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Irish Examiner
05-08-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
What's next for Jimmy Lee's Limerick footballers?
At the post-season review meeting between the Limerick footballers and the County Board, a routine debrief nearly turned sour. One side expressed their opposition to seeding the Munster SFC on League standings, the other needed to be convinced. Typically, these annual meetings deal with general issues that affect intercounty football. Coaches, gym, nutrition; that sort of thing. Given the undeniable triumph that was 2025, the team felt entitled to ask for more. They won the Division 4 league title and made a Tailteann Cup final this year. Now is the time to push forward again. Part of that includes ensuring the current platform is sustainable. The Limerick footballers are used to a revolving cast of training locations. For 2026, they sought a proper base. Most of this season was spent at the University of Limerick facility. Management were more than happy with this agreement. The group invests heavily in their athletic profile. They run internal competitions and publish a digital podium in their WhatsApp group ranking top speeds and specific personal bests. A quality surface ensures sprint mechanics can consistently improve. UL was their true home. The first time they trained in their home venue that is the Gaelic Grounds was the week of the Munster SFC quarter-final against Cork. All of this formed part of the discussion. Then attention turned to the proposed changes by the Munster Council. Certain officials indicated they felt differently to the squad. The other side of the table struggled to understand their rationale. Eventually, chair Seamus McNamara defused the standoff. The group left believing their position would now be taken into consideration. Throughout this campaign, Limerick have been steered by their own internal mission statement. Limerick football manager Jimmy Lee. Pic: Tom O'Hanlon/Inpho It is referenced repeatedly and displayed during pre-game meetings. Sometimes they had to do out and win over the crowd. After players were affected by personal tragedies, they spoke internally about the need to do it for their families. By July, they were in a rare spot. The senior hurlers were already knocked out which afforded them full access to the Gaelic Grounds and complete interest from the county's supporters. Jimmy Lee's outfit were the only show in town. They had won all hearts over. The message before they took to Croke Park and went down by two points was simple: Do it for yourselves. The fact that all that effort has now been undermined by last week's vote is deeply regrettable. Clare, Tipperary and Waterford voted against seeding but Limerick did not, siding with Cork, Kerry and the Munster top-brass. Lee told the Irish Examiner last week he felt that his players had been 'knifed in the back' and is seeking an explanation for Limerick's vote. The lack of public clarity can partly be explained as key members of the football board are currently on vacation and not due back until next week. They will meet with the footballers then but in the meantime, players and management are due to convene this Wednesday to discuss their options. The GPA had already been consulted in relation to a gear allowance grievance in the aftermath of the Tailteann Cup decider. Players felt an entitlement to extras had not been met. Since last Thursday's vote, a meeting with Player Welfare & Engagement Manager Colm Begley has been arranged and fellow reps in other counties have been contacted. All of this is unfolding with an obvious risk. There is a complete understanding among Lee and his team that publicly outlining their feeling is a gamble. The unfortunate reality is that this a pivotal moment for Limerick football. They've walked this road before. In 2018, Billy Lee, Jimmy's brother, was the manager who almost stopped his team from fielding in the Munster SFC quarter-final after an administration error forced him to omit a player from his plans. The County Board subsequently issued a statement to clarify several matters, including the arrangement of team meals. On the administration issue, they explained an email received by the secretary on the Wednesday night could not be accessed until after the team deadline on Thursday morning. At the time, Lee revealed that 53 players had declined his invitation to join the panel that season, a striking number that underscored how deep the wounds ran. It was crucial, not just for the current generation but for those to come, that they strive for a higher standard. The more things change, the more they stay the same. In 2013, the Munster Council's decision to introduce seeding for the 2014 competition proved deeply unpopular. Limerick were one of the counties that originally voted in favour of the move. Eight players met to discuss their options. Clare trio Gary Brennan, Gordon Kelly and Joe Hayes, Limerick's Stephen Kelly and Seanie Buckley, Tipperary pair George Hannigan and Brian Fox, and Waterford's Shane Briggs elected to send letters to their respective county boards seeking an emergency meeting. At the Munster GAA headquarters, a motion to return to an open draw was ruled out of order. Limerick stalwart Pa Ranahan took to social media to suggest they would consider a 'nuclear' option and boycott the 2014 competition. Ranahan is now a member of the current management team. He knows the history and the struggles. They all know what is required for the county to progress. Right now, the focus should be on how such counties can rise through the ranks. Could a Limerick amalgamation compete in the Corn Uí Mhuirí? Can this group kick on and continue to compete for silverware? After all, success breeds success. To do all of that, they need to feel like they have the backing of their own.
