JOHN SUGRUE SAYS he offered some assistance to four-time All-Ireland winner Mike Quirke, who has taken up the reins with the Laois footballers.
Sugrue stepped down from the position last year after a prosperous two-year stint which culminated in back-to-back promotions in the National League. The O’Moore County also reached round four of the qualifiers during both of Sugrue’s seasons in charge.
Quirke took over from Sugrue in September and has made a promising start to the league, with Laois picking up a draw and a win against Roscommon and Armagh from their opening rounds in Division 2.
“He just looked for a little bit of background information more than anything else and I gave him what I felt was relevant,” says Sugrue of a phone call he had with Quirke, who came into the Laois job having previously managed the Kerins O’Rahillys club.
“He’s gone in and is doing a great job there now. I was in at their game last Saturday night [against Armagh] and it was a great win. It was great to see them play such solid football, it was super.
“I have been living in Laois for ten years now so I’ve developed an affinity towards them as well as my own county Kerry. Our little fella goes to the games and so does my little lady. So it’s great to see them going so well.”
Reflecting on his own experience of senior inter-county management, Sugrue says he enjoyed his time at the helm with Laois and is grateful for the victories he oversaw during the last two years.
He also remarked on the volume of work that comes with the role and added that his term “came to an end for its own reasons.”
Sugrue was also presented with a chance to manage the Kerry U20s, and felt he couldn’t let it pass him by.
“There certainly is an awful lot of work to it that goes on behind the scenes,” says Sugrue of the senior inter-county environment.
“You have to have the time and that almost space to do that which is hard to do. I’ve a young family at home, two young kids, and it certainly is a big work-load but it certainly is very enjoyable because on the days when you go out and win a game and the community of Laois, we’ll say, the last two years, or hopefully this year the community of Kerry, will come out and enjoy that day with you.
The opportunity in Kerry came up and I was delighted to get that opportunity. It was one of those ones I couldn’t turn down.”
Sugrue, who lives in Portlaoise, will commute to the Kerry U20 training base outside Castleisland as he prepares to embark on the next chapter of his managerial career.
He’s replacing another Kerry native, Jack O’Connor, with their Munster campaign due to commence later this month. O’Connor has since linked up with the Kildare senior football team.
Sugrue opted against reaching out to O’Connor for a briefing on the Kerry youngsters, preferring instead to put his on imprint on the job from the outset of his appointment.
”Jack went off to Kildare, obviously, and is doing a great job there. Look, if I take something on I want to go at it myself and I want to go in fresh without any preconceived ideas or anything like that.
I think the management team that we have assembled were all fresh to dealing with this bunch of players. None of them had handled them at any grade before. It’s a clean slate, and that’s the way I like it.”
John Sugrue was speaking at the launch of the 2020 EirGrid GAA Football U20 All-Ireland Championship.
EirGrid has been a proud sponsor of the U20 GAA Football All-Ireland Championship since 2015.
