Football

Down wait on McGuinness in attempts to tie up dream ticket

Jim McGuinness could be set for a shock return to inter-county football with Down as part of a new management team headed by Conor Laverty.
Jim McGuinness could be set for a shock return to inter-county football with Down as part of a new management team headed by Conor Laverty. Jim McGuinness could be set for a shock return to inter-county football with Down as part of a new management team headed by Conor Laverty.

DOWN are hoping to be in a position to confirm a shock new management team of Conor Laverty, Jim McGuinness and Marty Clarke within the next week.

The Irish News understands that while there have been advanced discussions between the county board and the proposed high-profile trio, no agreement has yet been finalised.

Former Donegal manager McGuinness is understood to still be intent on pursuing his career in soccer coaching, and while he has indicated an interest in tying up with Down, his involvement is not yet nailed down.

Down county board said in a statement last night that "the search for a new management team continues and we cannot comment on any one individual."

If Down were to snare the trio’s services, it would represent an enormous coup that Mourne county fans would hope might propel them back into the reckoning of Ulster football.

It is the potential involvement of McGuinness that caused tremors yesterday when revealed by The Irish News.

The Glenties native has been out of inter-county management since stepping down as Donegal manager in the aftermath of the 2014 All-Ireland final defeat by Kerry.

Having taken over before the 2011 season, he led his native county to an Ulster title in his first year and a remarkable All-Ireland success in his second.

Donegal would win three Ulster titles in his reign but 2014 saw his time split between managing his county and travelling back and forward to Scotland for his day job with Celtic FC.

That started him down a path that has taken him into soccer management with Chinese Premier League side Beijing Sinobo Guaon and second-tier US outfit Charlotte Independence.

He was appointed in late 2018 on a three-year deal but lasted just over a year in charge, winning just one of his 14 games before being sacked.

His current role is back home with Derry City’s U19 team, where he was alongside manager Gerald Boyle as they recently won the Enda McGuill Cup for the first time since 2007.

If he was to take up a role in the Down setup, it’s unclear as to exactly what that would be, but it appears likely that he will continue his work with Derry City alongside it.

It’s believed that Laverty would head the ticket as manager.

He is rated as one of the top young coaches in Ulster, and made his mark alongside Clarke as they guided Down U20s to a first Ulster title since 2009 earlier this year.

He took Kilcoo minors to a Down championship in 2019, had a spell coaching Monaghan seniors under Seamus McEnaney, and his day job is as the GAA Development Officer at Trinity College in Dublin, where he has responsibility for overseeing the entire stable of teams.

Down fans would also hope that if Laverty was put in place, he would be able to convince a number of his prominent clubmates to pull on the red and black of their county.

While Kilcoo have always had representation on county teams, it hasn’t often reflected their dominance of the club championship, of which they’ve won nine of the last 10.

Marty Clarke has also made great early strides in coaching. The former Collingwood player and star of Down’s run to the 2010 All-Ireland final when he took a break from the AFL, Clarke’s deep understanding of the game has been evident to viewers of BBC’s GAA coverage in recent years.

Clarke was forced to retire from playing at just 30 years of age due to Addison’s disease.

He and Laverty had initially been re-appointed to take Down U20s again in 2022.

Whether Jim McGuinness takes up the offer of a role, and what exactly it will entail, are the issues Down are hoping to iron out in the coming days.