DAMIAN BARTON and his backroom team will be put forward for ratification for a second year in charge of Derry at Tuesday’s county board meeting.
The 1993 All-Ireland winner’s reappointment is expected to be routinely passed by the clubs and he will again be joined by former team-mate Tony Scullion and Edendork native Brian McGuckin, with Hugh McGrath continuing in a logistics role.
The Newbridge man led Derry to within a whisker of what would have been a first All-Ireland quarter-final in nine years, only for eventual semi-finalists Tipperary to snatch it away with three late points in a dramatic tie at Breffni Park. It’s understood it will be the second of an agreed two-year term for the current management, with no arrangement in place beyond that.
It will be very much as you were from a footballing perspective, with the current U21 and minor managers also set to continue. Another of the 1993 team, Fergal McCusker, will be put forward for a second year in charge of the U21s. Enda Muldoon will remain as part of the backroom team, but Declan Bateson has stepped away. No replacement is yet lined up for the former Derry and Ballinderry forward. Minor manager Damian McErlain, who took Derry to their first provincial title at the grade in his first year in 2015 and then back to the Ulster final this season, will stay at the helm for a third season.
With Tom McLean having stepped down recently as the Oak Leaf county’s senior and U21 hurling manager, no name will be put forward on Tuesday night as the county board works to find a replacement. Kevin Lynch’s man John A Mullan stepped in as minor hurling manager midway through the 2016 season and his future is unclear.
