*Colm Collins. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
Ireland’s longest serving inter-county football manager Colm Collins has been ratified for a tenth year.
At Tuesday’s meeting of Clare GAA in Caherlohan, it was confirmed that Collins will be continuing as manager of the Clare senior footballers, he first took charge for the 2014 season.
On the back of reaching the All-Ireland Senior Championship Quarter-Finals for a second time in seven seasons, Kilmihil native Collins, who has also been at the helm of Cratloe’s flagship footballers for the past 16 seasons, was unanimously returned by the delegates for another year.
Under Collins’ watch, Clare have climbed from Division 4 of the Allianz National Football League to Division 2 where they have competed since 2017.
Details on his management team for the coming campaign have not been finalised as of yet with goalkeeper coach Declan O’Keeffe understood to be moving on from his role.
An All-Ireland SFC winner with Kerry in 1998 and 2000 with Kerry, O’Keeffe’s first championship season with Clare was 2019, joining the set-up having held the same post with Kevin McStay’s Roscommon. He was part of Ray Dempsey’s proposed Mayo management along with Oisin McConville and Keith Higgins but the decision was made to appoint McStay instead.
Michael Neylon, who previously steered his club St Joseph’s Miltown to county senior titles in 2015 and ’18, was reappointed for a fourth season at Clare Under 20 Football Manager.
Former Clare Senior Hurling Captain Brian O’Connell (Wolfe Tones) was returned as Clare Minor Hurling Manager following a hugely encouraging season in which the Banner contested eight championship matches on their way to a first All-Ireland Semi-Final in a decade.
