Ballinrobe join forces with McGauley for new season

Ballinrobe Town have confirmed the appointment of Chris McGauley as the new manager of their Super League team.

Chris, a native of Dublin who holds a UEFA C coaching licence, is currently the Mayo U18 manager and also works as a coach with the Mayo Oscar Traynor and U21 squads. He will continue in these roles alongside his new role as Ballinrobe Town manager, where he has taken over from Xavi Vasquez, who departed at the end of last season. Chris has also previously been an analyst with Connaught FA for the Interprovincials as well as an Underage Coach with Westport United.

Chris’s first challenge will be to arrest the poor run of form that Ballinrobe Town found themselves in towards the back end of last season. They gain just one point from their final seven games and results elsewhere kept them from relegation.

Despite that, the club are on a good footing having secured three promotions in a row to take them from League Two in 2021 to the Super League in 2024. In addition, they are currently in the process of developing new facilities on the Neale Road in order to cater for the club’s ever-growing membership.

McGauley will be also on the lookout for a goal scorer; the team’s top marksman JP O’Gorman, who scored 12 goals in the Super League last season, said he would be hanging up his boots at the end of last season.

Co-Chair of Ballinrobe Town Alan Dowling said Chris is an ‘exciting appointment’ for the south Mayo club.

“After consolidating our position in the Super League this year there was quite a steep learning curve. We’ve fantastic talent coming through the club and with the significant growth over the past few years with over 500 players our goal is to recruit and develop the best coaches we can.”

“Chris certainly meets that criteria. He has the experience, progressive management style, high standards and attention to detail. Having seen his plans and ideas we are very excited already for the season ahead and the players and supporters should be too”.

On the appointment, Chris said he is looking forward to the challenge of his first Super League management job.

“When the opportunity was put to me, I was happy to speak to the people at the club, from that first meeting I felt that we could work together. It’s a very progressive club with serious plans and I’m delighted to be here, great young players coming through, we will have a lot of work to do but we are all looking forward to the challenge”.

Elsewhere in the Super League, Ballina Town have re-appointed Mick Duffy as manager while it is understood that Andrew Shally will be player/manager with Manulla next year alongside a management team of Roger Clarke, Gary Heneghan and Damien Joyce. Westport United have announced that Anthony O'Neill will take over as first-team manager and Director of Football with Michael Flannery as his assistant.