LAST WEEK THE Limerick players sat down with Billy Lee for one final throw of the kitchen sink. They knew what was coming, they saw it advancing down the tracks during the year, but they were willing to lie down in front of the train if it meant he would stay.
Lee was one of the longest-serving managers in Gaelic football before he officially stood down on Tuesday. Joint-captain Iain Corbett was there when they were trying to convince him to remain. That process gave the squad a valuable insight into why he was walking away.
“It was 100% unanimous wanting him to stay. The squad was very aware of the work Billy was doing for us.
“Then at the same time, you think it is evident but from speaking to Billy as we were trying to convince him, it is only then you realise the number of hours he put in. It is far beyond what you would ever appreciate.
“Dealing with every single part of it. Even I saw the Limerick minor manager thanking him because he came in to speak to them a few times. He was invested in everything. I suppose eventually, all that work caught up with him.”
He took the gig when nobody else would. In 2016, John Brudair stood down with the side at a low ebb, without a Munster Championship win since 2012 and relegated to Division 4. Lee was on the committee to appoint a successor. They soon turned to him and offered the role.
So he accepted the challenge. He embraced it.
“The big thing Billy fixed was the environment,” explains former Limerick footballer and current PPS development officer Pa Ranahan. “I know that sounds vague and broad.
“But Billy was so accommodating. It became a place where people wanted to be, rather than somewhere they felt like they needed to be. Bit by bit, he created a family environment.
“In Limerick, it has to operate like a big club. I walk around the city now and see the likes of Adrian Enright and Colm McSweeney friendly outside of training. He created a bond, we are all in this together basically. I think it was an issue for a few years, lads didn’t know each other.”
The group needed drastic moulding, mentally and physically. In the early days, Cork All-Ireland winner Paudie Kissane came on board as a trainer, but at times it felt like a quantum leap. The group wasn’t ready for any immediate expectation of high standards. They needed to be encouraged. Repaired, rebuilt. Brick by brick.
In order to do that he required local people, who knew the lay of the land and how to navigate it. Kilmallock native Adrian O’Brien was recruited for strength and performance. Lee was always more than a manager and O’Brien was more than an S&C coach. He got to know the players and their lifestyles. Who they are and what they did. Then he gave them bespoke programmes based on that.
Meanwhile, Lee was always in their corner. After a ten-point loss against Clare in 2018, he took aim at the county board because a player wasn’t registered for the championship tie and the squad weren’t fed after a training session in the build-up.
“He was very fair to everyone. Always on our side,” says Corbett.
“You could see him fighting for us like he did in 2018. His passion for Limerick football was always reflected when he was speaking.”
Former inter-county goalkeeper and U20 manager Seamus O’Donnell was a member of the backroom team under Lee. Like much of the ticket, he is typically self-effacing. Quick to praise the manager while downplaying his own input.
“I’d be a messer in training. Just joking around or whatever, but he’d never put a stop to that. Billy helped make it a fun atmosphere. A good place to be. We’d some great results but some of my best memories are the craic around training or nights like that. He trusted the group to get serious when we needed to work, and they did in fairness.”
Things started to turn. In 2020, they won the McGrath Cup, the Division 4 league title, and were the width of the post away from the Munster final. By 2022 they’d secured a place in Division 2 and reached a Munster final.
It wasn’t plain sailing off the field, far from it. Crucially, at the helm the message never changed. In order to to be the best they can be, they needed to control what they could and filter out the rest. Difficulty sourcing a training field was never over-emphasised because complaints weren’t going to suddenly manifest a floodlit pitch and such negativity can fester.
“Billy always thought about the greater good,” O’Donnell explains.
“Some of us might let loose and say we need to do this or change that. He’d stay calm in meetings. Never making a rash decision or anything, his eyes were 100% fixed on what is best for Limerick.”
The county has no shortage of quality coaches and a 2023 league campaign alongside the likes of Dublin and Derry makes it an attractive job with interest in and outside the county. The biggest challenge for any successor is commanding the dressing room and convincing people to help the cause the same way Lee did. With unflappable level-headedness.
It kept the county stable. He made mountains look like molehills. If asked in interviews about playing second fiddle to the giant that is hurling or the small support, he’d immediately flip it and speak about the passion of the following that was there.
Ranahan writes a column on Limerick football and a few years ago, he addressed the venue situation. His point was that they needed a home. In one three-year period, they played in seven different grounds. That week he bumped into Lee and the article came up.
“He was there, ‘look it is not a big deal.’ I don’t know if he thought it wasn’t a big deal or didn’t want to make it a big deal! For him, it was as if it was a waste of energy. Focus on what you can control.
“I still think I was right. You need a fortress, your own spot. But his view was I can’t control it, I won’t worry about it. No big deal. I’ll focus on the stuff that I can fix. He was so good at that when we needed it. There was so much wrong, you could throw your hat at it and walk away.”
For O’Donnell, the one takeaway from working with Limerick in recent years is that the only possible way to be an intercounty manager is to be retired or take a career break. Work circumstances forced Lee’s departure. He was trying to give everything to two full-time jobs. It wasn’t sustainable.
“I can’t tell you how many times we’d start a Zoom session to pick a team or whatever and Billy would say at the start, ‘lads 40 minutes and we’re done.’ 80 minutes later, we’re still talking.”
The statement confirming his departure was true to him. A significant move was announced with as little fuss as possible. There were quoted tributes from the county board and football development committee chairperson.
None from Lee other than a note of thanks to the media. He also expressed gratitude to his family, the management team, players, county board, committee and supporters. The entire Limerick football tribe, he did it for them.