Minor Football 2026

[jimbob17]

Apparently some of the parents of players are very unhappy with this development too. Lads were getting on well with the group by all accounts. I am told there is a controlling committee that controls what players are part of and not part of development squads, led by one DK as Underage Academy Director (Football). The managements are not free to select their own players which is actually comical. Apparently there was a distinct difference of opinion and the lads were removed as a result.

I am told they sought to trial some of stronger players in county who were not in the squad and this so called 'Development Committee' blocked them and sacked them for this. Apparently, there was an element of nepotism in place previously, that the management were trying to get rid of, and is now back in place already since they were removed and replaced. Unfortunately, One person has been given way too much control over Offaly football by people who know nothing about football and other people involved are having to pay the price, including players and coaches.

[Anon444]

If true, it’s a sheer lack of respect for volunteers trying to develop future Offaly footballers. I’ve heard a few stories regarding this so called committee or whatever they are that would make you worry.

[Barnet]

Jimmy stewart is over them I believe and is doing quite well. Hope he gets the gig next year

[jimbob17]

As per above and previous page, Jimmy Stewart is no longer involved with U16 football management. Him and his management group were sacked last week by the Development Squad Committee and replaced.

Tullamore have been shown to be the strongest team by a reasonable distance at this age grade in Offaly, having won previous A championships at U13, U14 and U16, but had very few on county panel. The management sought to trial 5 or 6 lads from Tullamore club with a few more and were blocked from doing so and relieved of their duties. Talk about heavy handed control Not sure our 'Football Underage Academy Director' would allow external voices dictate who he could or couldn't have on his senior football panel....

Not a good look to treat lads volunteering their time like that. So I'd imagine there is little chance of Stewart being involved in minor next year....

[Lone Shark]

On this topic, the conversation here has caught the attention of some people involved, so over the course of a phone call I got a few things clarified with regard to the structure of this Academy Review Committee. (The phone call was not with Declan Kelly, lest anyone thinks I'm just being fed information!)

The gist of the explanation is as follows, and I've done what I can to keep it factual, and to strip away anything that could be perceived as spinning for one side or another. Just for clarity, the position of "Director of Football" existed during Covid times, it does NOT exist now, though both Declan Kelly and Toni Ryan remain part of the ARC, and have been listed as "underage academy directors" in social media posts by Offaly GAA since then. If they possess a formal title different to that, I don't know it, but I'm assured they have no more or less authority than any other member of this ten-person group.

I've tried to be 100% factual in summarising the function of the ARC here.

The Development Squads are overseen by the Academy Review Committee, not by any one individual. The committee is responsible for:

1. Annual planning and calendars across the 39 week season.
2. Coach appointments.
3. Athletic development programmes.
4. Player testing.
5. Ensuring players continue to train and play with their clubs.
6. Gear, equipment and facility bookings.
7. Monitoring attendance and administrating disciplinary issues.
8. Official squad invitations and panel administration.

The process is that coaches of specific teams submit their proposed panels, and the committee then reviews eligibility. Among the main issues determining eligibility is that players have to be actively training and participating with their clubs, if they are not, they are not invited into the squads.

When players need to be released from panels, this is either because of issues arising with regard to not making themselves available to their clubs, or a decision by coaches. This process is managed through the committee.

(Note here: I asked the question if the coaches themselves have a conversation with the player before the formal process of the ARC communicating with the club and the parents of the player, and I was told that they understand this usually happens).

The committee's role is to manage all of the administration and governance aspects of Development Squads, allowing coaches to concentrate solely on player development and performance.

The Academy Review Committee consists of the following individuals, in their capacity as listed in brackets here:

Keith Screeney (Coiste na nÓg Chairperson, ergo ARC Chair).
Carina Carroll (Coaching Officer)
Pádraig O'Meara (Offaly County Secretary)
Adrian Clancy (Games Manager)
Oisín O'Gubney (Head of Athletic Development)
Dean Bracken (Hurling Coordinator)
Nigel Dunne (Football Coordinator)
John Hackett (Operations Manager)
Declan Kelly
Toni Ryan

Panels are reviewed four times each year, after (a) Féile, (b) club leagues, (c) club championships, (d) end of year; but the committee meets weekly.

The maximum panel size is 30 players, the coaches submit names for additions or releases, and the committee then manages the administration and communication process. The ARC retains the final say, not because of a preference for player A over player B, but in the sense that the coaches' selections are subject to the players meeting the criteria with regard to discipline, communication, availability to their clubs etc.

