Conor Counihan set to leave Cork football project co-ordinator role

CORK’S 2010 All-Ireland SFC winning manager Conor Counihan is set to leave his position as project co-ordinator for football on Leeside in September.

Since stepping away from the Rebels senior job back in August 2013, he stayed involved with the county’s underage structures before taking up the project co-ordinator job in May 2019 with the primary role being the implementation of the 2024 five-year plan for Cork football which he helped create with his successor as Cork manager Brian Cuthbert, former All-Ireland winning captain Graham Canty, and the then county chairperson Tracey Kennedy.

It’s understood Counihan will retire in three months’ time. The last manager to lead Cork to a Munster SFC title, which was back in 2012, had come in for some criticism in recent weeks with the poor performances and results of the Rebels U20 and minor football teams this year. 

Cork were beaten by Kerry in the Munster U20 football championship final as they lost by six points while the minors were trounced by 15 points to the Kingdom in the provincial decider before losing by 17 points against Mayo in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

2023 wasn’t a great year either as Cork lost Munster finals to Kerry at U20 and minor level by five and nine points respectively.

The start of the plan went well. 2019 was a dream year as the Rebels U20s won Munster and All-Ireland titles while the minors claimed All-Ireland glory. The U20s have claimed Munster glory just once since which was back in 2021. The minors lifted provincial silverware in 2021 and ’22.

The 2024 five-year plan released in January 2019.

• Cork will be regular All-Ireland contenders in all grades of inter-county football, including club championships, within three to five years;

• Support for Cork football and the profile of our inter-county footballers will grow significantly within one to two years;

• A clear player development pathway will be created by the end of 2019, producing a regular supply of quality footballers within the next five years;

• High-quality coaches with a strong focus on developing the fundamental skills of the game will be available in all clubs, along with a support network for those club coaches led by the county games development staff, by the end of 2024;

• A county championship structure which supports this work will be in place within three years 

• A clear over-arching vision/plan for football in Cork which is communicated to and understood by all involved in the game;

• A well-resourced administration fully supportive of this plan and driving its success.