THE MEATH COUNTY board executive will propose Mick O’Dowd as the candidate to be ratified as the county’s new senior football manager at a board meeting next Monday night.
O’Dowd, a native of Skryne, has been selected as the new manager after the recent interview process was completed and will succeed Seamus ‘Banty’ McEnaney as the Royals next football supremo.
O’Dowd, who coached Skryne to win the 2004 county senior football title and was part of the Meath senior football squad in 2001 when they were defeated in the All-Ireland final by Galway, has assembled an impressive back room team. Former Meath attacking legend Trevor Giles and Sean Kelly are set to be the selectors in the new setup.
Giles, an All-Ireland senior winner with county in 1996 and 1999 is a club mate of O’Dowd’s who was involved in the squad for a short-term basis this season as an attacking coach. Kelly is a well-respected coach who managed Navan O’Mahony’s to win the Meath SFC title in 2008 and last weekend guided Donaghmore-Ashbourne into the last four stage of this year’s county senior championship.
Kelly was one of ten candidates initially nominated for the position of Meath manager. The list was whittled down to four candidates for the interview process. O’Dowd beat off competition from former county great Colm O’Rourke, Paddy Carr who was the 2009 All-Ireland club winning manager with Kilmacud Crokes and Graham Geraghty a selector this year who was understood to have former Tipperary manager John Evans as part of his coaching team.
