Limerick boss Lee says county board 'knifed players in the back' on seeding issue

Irish Examiner

3 days ago

Limerick football manager Jimmy Lee has said his players have been 'knifed in the back' by the county board and its decision to support seeding the Munster SFC on League standings.
With Lee and his players having expressed open opposition to the proposed change in advance of Thursday's Munster Council meeting, the Treaty boss said the decision of the county board executive to go against their wishes and support the motion was 'a vote of no confidence' in him, the rest of the Limerick football management, the Limerick players, and everyone working at all levels to better Limerick football.
In a county where player turnover has been a constant problem for their flagship team, Lee was adamant that the decision of the executive to vote against what the players wanted will not encourage them to sign up again in 2026.
On Thursday night a proposal that Cork and Kerry be seeded in separate semi-finals for the 2026 Munster SFC draw was voted through. That seeding is determined by Kerry and Cork having the two highest League finishing positions in 2025 of the six Munster counties.
Clare, Tipperary, and Waterford voted against seeding the Munster SFC based off League rankings, but Limerick did not, instead siding with Cork, Kerry, and Munster top-brass who voted for the motion.
The old system, discontinued as a result of the midweek vote, was that the two teams who reached the Munster final would receive a bye to the following season's semi-finals, but would not be kept apart in the draw.
What it has been replaced with is designed to deliver increased Munster final attendances in the wake of dwindling crowds for the past number of years. The Kerry-Clare deciders of the past three years drew crowds of 12,449, 12,059, and 13,181 respectively.
'The Limerick players are feeling like no one has their back,' Lee told the Irish Examiner on Saturday morning. 'They were adamant that they didn't want this. They made their views known in writing. And now the county board, in their wisdom, they have knifed them in the back. That is what it feels like.
'And that's only my opinion, the players wouldn't have expressed that. But looking from the outside in, that's what's after happening.'
Lee revealed he has written to county board chairman Seamus McNamara to seek a meeting with McNamara, county board secretary Mike O'Riordan, treasurer Sean Burke, Munster Council delegates John Cregan and Pat Davoren, and football board chairman Wayne Fitzgerald to seek an explanation as to why Limerick voted in favour of a proposal that decreases the likelihood of future Treaty involvement in the provincial decider. He also wants answered why the clubs were not consulted on what way the county should vote at Thursday's Munster meeting.
He has yet to receive clarity from any office holder of why Limerick voted as they did.
'It's a vote of no confidence in us,' the Limerick football manager continued. 'I have to go back now and discuss it with the management team as we thought we were on the same trajectory and same page as the county board. It has you second guessing yourself, you know what I mean?
'It's like pushing a boulder up a hill and it keeps coming back down, flattening you. That's what it feels like.
'Does that make me question my tenure? I suppose I question it all the time, because originally they were asking me to do a three-year term. And I said, we'll do year to year.
'But look, it raises doubts in terms of, are we on the same page? And if we're not on the same page, Jaysus we have problems. There's a football board there, they're meant to be promoting football. But like, if they're promoting it, don't you think they'd have made a recommendation to the county board to say no to this?
'It is a vote of no confidence in the lads that are doing work in the academy. I'm trying to keep players within the panel, like you had 16 and 19 that left the last two years. And now I have to go back and try and say, you have to put in an extra effort to get to a Munster final because of the way the county board voted. I'm trying to keep lads in looking out rather than outside looking in. And the county board is just working the opposite way to me.
'Our captain Cillian Fahy, he's getting married next Saturday. It is a busy time for him. I would have said to Cillian last week, we won't be talking until after his wedding. I had to ring him yesterday and he's had to pick up the reins of Limerick football again and try and figure this out, which is unfair.' At a recent end-of-season review meeting involving Lee and members of the Limerick executive, the seeding proposal came up as an 'add on' to the meeting. Lee told the executive members present of his staunch opposition to the proposal. The manager has claimed that it was said to him that if Limerick supported the Munster GAA motion it would lead to an extra football coach being put in place in the county.
'I know politics and stuff comes into play and promises are made. I come from a HR background in the corporate world, and you dot your I's and cross your T's in any agreement. My final words to them that night was, I'd be voting for nothing until I see it in black and white or on paper. Promises were made previously, and we are still waiting.
'Everyone knows there's power and politics within the GAA, but that's where culturally the GAA as a whole is wrong. That to me makes mockery of the whole thing. And here are four inter-county teams suffering because of this. Clare, Tipperary, and Waterford, they're not going to trust Limerick anymore. We said we were against it and the county has voted for it. We sold our soul, and for what?
'It's a kick in the teeth for what we've done this year in terms of reaching a Tailteann Cup final and winning the Division 4 League. We're doing everything to promote Limerick football and then this happens.' ENDS