Now, with regard to the last bit, I'm not going to get into details of the situation that has led to the removal of the existing U-16 squad management. I'm not going to do that for the specific reason that I haven't spoken to the outgoing management team, and quite frankly, I'm not going to take the time to do that for the sake of a post on Uibhfhaili.com.

What I will say is that it was NOT a situation where it was always planned for Adrian Farrell and his selectors to take over the group once their campaign with the U-17s came to an end. I'm confident in saying that neither side of this argument would say that's what's happened here.

For clarity, and again this is coming from that phone call but tallies with my understanding of how things run, Offaly's minor hurling and minor football teams do not fall under the auspices of the ARC, and it is entirely in the gift of the management team in any given year to call up whoever they like for trials, to select the players they want, and to manage the ins and outs of their panel. The minor management of 2027 will have the right to pick 100% or 0% of the 2026 U-16 development squad, as they see fit.

Equally, where there is disparity is that the aim of Offaly development squads is to develop players, while also allowing club programmes to carry on unimpeded. It is for this reason (I am told) that at development squad level, they do not want players in both a football and hurling development squad. The idea is that they want 30 players in each panel, attending every session, where possible within the parameters of injuries, exams, family holidays etc. The thinking is that a player splitting their time between a football and a hurling panel is either going to miss out on far too much club activity as a result, or else there will be too much time when they will be at one sport and missing the other, meaning that there is not as much benefit accrued as would be the case if there were two different players, one committed fully to football, and one committed fully to hurling.

It is for the same reason that they always look to give preference to players who can commit fully to the development panel, rather than giving a spot to someone who will be absent for several sessions due to other extra-curricular activity.

When it comes to the intercounty minor championship, these calls are left to management to decide, and it is for them to work out, in collaboration with their counterparts from the other code if necessary, which players are worth accommodating, even if they have other sporting or life commitments that interfere with playing football or hurling for Offaly.

[Tmacmahon]

The dogs on the street now know its all been ran by a few people there is no truth in the 11 person committee I'm now asking all people I can on the ground. This is very dangerous and the people of offaly need to stand up before generations are affected. A few strong voices dictating all on the week of a senior match

[Payperview1]

I think it would have been more appropriate if Declan Kelly stood down from all involvement with underage set ups when he was appointed Offaly senior manager. Managing inter county teams is now a very time consuming job and doesn't make sense to have your senior manager still involved in decisions made about development squads.
Very hard for any other member of a committee to oppose the views of the county senior football manager.

[jimbob17]

On this topic, the conversation here has caught the attention of some people involved, so over the course of a phone call I got a few things clarified with regard to the structure of this Academy Review Committee. (The phone call was not with Declan Kelly, lest anyone thinks I'm just being fed information!)

The gist of the explanation is as follows, and I've done what I can to keep it factual, and to strip away anything that could be perceived as spinning for one side or another. Just for clarity, the position of "Director of Football" existed during Covid times, it does NOT exist now, though both Declan Kelly and Toni Ryan remain part of the ARC, and have been listed as "underage academy directors" in social media posts by Offaly GAA since then. If they possess a formal title different to that, I don't know it, but I'm assured they have no more or less authority than any other member of this ten-person group.

I've tried to be 100% factual in summarising the function of the ARC here.

The Development Squads are overseen by the Academy Review Committee, not by any one individual. The committee is responsible for:

1. Annual planning and calendars across the 39 week season.
2. Coach appointments.
3. Athletic development programmes.
4. Player testing.
5. Ensuring players continue to train and play with their clubs.
6. Gear, equipment and facility bookings.
7. Monitoring attendance and administrating disciplinary issues.
8. Official squad invitations and panel administration.

The process is that coaches of specific teams submit their proposed panels, and the committee then reviews eligibility. Among the main issues determining eligibility is that players have to be actively training and participating with their clubs, if they are not, they are not invited into the squads.

When players need to be released from panels, this is either because of issues arising with regard to not making themselves available to their clubs, or a decision by coaches. This process is managed through the committee.

(Note here: I asked the question if the coaches themselves have a conversation with the player before the formal process of the ARC communicating with the club and the parents of the player, and I was told that they understand this usually happens).

The committee's role is to manage all of the administration and governance aspects of Development Squads, allowing coaches to concentrate solely on player development and performance.

The Academy Review Committee consists of the following individuals, in their capacity as listed in brackets here:

Keith Screeney (Coiste na nÓg Chairperson, ergo ARC Chair).
Carina Carroll (Coaching Officer)
Pádraig O'Meara (Offaly County Secretary)
Adrian Clancy (Games Manager)
Oisín O'Gubney (Head of Athletic Development)
Dean Bracken (Hurling Coordinator)
Nigel Dunne (Football Coordinator)
John Hackett (Operations Manager)
Declan Kelly
Toni Ryan

Panels are reviewed four times each year, after (a) Féile, (b) club leagues, (c) club championships, (d) end of year; but the committee meets weekly.

