THE Clare footballers will begin their 2025 league campaign by making the long journey up to Corrigan park to play Antrim this Sunday at 1pm.
This will be new manager Peter Keane’s first season in charge of the Banner as he looks to return the side to division 2 status and steady the ship after Colm Collins’ departure in 2023 followed by Mark Fitzgerald’s one season in charge, opting to leave for the Kerry U-20s in 2024.
The Kerryman’s panel is bolstered by the return of two-time All Star nominee Eoin Cleary of Miltown Malbay, fresh from winning a national title with Chicago Wolfe Tones.
After a less-than competitive club championship that saw Eire Og claim the Jack Daly for a second year running, it will be interesting to see how Clare line out under Keane after Mark Fitzgerald brought the side to its second Munster final in a row last year, when the Banner were beaten 1-13 to 0-23 by Kerry.
This was achieved notably without thirteen members of the panel, largely due to the exploits of Eire Og man Ikem Ugwueru and Kilmurry-Ibrikane’s Keelan Sexton whose transfer to Dublin side Na Fianna has been much discussed recently.
Following Antrim, Clare will play Leitrim, Fermanagh, Sligo and Kildare with the latter surely being the strongest test so far with the Lily Whites reaching the Leinster semi-final last year. Antrim go into this match having beaten London and provincial rivals Fermanagh to reach the semi-finals of last year’s Tailteann Cup where they lost out to Laois 1-13 to 3-12.
Following a year that will surely be known for the hurling, Clare’s footballers will no doubt look to produce something worth
remembering for 2025.
