‘Joint favourites’ battle for Galway hurling manager job as dark horses emerge

These are the two frontrunners who have raced to the top in the hunt to replace Henry Shefflin taking over one of the most pressurised jobs in GAA – Galway hurling manager.

As ‘King’ Henry leaves his role at the helm after three seasons, all eyes are on his replacement with speculation abound over who would be fit to take the Tribesmen to the heights they have been reaching for since 2017.

There are a plethora of potential candidates to take the top job to lead the Tribesmen to Liam MacCarthy glory ranging from the ‘dream scenario’ Bainisteoir to a couple of dark horses who stand a chance.

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The latest odds from the bookies show Davy Fitzgerald and current Dublin boss and former Galway All Ireland winning manager Micheál Donoghue as joint favourites to succeed Shefflin.

Boylesports have priced the duo at 2/1, with Kenneth Burke next at 4/1 after leading St Thomas’ to All-Ireland club glory last January while Galway’s legendary talisman-turned-pundit Joe Canning is a more distant 33/1.

Michéal Donoghue, who has been touted as a ‘dream scenario’, is known as one Galway’s most successful managers leading the Tribesmen to back to back All Ireland finals in 2017 and 2018. Whether he would make a return is in doubt however as he is enjoying a successful run with his Dublin project who reached the Leinster final this year.

Meanwhile Clare native Davy Fitzgerald, who on Wednesday stepped down as Waterford boss after two years in the role, is also in the mix as one of the favourites. He decided to end his second spell in charge of the Deise after they failed to secure a top three finish in the Munster round robin phase.

As a player, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation securing two Munster Club Championship titles and six Clare Senior Championship titles as well as two coveted All Ireland titles.

Not far behind the pair of frontrunners is Kenneth Burke, who is early in his career but has an impressive resume as part of the St. Thomas’ team that won Galway and Connacht Intermediate Club titles in 2004. Burke has also been heavily involved in team management and coaching at all levels with the St. Thomas’ club. He was manager of the club’s senior team that won three Galway SHC titles in a row from 2021 to 2023.

Meanwhile, another potential candidate is three-time All-Ireland winning Galway minor manager Jeffrey Lynskey, whose wins in 2015, 2017 and 2018 give him the credentials to make the massive step up.

In his first season in charge, he guided Galway to defeats of Limerick and Kilkenny on the way to qualifying for an All-Ireland final appearance on 6 September 2015. A 4-13 to 1-16 defeat of Tipperary secured the title for Lynskey’s side.

Galway native Mattie Kenny, who is the former manager of the Dublin senior hurling team, became familiar with Galway in his time as a player in the 1980s and is also being touted as a dark horse.

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