The maximum panel size is 30 players, the coaches submit names for additions or releases, and the committee then manages the administration and communication process. The ARC retains the final say, not because of a preference for player A over player B, but in the sense that the coaches' selections are subject to the players meeting the criteria with regard to discipline, communication, availability to their clubs etc.

Now, with regard to the last bit, I'm not going to get into details of the situation that has led to the removal of the existing U-16 squad management. I'm not going to do that for the specific reason that I haven't spoken to the outgoing management team, and quite frankly, I'm not going to take the time to do that for the sake of a post on Uibhfhaili.com.

What I will say is that it was NOT a situation where it was always planned for Adrian Farrell and his selectors to take over the group once their campaign with the U-17s came to an end. I'm confident in saying that neither side of this argument would say that's what's happened here.

For clarity, and again this is coming from that phone call but tallies with my understanding of how things run, Offaly's minor hurling and minor football teams do not fall under the auspices of the ARC, and it is entirely in the gift of the management team in any given year to call up whoever they like for trials, to select the players they want, and to manage the ins and outs of their panel. The minor management of 2027 will have the right to pick 100% or 0% of the 2026 U-16 development squad, as they see fit.

Equally, where there is disparity is that the aim of Offaly development squads is to develop players, while also allowing club programmes to carry on unimpeded. It is for this reason (I am told) that at development squad level, they do not want players in both a football and hurling development squad. The idea is that they want 30 players in each panel, attending every session, where possible within the parameters of injuries, exams, family holidays etc. The thinking is that a player splitting their time between a football and a hurling panel is either going to miss out on far too much club activity as a result, or else there will be too much time when they will be at one sport and missing the other, meaning that there is not as much benefit accrued as would be the case if there were two different players, one committed fully to football, and one committed fully to hurling.

It is for the same reason that they always look to give preference to players who can commit fully to the development panel, rather than giving a spot to someone who will be absent for several sessions due to other extra-curricular activity.

When it comes to the intercounty minor championship, these calls are left to management to decide, and it is for them to work out, in collaboration with their counterparts from the other code if necessary, which players are worth accommodating, even if they have other sporting or life commitments that interfere with playing football or hurling for Offaly.

With all due respect LS, that quote from whoever phoned you looks like a desperate attempt at backtracking from a Co board delegate to cover up for something untoward.

I note that elements of this post has changed somewhat from yesterday's pitch and gone down route of discussing running of minor teams mostly and not the development squad scenario.

As an investigative journalist, it would be very easy to maybe do some proper digging into inner workings of so called committee with some of those people named on it or maybe even other squad mentors or club chairpersons that might give a straight answer as to whether what is stated actually reflects the actual truth. Or perhaps it may be good idea to get both sides of a story before repeating a 'false narrative'.

As for minor, I know that there have been member or members of said committee trying to influence what is happening at minor level in relation to player eligibility over last number of years including this year. The dogs on the street know that, and has been openly stated by a previous minor manager. Without digging into past too far, it seems to me that the Cian McNamee episode of a few years ago appears to have entrenched people of influence (with limited football or coaching knowledge or experience) in an antiquated belief system that relates back to 1950's Ireland, where 'foreign' sports were deemed the enemy of the state and anyone that engages in such grotesque acts of engaging with same, are deemed not of the required bloodstock to wear an Offaly jersey. If such imposition was imposed over last 10 years, we would not have Paddy Dunican, Lee Pearson, Daire McDaid, Diarmuid or Cormac Egan, John Furlong, Jordan Hayes, Keith O Neill, Dylan Hyland, Kyle Higgins, Jack Bryant or any amout of others playing senior football or hurling for the county. While i understand it is hard to get good people on committees, maybe the county chairman should be looking at who is part of such committees that are having such negative influence and reconstitute them with more balanced, experienced or qualified individuals if necessary.

Offaly is too small a county, with too few playing resources with inter county potential, for not to be encouraging potential talent to stay within our systems, particularly between ages of 12 and 17, where talented players (and others) will try other sports because they want to play with their friends. They are young kids through the development squad years and most do not come from a socio-political background that will rule out trying out sports that are not GAA oriented like those from an antiquated socio-political belief system may do.

