*Ballyea’s Robbie Hogan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
THREE-TIME CLARE SHC winning manager, Robbie Hogan has called time on his second tenure in charge of the Ballyea senior hurlers.
Hogan will forever be remembered as the manager behind Ballyea’s maiden senior glory in 2016 and he was also bainisteoir when they recorded back to back senior hurling titles for the first and only time in their history.
Over the weekend, he announced to players via the panel’s WhatsApp group that he would be stepping down as manager, a development that was quickly picked up on for Clare FM’s bulletins on Monday.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, the self-employed tiler outlined that it was no easy decision to step down. “Before you hit the button a part of you goes off with the message. The players are a big part of your life, you have to take into consideration the effort those boys have put in over the last two years. It’s a decision that you don’t make easily but you have to factor in your family and work commitments”.
Prior to typing out this announcement to players, Robbie had spoken with the club chairman James Carmody and of course his management team, all of whom have decided to call time on their involvement.
Selectors Raymond O’Connor and Diarmuid O’Sullivan are bowing out due to the family and work commitments respectively with coach Adrian O’Brian added to Brian Lohan’s Clare backroom team, fellow selectors Jude Quinlivan and Alan Duggan have also ended their involvement. Hogan’s colleagues in the management have given “tremendous service,” he acknowledged, “I couldn’t have asked for more”. Fergal Hegarty served as coach for their breakthrough in 2016 while Kevin O’Grady filled the role in 2021.
Only the sharpest of Ballyea supporters would have noticed that Robbie had always intended to walk away at the end of the 2022 season. “I had said last year at the social when Syl O’Connor interviewed me on the stage, I did say 2022 was going to be my last dance, I’m not sure how many heads it flew over. You can’t keep going to the well. I had flagged it with James Carmody the previous year. It’s about finding a bit of balance in life”.
That Ballyea have won four Clare SHC titles and Hogan has spear-headed their success for three of these titles is a statistic that itself speaks volumes. Contesting two provincial finals and the club’s first All-Ireland final also stand out during the two terms of Robbie’s reign.
When reflecting on it, he’s quick to point out that it wasn’t always sunny in Ballyea. “Go back to 2012, it was pie in the sky stuff (to say we’d be successful), it took a while to get it off the ground. We hit a couple of quarter-finals and semi-finals, we were knocking on the door and we kept trying to progress, we got to the county final, we got a draw against Clonlara and we won the replay, it put a bit of wind in our sails to win one, Kevin Sheehan came in the year after and thankfully backed it up, it was great to win two, it took a while, it doesn’t happen overnight, maybe that’s a lesson for the small clubs and the young teams, you have to serve your time”.
Given his success with the club, a move to get the St Flannan’s College past pupil involved with county development squads would surely be a prudent move. However, Robbie admitted he hasn’t contemplated getting involved with saffron and blue sides of any age-group, “I haven’t thought about it, it’s a big decision to step down from where I’m at. I’ve work commitments, my good wife has a few jobs lined up for me around the self. I’ve no other plans at the moment”.