Irish Examiner
05-08-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Who would have thought people cared so much about Munster SFC?
Another decade, another Munster senior football championship row. The loop theory has been underscored by the latest kerfuffle surrounding this much-maligned competition. The only difference this time around is Noel Walsh isn't here to stand up for the minnows. The former Munster chairman passed away in 2020 but you can imagine just how vexed he would be by last Thursday's decision by the provincial council to seed the championship in favour of Cork and Kerry. Walsh didn't get to see his beloved Clare compete in the last three Munster SFC finals as they previously did in the 1910s. You can imagine it would have given him an immense sense of pride. For nobody fought as hard for parity in the draw. But he was a realist too. When Kerry were winning all around them, he successfully proposed they be given a bye to the final in 1980. But as counties grew stronger into that decade, the St Joseph's Miltown-Malbay man lobbied for an open format before it eventually came to pass for the 1991 championship, a split decision. Limerick reached their first final in 26 years and a year later the cows in Clare were blissfully ignored. In the final year of his chairmanship, Munster experimented with a new format and the top three seeded teams earning semi-final berths but the open draw returned in 1999 and lasted until 2007. The following year, Cork and Kerry were kept apart in semi-final byes, another split decision which Walsh described as 'a black night for Munster football'. He said: "You're asking the impossible of the weaker counties in Munster to try to beat Cork and Kerry in the same year. There isn't a county in Ireland that could expect to do that, never mind in Munster.' Following outcry, the open draw returned for five more years before the council chose to separate Cork and Kerry again. 'A night of infamy' is how Walsh framed the decision. He couldn't believe it was happening under the watch of a Clare provincial chairman in Robert Frost. 'I think that's (the financial argument) just a spurious argument being put out by the chairman,' he lashed in this newspaper. 'What is more important anyway — a reduction in grants or a fair chance in the championship? We're not a banking organisation.' Again the boycotting of the McGrath Cup and Railway Cup team led to a compromise from 2015 in the form of the previous year's finalists being given semi-final places but no guarantee they would be separated. And that is what has endured these past 10 seasons until last Thursday's vote, which similar to the one taken in 2013 has been coloured by finances and resources. Limerick voted no back then but supported the latest motion despite the opposition of their players and management. According to Limerick manager Jimmy Lee and Clare Munster Council delegate Bernard Keane, the promise of investment in football in the four counties had been floated prior to the vote. We dare say the semi-final byes Limerick received for their football winners from Munster in the provincial championships probably helped too. The irony of how exercised, if not interested so many people are in the change of draw in a competition that in its five games this year (33,491) attracted less than either the Cork-Tipperary (42,231), Limerick-Cork (42,477) or Cork-Waterford (42,181) 2025 Munster SHC round games is potent. Having indicated he would do so in May, provincial chairman Tim Murphy has grasped the nettle. Given its five-week timeline, there isn't a whole pile that can be done with a competition that some of those criticising this latest attempt to resuscitate it have called to be scrapped. Linking league finishes with the championship has precedence, of course, and Cork are the only team who have beaten Kerry since 1992. But there probably should have been prior warning and a delay in its implementation until 2027. As Clare chairman Kieran Keating pointed out, the county weren't aware upon the league's conclusion in March that as a consequence of their and Cork's performances in it they were also losing an automatic semi-final position in the Munster SFC. At the same time, Cork weren't relegated, were a point away from promotion to Division 1 and therefore ascending to Division 2 wouldn't have done anything for The Banner. As an aside, was Peter Keane waiting to see the outcome of the vote before committing himself to a second year as manager? As the four counties consult with the Gaelic Players Association, one wonders what will happen when the 2026 draw is due to take place in October. Will Limerick compel their representatives to change their vote? If that doesn't force a U-turn, with pre-season competitions in line to return next year, it's likely the McGrath Cup will be impacted if it is revived. At the very least, Murphy has started a debate. There is heat in it but as Walsh would have argued that is necessary. It shows people care. Who would have thought it? Kerry's Kayleigh Cronin left for Australia. File picture: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho TG4's ladies and Aussie Rules football conundrum Dublin's victory in Sunday's All-Ireland ladies senior football final was roundly expected to the point that former Donegal footballer Nadine Doherty insisted Meath would need their opponents to suffer 'a psychological meltdown'. Doherty made her comments on 'Off The Ball' on Saturday where she also spoke of the impact of the emigration of footballers to the Australian game. 