In a statement released on Friday morning, it was confirmed that Eamonn Fitzmaurice will continue as Kerry senior football manager for the 2018 season.
The statement, from Tim Murphy, elaborates that the Kerry county board chairman intends to propose that Fitzmaurice is retained for a further two years beyond his current term. If ratified - and that sounds very likely - it would keep the North Kerry man in place until the 2020 season.
Recognising the need to satiate the county's desire for senior championship success and how increasingly tough it is becoming to topple Dublin, the county board is putting in place a three-year plan.
The new Centre of Excellent in Currans will play a major part in the implementation of a programme which will put player development and strength and conditioning to the fore.
I am pleased to advise that the Kerry Senior Football Team manager, Éamonn Fitzmaurice, has confirmed that he will continue in his role for the 2018 season.
His current management team will remain in place and additions to the backroom team will be announced in due course.
This decision is very welcome and removes any uncertainty, allowing us to begin our preparations for the forthcoming season.
Despite winning the Allianz League and Munster football titles this year and the continuing unprecedented success at under-age and schools grades, we all fully recognise and acknowledge the great hunger for senior championship success among the Kerry GAA community.
Working closely with Éamonn and his management team, the Kerry County Board is determined to provide the resources and supports necessary in order to ensure that Kerry achieves this success as soon as possible.
To that end, the County Board and the Senior Team management have agreed to develop in the coming months, a 3 year programme of supports for the senior panel, with particular emphasis on player development and progression together with strength and conditioning. The imminent completion of the Centre of Excellence in Currans will enable us to deliver these programmes within a state of the art facility in a co-ordinated and streamlined approach.
In order to provide stability and underpin this programme I will be proposing that Éamonn Fitzmaurice be ratified as senior manager for a further two year term (2019/2020) at the next Co. Committee Meeting on 16th October next. This proposal was unanimously supported by the Executive of the Kerry County Board at a meeting last evening.
I am very confident that a strong collective effort will ensure that the phenomenal success we have achieved at minor level will be translated into senior success in the coming years.
Since Fitzmaurice took over from Jack O'Connor following the 2012 Championship, Kerry have contested two All-Ireland finals, winning the 2014 decider against Donegal. This year, Kerry won their first National League title since 2009 after a one-point win against Dublin.
Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
