Murphy appointed Head of Football Development for Kildare GAA
Bryan Murphy has been appointed as
On the night Davy Burke was ratified as a key member of Brian Flanagan’s Kildare Senior Football management team, the game in the county was given another significant boost with the appointment of former county player Bryan Murphy as Head of Football Development within the county.
For years Kildare have operated without a Football Development Committee, though they have had a hurling equivalent which has borne significant fruit on the field with the county promoted to Division 1B of the Allianz League and to the Leinster Championship at Liam McCarthy Cup level.
Now the man who lost out to Mick Mullen in the vote for Chairperson of Kildare GAA in December has agreed to come on board to head up football development across club and inter-county football within the county. The Cork born former Clane player will sit on the Executive Management Committee alongside his hurling counterpart John Burke.
Murphy of course is probably best remembered for putting the ball in the Meath net to clinch the 1998 Leinster title, Kildare’s first since 1942, and despite repeating the feat two years later they are still waiting for another crown.
The Bishopstown native has experience in a similar role in Kildare having worked with Syl Merrins and Noel Mooney in the 2000’s putting in place structures around development squads, but it would appear that the current role is more far-reaching, and Murphy will be tasked with the creation of a plan for football development in the county as well as its implementation as head of a committee.
Burke’s appointment was also rubber-stamped without dissent by clubs at tonight’s County Board meeting though there was some discussion around the appointment of outgoing county minor manager Niall Cronin to the under-20 role vacated by Sean O’Dea. Ultimately, Cronin’s appointment was ratified with Mullen reminding delegates that while Cronin may not have won a provincial title in his four years with the minors, he brought home two Paul McGirr Cups for the All-Ireland B title competed for by losing provincial semi-finalists.
Cronin’s management team was not named by Mullen out of deference to any clubs they were currently involved with in local championships.
Tommy Konstantin, ratified as under-17 manager will be joined by Conor Mellett (Naas), James Hanafin (Ballyteague) and Karl Ennis (Maynooth) while it was confirmed that Adrian Kinsella will remain as hurling under-20 manager with Brian Murnane from Naas ratified as under-17 manager.
On the financial side long-serving Treasurer Alan Dunney reported healthy figures to the end of July with revenue at just under €2.3m and expenditure at €1.65m.
Concerns were raised from the floor about the ongoing Revenue engagement with the GAA at County Board level and whether this might become an issue for clubs down the line as well.
From a Kildare County Board perspective Dunney felt that while a provision for liabilities may have to be made in 2025 it should not in his view be something untoward or unmanageable and that any relevant issues from the past were relatively minor and had since been addressed.
There were some concerns raised from the floor around the quality of floodlighting in Hawkfield for the many night-time hurling matches that are played there specifically, with one club delegate reporting that players had spoken of being unable to see the ball when high in the air.
Hurling Committee Chairperson John Burke and CCC Chairperson Noel McKenna both emphasised that they will be meeting in coming weeks to review competition structures for both league and championship for the small ball game.
