[ad_1]
Mickey Harte is the new coach of the Louth senior footballers. Tyrone’s former boss has wasted no time re-engaging with a county team after the Tyrone executive rejected his request for a one-year extension less than a fortnight ago.
Harte had led Tyrone to three All-Ireland titles during an 18-year tenure that ended with Ulster’s quarter-final loss to Donegal earlier this month. He also ended his most recent three-year appointment.
Harte now replaces Wayne Kierans as Louth’s coach, for a three-year term. His former player-turned-coach Gavin Devlin will join him. Devlin has been Harte’s right-hand man since the start of the 2013 season and, in addition to being named Louth’s new assistant manager, he will also join his former junior, under-21 and senior manager to take over the sub-division. County 21. 20 years.
Former AFL player Ciarán Byrne, who returned to Louth last year and hopes to put his recent injuries behind him to play a major role in the 2021 season, told The Irish Times that the quote is a huge boost:
“This is great news. I have had a bumpy road, but I had prepared myself for a great attempt starting next year, and this appointment gives an even greater boost. It’s what Wee County needed. “
Relegated
Louth decided not to extend Kierans’ two seasons in charge, following a disappointing season in which they were relegated from the league’s Division 3 with just two points, before losing to Longford in the first round of the Leinster championship.
A statement from the Louth GAA on Monday evening read: “We would like to extend a very warm welcome to Mickey and Gavin to Louth and look forward to working closely with them for the next three years. Special thanks to our subcommittee of Peter Fitzpatrick, Bob Doheny, Sean McClean, Aidan Berrill, and Francie McMullen for their hard work over the past few weeks overseeing this appointment. “
Until this winter, the game’s longest-serving intercountry soccer coach, Harte led Tyrone to the county’s three senior All-Irelands in 2003, 2005 and 2008, as well as All-Irelands in under and under 21 and six. Ulster titles. He was named Manager of the Year in 2005.
However, after only two Ulster titles in the last 10 years, after five and three All-Irelands in the previous decade, club man Errigal Ciarán had come under increasing pressure in recent years. However, he did lead Tyrone back to the 2018 Irish final, while his team lost by three points in last year’s semi-final against Kerry.
Hit hard
Plans for his final year at the helm were affected by the loss of All Star forward Cathal McShane to a season-ending injury after Harte built his attack around the man he convinced to reject a contract from the AFL.
Harte told Declan Bogue in an interview published in the Irish Examiner: “I couldn’t make it through my senior year. And that’s all I wanted. Now I was ready to say openly that this is my last year.
“We came back on September 14 and we had that little window of time, that little window to prepare for what is now a knockout championship. And it wasn’t what we expected to be dealing with since the beginning of the year. “
[ad_2]