DOWN will appoint the successor to James McCartan as manager of their talented minor team at a county board meeting tonight.
McCartan called time on his five-year stint with the Mourne youngsters and an experienced line-up of candidates – most with impressive backroom teams in place – are in the running to replace him. The shortened fixtures programme – there is no minor league – the split county/club season and the potential in the squad are all factors in making the role an attractive proposition for the seven management teams.
All-Ireland winners Mickey Linden, Ross Carr and Greg Blayney have allowed their names to go forward while former Down players Ambrose Rodgers, Peter Turley, Mickey McVeigh and Mickey Walsh are all keen to be involved along with a line-up of Ulster Council and Down County Board coaches and club managers.
It is understand that the candidates are: Paul Cunningham, DJ Morgan, Conor O’Toole and Ambrose Rodgers; John Fegan, Conor O’Neill, Peter Turley and Mark Miskelly; Mickey McVeigh; Mickey Walsh, Mickey Linden and Collie McCrickard; Ross Carr, Gareth Thornton and Neil Coulter; Eamon and Greg Blayney; Dominic McEvoy.
The county board will meet tonight to ratify the new management team.
McCartan, a two-time Sam Maguire winner with Down in the 1990s, succeeded his former county manager Pete McGrath in the post in 2015. Down have now gone 21 years (since 1999) without an Ulster title at minor level but they did capture the All-Ireland minor crown in 2005 after losing the provincial decider to Armagh.
Last year the Mourne youngsters were among the favourites to win the Ulster crown but they lost out to Fermanagh at the quarter-final stage in late December.
Tonight’s announcement will be Down’s second change of manager at underage level. In early December, Conor Laverty was confirmed as the new Down U20 manager and the Kilcoo Ulster Club Championship winner and former Mourne County forward pulled off a notable coup by enticing bona fide Meath football legend Sean Boylan to join his backroom team.
Boylan – the man who guided the Royals to four All-Ireland titles during his 23-year spell as manager – is not the only high-profile member of Laverty's new set-up.
Marty Clarke – a team-mate of Laverty's in Down's 2010 All-Ireland final side - has also been confirmed in the backroom team and so has vastly-experienced St Patrick's Academy, Downpatrick teacher Declan Morgan, who was part of Pete McGrath's management set-up with the Down minors.
