from 2003 to 2005 and he guided them to a Tommy Murphy Cup success.
Kennedy was then charged in 2006 with ending Kerry’s All-Ireland minor famine that stretched back to 1994, but lost out to Roscommon in his first year in charge, in the All-Ireland final that required a replay in Ennis.
He went on to win three Munster minor finals but lost three All-Ireland semi-finals from 2007 to 2009, losing to Galway, Mayo after yet another replay, and Armagh.
When Seán Geaney stepped down as Kerry Under-21 manager in 2009, Kennedy took over in 2010 and having beaten Cork and Waterford, he was again denied as Tipperary and John Evans shocked Kerry by a point in the Munster final in Tralee.
After beating Limerick this season Kennedy suffered a managerial nightmare when Cork hammered Kerry in the Munster final in Páirc Uí Rinn two weeks ago by 22 points, though Cork did not exactly frank the form by losing to Galway last Saturday evening.
Kennedy reckons the defeat this year to Cork was his “worst defeat” since he took charge of Kerry under-age teams.
“I enjoyed my time involved and although I didn’t win an All-Ireland I think if you look at the players that came through in my time, players like Tommy Walsh, David Moran, Barry John Keane, Barry John Walsh, Shane Enright, Peter Crowley along with JB Spillane and Daithí Casey, many of whom are now part of the senior Kerry squad, I feel that winning All-Irelands is not everything at underage level.
“I found the under-21 competition tough, because of its timing and the numbers of competitions that players are playing in at this time of the year.
“I think the results all over the country prove that point, there are no strong form lines from game to game. But I still cannot understand what happened to us against Cork.
“I will be taking a break now for a while but will not rule out a return to intercounty management in the future,” the Asdee clubman said.
Skoda Ireland have been confirmed as new sponsors of Tipperary GAA – the three-year-deal is worth €200,000 to the county board each year. As well as sponsoring the All-Ireland senior hurling champions, the deal extends to all hurling and football codes within the county, from minor to senior intercounty teams.