ARMAGH’S 2002 All-Ireland winning trainer John McCloskey and former backroom team member Terry McCrudden will assist new Antrim senior football boss Andy McEntee next season.
Former boxing world champion Brian Magee will also be reacquainted with the Antrim footballers ahead of their pre-season schedule having worked with the squad during Frank Fitzsimons and Gearoid Adams’ time in charge several years ago.
McEntee’s panel will be working alongside Antrim GAA’s resident S&C coach Brendan Murphy, while Darren O’Neill is another interesting recruit to the Meath man’s backroom team.
O’Neill, who worked as a PE teacher in Our Lady & St Patrick’s Knock, is highly respected in basketball circles. With an overlap in skills between the two codes, it is hoped O'Neill will bring something different to the Antrim set-up in 2023.
McCloskey played a huge role in helping Armagh realise their All-Ireland dream 20 years ago under Joe Kernan and has held a number of coaching posts since then. He also spent some time with rugby league club Wasps.
Magee was also hugely popular among the Antrim players when he hosted classes at his west Belfast gym and is back in the same role.
In July, Antrim officialdom sprang a surprise when they appointed McEntee, who had recently left the Meath senior footballers post after a six-year reign.
Replacing the outgoing Enda McGinley, the swift managerial appointment gave McEntee time to piece together his management team as well as run the rule over the Antrim football championships that just ended earlier this month.
McCrudden and McEntee managed to take in a host of championship matches and together they’ve roughly assembled a 50-man provisional squad as they look ahead to next year's Division Three campaign.
Trawling through the county for players “hasn’t been difficult at all” and McEntee says he’s been overwhelmed by the warm reception he’s received in so many clubs since being appointed.
“The likes of Terry McCrudden is a seasoned campaigner, a guy who knows the club scene and knows the vast majority of the players,” said McEntee.
“I’m a fresh pair of eyes. I’ve no bias one way or the other; I’m just looking at players. So we managed to pull together close to 50 players that I’d love to have a look at it, and probably more importantly, that are very keen to have a go themselves.
“So far, the response from the vast majority of players I’ve spoken to has been very positive.
“I’m absolutely loving it and I have to say the response of the Antrim people, and I’ve been at various clubs, they couldn’t have been more welcoming.
“The appetite for success is tangible. I couldn’t feel more welcomed.”
McEntee has been decidedly impressed with the standard of the Antrim SFC which was won by Cargin earlier this month.
“We took in quite a few games in the round robin stage, the senior quarter-finals, I saw the intermediate semi-finals... I would be impressed with what I’ve seen.
“It was very competitive, certainly the senior side of it, I suppose some of the intermediate games were a bit one-sided, but the senior games were all very competitive. Even some of the round robin games, some of the so-called outsiders were still well able to put up a few decent shows.
“And, of course, the two senior semi-finals, any one of the three that didn’t win it, with the little bit of extra luck or better execution at certain stages could have won it.”
Keen to assemble a physically big team, McEntee name-checked some six-footers in the county.
“There are loads of big men. I saw one or two in the senior final. The likes of Oisin Lenehan, a very athletic footballer. And the two obvious ones: Ruairi McCann [Aghagallon] and Pat Shivers [Cargin].
On Shivers, McEntee said: “His ball striking is beautiful, his ball handling is good, his mobility is good. He’d certainly qualify for a big man too.”
