CROSSMAGLEN is a club that never stands still – and despite yet another managerial shake-up, the future for the Armagh kingpins is in safe hands, according to the departing John McEntee.
It was confirmed yesterday that McEntee and fellow joint manager Oisin McConville had stepped down after two years in the post, citing work and family commitments, with Gareth O’Neill stepping into the breach.
Alongside Tony McEntee, O’Neill led Cross to back-to-back All-Ireland Club titles in 2011 and 2012, and he is a popular figure with the players.
O’Neill – who represented both Armagh and Louth during his playing days in the 1990s - has been working in England for the last two years but is believed to be returning home to work in Dublin.
For McConville and John McEntee, the decision to walk away had been made long before Cross’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Castlebar Mitchel’s last month.
And McEntee insists they are proud to have helped bring the club back to the “top table” in Ulster and Ireland.
“Unfortunately there’s been a lot of competing pressures and the demand of club football is onerous,” said the father-of-four.
“We felt if we were going to be there we needed to give 100 per cent commitment to it, and we didn’t have the time to do that this year.
“We had talked about it all year long and we made it known to the club that we wouldn’t be involved after the season’s end, whenever that came.
“Now, had that been the 17th of March [All-Ireland Club final day], it would’ve been brilliant, but the reality was we had our minds made up. Unfortunately it ended a month earlier than we would’ve liked.
“But we’re not leaving on a sour note or anything – we’re back at the top table again and we’re very proud of that.”
As a result of a combination of injury and absentees, Cross were forced to turn to their Ulster Club tournament-winning minor side, with eight making the breakthrough to the senior panel.
Despite that relative lack of experience, Crossmaglen safely negotiated the Armagh and Ulster championships before falling just short in that titanic tussle with Castlebar.
The club’s future, says McEntee, is in safe hands.
“This year, because of the pressures of players being in America, fellas playing county football, injuries, we did need to bring an unprecedented number of minors into the squad.
“But look, all those guys are well fit for senior football. They probably have come in a wee bit earlier than they would have in previous years but it gave us great confidence that we had those fellas waiting in the wings, and they just needed that wee bit of experience that they’ve gained from this year.
“The jump from minor level to senior is huge. They had that wee bit of space to develop this year – next year they’ll be able to hit the ground running.
“There’s a lot of lads there who can play for the club for a lot of years to come, so we’re very proud of the way things have ended up.”
There has been some speculation that O’Neill could yet call on his brother-in-law, Oisin McConville, to have a role in his backroom team, although that has yet to be confirmed.
As for McEntee, he doesn’t foresee holding any “formal role” at the club in the near future, but the 2002 All-Ireland winner with Armagh believes O’Neill will prove a shrewd appointment.
“He’s been very successful there in the past and it does give the club that level of continuity, which is important.
“Gareth’s a great fella with great ideas, he knows football very well, and I’m sure the boys will welcome him.”