'I think it's decimated our game,' said Doherty, highlighting how Kayleigh Cronin was missed by Kerry in the championship having left after the league for Australia to play for AFLW club Adelaide Crows. She added: 'I don't like the way our game is promoted alongside the AFL; I think we've eased off a little bit but TG4 show the AFL. I find that absolutely bizarre because you're our biggest sponsor and marketing our direct opponent. 'There are 40 players gone – Kellyanne Hogan, a massive loss to Waterford (Hogan joined Collingwood). Not everybody is able to stay in Ireland for the full season and then head out two weeks before pre-season. There are only the top tier players (who can do that)… I just think it's ruining our game.' It's rare that TG4 would come in for criticism when they have done so much for the Gaelic games family but it's an interesting point by Doherty. When there is great Irish interest Down Under, TG4 can claim there is a market for what they are showing yet it does seem a mite counter-productive when that sport has taken players away from the indigenous one they endorse. Ultimately, something may have to give. Fógra – On August 14, The Friends of Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh come together for a golf classic in The Grange in Rathfarnham, Dublin in aid of two special charities. The fourball event is aimed at raising funds for The Hospice Foundation as well as Camphill Community in Dingle. To book, visit
Irish Examiner
02-08-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Limerick boss Lee says county board 'knifed players in the back' on seeding issue
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
RTÉ News
31-07-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Kerry and Cork to be seeded for Munster SFC
Seeding in the Munster SFC will come into place for a three-year period with All-Ireland champions Kerry and Cork to be on opposite sides of the semi-final draw for the 2026 provincial championship. The Munster Council have accepted a proposal that the top two teams from the province in the previous year's Allianz Football League will be seeded. Kerry were crowned Division 1 champions back in March with Cork finishing fifth in Division 2. Clare, third in Division 3, were next best placed. Meanwhile, the Irish Examiner has reported that the 2026 Munster SHC will start with a repeat of the recent All-Ireland final with champions Tipperary welcoming Cork to Thurles.
Irish Examiner
04-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'I wouldn't I agree with it. You've to earn your right': Lee opposes Munster SFC seeding
Limerick football manager Jimmy Lee has expressed opposition to the proposal to seed the Munster SFC based on league status, insisting that counties must earn the right to a provincial semi-final spot and shouldn't have it handed to them. The proposed change is that the two highest-ranked counties from the league receive byes to the Munster semi-final and, additionally, be kept apart in that semi-final draw. If the league-based seeding is voted in later this month, Cork and Kerry would be the seeded pair for 2026 on account of Cork's fifth-place finish in Division 2 earlier this year bettering Clare's third-place finish in Division 3. The current structure, which has been in place since 2015, seeds the previous year's Munster finalists. Clare and Kerry, as a result of reaching the 2024 Munster decider, were given semi-final byes for the 2025 draw, albeit they could still have been paired against one another in that last-four stage. 'I wouldn't agree with it,' said Jimmy Lee when asked for his views on the recommended change that will go before the full Munster Council later this month. 'Why wouldn't I agree with it? You've to earn your right. If it was the same across all four provinces, I'd probably be fine with it. But if you were to look at it coldly, who would be seeded next year? It would be Cork and Kerry. Our neighbours Clare, Munster finalists this year and for the two years before that, they have done nothing wrong. So for me, it is a no. 'I'd be happy out with that [current system]. Clare, and I am just using them as an example, they have worked so hard to get there and maintain it, they have been consistent for years. 'They've earned the right to be there and that's the only issue I'd have with it. You've got to earn these rights. You can't hand them out.' Although Munster GAA have yet to clarify the motivation behind the proposal, it is understood to be linked to a sharp fall in Munster final attendances across the three most recent Kerry-Clare deciders, as well as the one-sided nature of two of those games. Clare chairman Kieran Keating recently told the Irish Examiner that putting Cork and Kerry up on a 'pedestal' will do nothing to improve the standard of football in Munster. 'Improving the standard in Cork is not going to fix Munster football, it is by helping other counties, giving a leg up to other counties, rather than putting Cork and Kerry on the pedestal up above them and saying to the others, you fight for the scraps.' With Clare and Limerick set to vote against the proposal, they would require similar opposition from Tipperary and Waterford to ensure the status quo is retained in 2026.
