Search starts for a new Tyrone manager

THE hunt for a new Tyrone senior manager is now being stepped up following the departure of Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan on Monday evening.

After weeks of speculation the 2021 All-Ireland winning pair stepped down after four years at the helm, with attention now switching to potential successors.

The Tyrone County Board will aim to announce the successful candidate as soon as possible, ideally in time to allow them to trawl the playing resources at their disposal in the upcoming Club Championships.

And with several other high profile counties also seeking to fill voids in their senior management positions, the Red Hand top brass will be conscious of the need to act with some degree of urgency.

Following a Board meeting on Tuesday the process for the appointment of a new Senior team manager was agreed. Clubs will now be invited to submit nominations which will close at 9am on Tuesday next September 3rd.

Former Errigal Ciaran player Malachy O’Rourke is the raging hot bookies favourite , while others in the mix include Paul Devlin, Paddy Tally and Ciaran Meenagh.

Fermanagh native O’Rourke has enjoyed tremendous success at club and county level over the past decade, with Derry sides Glen and Loup, and also when guiding the fortunes of Monaghan. The Derrylin native would become the first ‘outsider’ to ever manage the Tyrone senior team if he fills the vacancy.

Moortown man Paul Devlin has steered the Tyrone Under-20s to two All-Ireland titles (2022 and 2024) and has been widely lauded for his leadership and guidance in overseeing the conveyor belt of outstanding youth talent coming through the ranks.

Paddy Tally was previously assistant to Mickey Harte in his native county, while in recent years the Galbally man has managed Down and been part of Kerry’s backroom team since 2022. Loughmacrory’s Ciaran Meenagh was widely lauded for the job he did when stepping into the breach in Derry last season following the abrupt departure of Rory Gallagher, as the Oak Leafers progressed to an All-Ireland semi-final.

Meanwhile praising the contribution of the Logan and Dooher partnership to Tyrone GAA over the years, County chairperson Martin Sludden lauded their achievements and track record both on and off the pitch.

“They’ve simply made wonderful history for us, time and again, in place after place, and in so many ways. Always with style, class, dignity and honour. And, very remarkably in the world we’re now in, always as total volunteers to the Tyrone GAA cause.

“ On the field, on the sideline, and on out through the rest of life, both men have been serial achievers for Tyrone.”

And Mr Sludden added: “And all the while beyond football they have made their ways diligently to the peaks of their chosen professions, in veterinary and the law.”

The county chairperson added that the Tyrone senior team now faced into new challenges, though stressing that the departing joint managers had left them with a solid base on which to build.

“Brian and Feargal, along with their backrooms, have left us in a very good position. And we’ve also been blessed with the constant influences and support of Mary, Eileen, and the Dooher and Logan families throughout everything.

“They too have played their very important parts. Family is central to what we’re about. That too can’t be forgotten. Brian and Feargal will remain very important parts of the Tyrone GAA fabric. Men like that don’t go away. They’ll continue to inspire and achieve right across our County and far beyond.”

Tyrone’s County Secretary Michael Kerr was also fulsome in his gratitude to the now former senior management partnership.

“Brian and Feargal’s contributions to Tyrone GAA are just monumental,” he explained. “ Too often we focus on ‘What’ people achieve. But in the broader picture the ‘How’ and the ‘Why’ are probably more important.

“Brian and Feargal have delivered the supreme prizes for Tyrone but they’ve always done that in the right way. And never more so than in the COVID throes, when they unapologetically prioritised the well-being of our players and then dealt so well with the serious impacts of the virus on our panel.”