A development squad is not a county senior team, and while it's an honour and all that to be involved at that level for any young lad, a level of balance and perspective should apply. Yes, we are competing with rugby and soccer and other sports for talent, but anyone with any sense would know that you ain't winning that battle by playing one off another and pissing parents and players off, let alone coaches. W should be doing our stuff so well that we hook in the very best talent and keep them because they really enjoy it and choose playing for Offaly because it is an enjoyable experience. Just to be clear, I am not for a second suggesting it isn't enjoyable for the majority, the question is more about have we the best talent in there, because if we don't we are wasting time and effort. These other sports certainly are not casting off talented players for playing GAA at times. Maybe we should box a bit more clever and take some learnings from the way our competing sports do or don't do things.

If big urban counties the likes of Dublin, Cork and Limerick with all their playing resources and money, can find a balanced way to keep their talent who play other sports, then why would we be biting off our own noses in counterproductive manner. It is development suicide and is grossly misguided in my opinion.

Offaly Hurling development squads have seen this in recent years, getting beaten by Christy Ring and Nickey Rackard county development squad teams regularly, let alone Joe Mac counties. That is what has fed into last two minor hurling years under Brian Carroll. People were on this forum looking for his head, but truthfully, they need to look a bit more under the bonnet to see where the real issues lie. If we don't do that, this rosy McCarthy Cup return will not last as long as we would like. So those committee people behind hurling end of things need to look at themselves too and the implications of embracing such a philosophy. Are they serving best interests of Offaly? And if not, they should not be there. These results are the direct result of this flawed system and if it continues, I could see Offaly fall through the floor on lots of levels.

And by the way, these so called 'policies' were not in place when recent Offaly U20 footballers or minor/ u20 hurlers that had successes were coming through the old development squad system before this 'Committee' was formed. Maybe that's why we got success. If they were, you can be fairly assured that we'd have lost some of those now senior players through those formative years as lots of those experimented with other sports as kids. If what is done now, was done then, we may have won no All Irelands with those talented groups.

Within such a dynamic, as it exists, you turn coaches off, you turn parents off, and you turn young players off representing their county - what should be a major aspiration for all (you'd hope) and still can be. You turn potential positivity into guaranteed negativity, control and needless resentment.

Without good coaches and coaching at underage, Offaly is f*cked in the medium to long term because the pipeline is negatively affected, as it has been. Those talented individuals that couldve been developed, fall through the cracks. Then everyone would be looking back saying the shite that has gone on in recent times should have been called out sooner. Offaly should be doing their best to get the best coaches in with these development squads and empower them to do their job, not coercively control them and decide who they can and cannot select. They should respect them and their voluntary time and treat them well enough so that they will stay and help the thing going forwards. The aim should be to retain and sustain the best coaches in the system. And if they choose to take a break, that at least it was a positive experience and that they might be willing to go again at a later juncture.

They should be avoiding all and any parental involvement in committees or dev squad coaching to avoid nepotism or perception of same to ensure all is fair, respectful and above board for the young lads and for their parents who drive them all over the country to play GAA. The alternative is a shit show that makes things needlessly toxic for lots of people involved. Time is a great healer, and with a small bit of leadership and balanced perspective, there is lots of time to fix it.

Look, everyone wants the same thing, which is Offaly to succeed and people will have differing views on what that should look like. This isn't having a cut, more an exercise in seeing if things can improve in best interest of the county. However, if the status quo remains in place, I'd really worry for where our senior teams will be headed in 7 or 8 years time.

[private joker]

Excellent post, we are now getting closer to the truth and just how bad the situation is and where it is heading. In another thread a question was asked how do we avoid the iceberg of going back to christy ring or joe mcdonagh.
At the moment, the current trajectory is for a head on collision at the current pace. Be in no doubt that offalys liam mcarthy status is and will be a year on year project. Need to keep feeding the senior team with quality players, not just players who are best available. A high standard of player is needed To maintain the liam mcarthy status

[Tmacmahon]

This nepotism theory is raring its head quite a bit with offaly development squads, are panels facilitating players that they shouldn't be?

[Barnet]

Firstly I'm no expert on the under 16s this year, but I have made a few enquiries since this. I have heard that Jimmy stewart had won all he's games and training was going well. This was without the 8 or 9 minor lads. A few lads made a good mark for themselves that may not of got as much game Time otherwise, the problem with this now lies on the players who played so well with last management will probably now be on the bench to allow for the minor lads to play. I seen this happen a few year back and hopefully I'm wrong because at the end of the day it's the players who will suffer no one else and as a county I would like to think politics would be put aside so it doesn't effect them. It's a good management team judging on minors this year so I doubt that will be the case, best of luck to all.