Delegates frustrated with Mayo review process 

A number of delegates have expressed their frustration with the length of time the review of the 2024 season of Mayo senior football team is taking.

Mayo were beaten in the Connacht final by eventual All-Ireland finalists Galway before exiting the All-Ireland championship to Derry in the preliminary quarter-final back in June, the first time Mayo have failed to make the quarter-final stage since 2018.

At last Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Mayo GAA County Board, chairperson Seamus Tuohy said the review is ongoing and is expected to be completed before the next county board meeting.

After those remarks by Mr Tuohy, Garrymore delegate John Farragher interjected and said a lot of people are ‘not happy’ and they ‘want change’.

“A questionnaire sheet went out to players. I’m hearing players are not happy. This sends out alarm bells. What I’m saying, if you lose a dressing room, you can forget about it.

“I can tell you, I go to a lot of games. The supporters, the genuine people going through the turnstiles are not happy.” “People are not happy with our selectors, our coaches, people are not happy. And that’s out there and it’s out there big time,” added John Gibbons (Louisburgh).

Michael Gallagher (Ballycroy) said that the situation is ‘dragging on’.

“The way you stop rumours is you fill the void with fact, and we’re hearing nothing. For the last few weeks, it’s all over the county that the players are up in arms. We thought here tonight that we’d hear something and we’d hear what they’re being asked and what they’re coming back with. But now it’s going to be another three or four weeks. It’s going to go out of hand.

“If the players are upset, then we are in real bother, but they may not be, so we don’t know, and that’s the problem.” In response, Mr Tuohy asked delegates to ‘trust the process’, adding that the review has been lengthened due to a number of players being out of the country as well as involved in the club championship. He also said no senior player had to come to him with concerns about the management.

“There was no review carried in June, July or August in any county. There is no point in having a review with half a squad.” offered Mr Tuohy, who added that meetings with senior management have been held.

Mayo GAA Treasurer, Valerie Murphy, said that the county board would be meeting with the players for the review.

Kevin McDonnell (Kilmaine) believes the review ‘should not be rushed’ and that it should be conducted correctly.

“Opinions are like footballs, everybody has them. And a lot of people out there express opinions and they wouldn’t know football from one end to the other. I’d count any opinion out there to be taken with a pinch of salt.

In response to a question asked by Cathal Duffy (Aghamore) about the structure of the review, Mr Tuohy said that a person, who is anonymous to the county board and management, has been appointed to take independent feedback to the county board.

Mike Connelly (Hollymount-Carramore) said the county bord must have the review as a ‘matter of urgency’ as soon as possible as it’s ‘gone on too long’.

“The senior team is hugely important to us and supporters. We could see another twist in it in a local paper and then in a national paper. But we’ve had too much of that in the past,” said the former Mayo GAA chairperson.

Mr Tuohy responded that any reviews that are being carried out are very thorough and said they ‘don’t want to wash our linen in public’ “We have to work on our strengths, areas that need improving and areas that are doing us no good in Mayo football. The review has asked all them questions.” Mr Tuohy also told delegates that the U19 Academy and Minor (U17) reviews have been completed. Colm Boyle, David Drake, Matthew Flanagan and Colm Boyle will remain in charge of the U19 Academy team for next year while the U17 management duo of Tom Reilly and David Heaney will also stay. The Mayo minors won the Connacht title and reached the All-Ireland semi-final, where they were beaten by Armagh.