Kerry captaincy

[Maguire01]

It was a farce last year and looks like it could be the same this year. Surely now its time for their county board to throw out this foolish tradition and appoint a captain on merit(?)

Three in contention for Kerry captaincy

Kerry's Darren O'Sullivan
01 December 2008


Darren O'Sullivan, Sean O'Sullivan and Donncha Walsh are all in contention to succeed Paul Galvin as Kerry football captain next season.

It follows Mid Kerry's victory over Kerins O'Rahilly's in the Kerry SFC final replay on Sunday. And as county champions, the divisional side will have the right to nominate next year's captain.

The captaincy issue could pose a dilemma for new Kerry manager Jack O'Connor, however, given that the trio all struggled to nail down regular starting places under former boss Pat O'Shea.

Whoever is handed the captaincy, he will hope for better luck than Paul Galvin, who missed most of last season's championship campaign through suspension.

[Ball Hopper]

Could be Tomas O'Se again, via the nomination route.

[johnpower]

It certainly needs to be looked at . I think the issue of the importance of who is captain or not can be overstated .

[RedandGreenSniper]

Appointing someone on the basis of winning a county title is daft. It can put undue pressure on a young lad who doesn't need and can't handle the distraction. Remember Brian Sheehan throwing a mini tiff a few years ago under Jack O'Connor.

[johnpower]

Appointing someone on the basis of winning a county title is daft. It can put undue pressure on a young lad who doesn't need and can't handle the distraction. Remember Brian Sheehan throwing a mini tiff a few years ago under Jack O'Connor.

Think of the Honour and pride ? Cromane and Glenbeigh Glencar are very small clubs and would be very proud if one of their players got the honour .The Gooch held the role up until the final in 2006 . I hope we do not have the same controversy as this year

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Think its a crazy system to be honest. If we had it in Armagh neither Kieran McGeeney nor Paul McGrane would ever have captained their county.

[RedandGreenSniper]

Appointing someone on the basis of winning a county title is daft. It can put undue pressure on a young lad who doesn't need and can't handle the distraction. Remember Brian Sheehan throwing a mini tiff a few years ago under Jack O'Connor.

Think of the Honour and pride ? Cromane and Glenbeigh Glencar are very small clubs and would be very proud if one of their players got the honour .The Gooch held the role up until the final in 2006 . I hope we do not have the same controversy as this year

The romantic in me agrees with ya. But small clubs can still end up with one of their own being the captain if he's picked for being the best leader on the team. I remember reading in Michael Foley's book Kings of September about the hassle that followed with South Kerry winning the county title and the decision about who would be captain between Jack O'Shea and John Egan. Egan's club Sneem are a small club and really wanted their man to get the job. The issue was allowed to linger and wasn't conducive to good preparation for championship.
If this system followed in Mayo then Andy Moran would be captain for 2009. He wouldn't be a bad man for the job by any means but he had an indifferent 2008 and the pressure is on him to prove himself worthy of a place in 09. Having the captaincy would add added pressure he could do without

[armaghniac]

If you had this kind of thing in Armagh than only one club would have had captaincy, while instead we had Paul McGrane from an Intermediate club getting the role and well deserved.

[Ball Hopper]

Appointing someone on the basis of winning a county title is daft. It can put undue pressure on a young lad who doesn't need and can't handle the distraction. Remember Brian Sheehan throwing a mini tiff a few years ago under Jack O'Connor.

Think of the Honour and pride ? Cromane and Glenbeigh Glencar are very small clubs and would be very proud if one of their players got the honour .The Gooch held the role up until the final in 2006 . I hope we do not have the same controversy as this year

The romantic in me agrees with ya. But small clubs can still end up with one of their own being the captain if he's picked for being the best leader on the team. I remember reading in Michael Foley's book Kings of September about the hassle that followed with South Kerry winning the county title and the decision about who would be captain between Jack O'Shea and John Egan. Egan's club Sneem are a small club and really wanted their man to get the job. The issue was allowed to linger and wasn't conducive to good preparation for championship.

Was actually carried out in a very civil manner and did not linger...both men were nominated for captain by their respective clubs, and, rather than having delegates vote on it, it was agreed that the Sergeant in Cahirciveen would pull the captain's name from a hat. 

Kerry Mike can speak wiyh more authority on the matter, since he's from "down there".

BH

[stephenite]

I think the choice of captain should be made by the manager of the team in every instance, I'd like go on and say that this archaic system does not work, but it's not doing the feckers any harm really, is it?

[rrhf]

Mc Geeney never would have captained Armagh to the All Ireland as well. 

[under the bar]

According to the Kerry system Errigal Ciaran's finest should have captained Tyrone to all-Ireland glory.... oh wait....he did! 

[passedit]

Think its a crazy system to be honest. If we had it in Armagh neither Kieran McGeeney nor Paul McGrane would ever have captained their county.

When did McGeeney head south? was he not a mullaghbawn player in 95?

Genuine question was out of the country at the time.

[deaconblue]

id be happy enough with it, always good topic in the pub, adds good interest to co champ, and even
the hassle we have now and again over it is a bit of crack. its a tradition in kerry and has served us well,
for next year our most likely captain in my opinion will be declan o sullivan. 

[Our Nail Loney]

What was the mini tiff Sheehan was involved in??