Leinster final goalscoring hero to run for position of Kildare GAA chairman

There had been whispers of a left-field candidate over the last few months but confirmation on Bank Holiday Monday that former Lilywhite player Bryan Murphy is running for the position of Chairperson of Kildare GAA in December will have raised plenty of eyebrows across the county. It’s fair to say very few saw that coming.

With Mick Gorman’s term finishing at the end of the year, the expectation might have been that one of the existing Executive would be primed to succeed the St Laurence’s man but the candidacy of the Cork-born hero of Kildare’s 1998 Leinster Championship final triumph over Meath offers an opportunity for a new face to lead the county board.

Murphy played 31 times for Kildare over six seasons during the Mick O’Dwyer era and is fondly remembered for that clinching goal from Martin Lynch’s cross, bringing 42 years of provincial famine to an end.

The Clane clubman has been deeply ingrained in Kildare football since retiring from playing, having had spells coaching and managing the minor and under-21 teams as well as a selector for the senior side.

Murphy’s experience in business development over a long career with Dawn Farm Foods may also be a strong selling point given the need for County Boards to be commercially savvy these days.

Murphy’s ticket also includes the highly regarded Colm Nolan as Vice Chairperson candidate, a role currently held by Johnstownbridge’s Colm Farrell.

Nolan grew up in Dublin and played with St Oliver Plunkett’s Eoghan Ruadh before moving to Maynooth where he has been a member of the local GAA club for over three decades. He chaired the club for five years.

At county level he served as a member of Bord na nÓg and in a successful spell as Hurling Chairman between 2017 and 2021. He drove the development and implementation of the “Kildare Hurling Action Plan” in that role, a blueprint for Kildare hurling which received extensive buy in from clubs, players and coaches alike.

Nolan also Chaired the Strategic Plan committee before stepping away from the Executive. He remains deeply committed to hurling in the county, serving on the backroom teams of David Herity and current manager Brian Dowling as head of performance analysis.

At the national level Nolan was selected by then GAA President Larry McCarthy to chair the National Hurling Action Plan Workgroup last year, and when McCarthy’s successor Jarlath Burns created his National Hurling Development Committee earlier this year Nolan was again elected to serve on that committee.

An accountant and successful businessman in his own right, Nolan set up his own business Colm Nolan & Associates, Taxation and Financial Advisors, based in Maynooth.

There is certainly no shortage of credentials there, covering both codes and with plenty of experience between them. It remains to be seen who will be their opposition when running to replace Gorman. Some interesting decisions ahead for those with a say on the future of Kildare GAA.