THE FIRST ENCOUNTER THAT Mickey Harte had with the National football league was one to make the toes curl.
He hadn’t long been announced as the new Tyrone manager in the winter of 2002 and was finding his feet in the gig.
Back then, there was a thriving body of northern GAA journalists banded together as the Ulster GAA Writer’s Association that hosted an annual lavish awards ceremony; formal dress, black tie, turkey and ham, pavlova, all that stuff.
The nights would start with whatever silverware had been won by the various counties being paraded to the top table. Tyrone had won the National league in 2002.
Small problem. There was nobody else there from Tyrone to bring the canister to the front of the ballroom in the Great Northern Hotel in Bundoran.
Harte was asked to do it as a favour. He did so, but was acutely embarrassed about how it might all look, him in the job a wet week and parading around with the trophy won by the previous management of Art McRory and Eugene McKenna.
A few months later, he held the same trophy – the Irish National Insurance Cup to give its’ full title – and this time he fully deserved it as Tyrone manager having beaten Laois in the final. The only slip ups were defeat to Roscommon away in the very first game, and a loss to Dublin in Parnell Park.
After winning the 2003 league with Tyrone. INPHO
INPHO
23 years later and Harte is still managing in the league. He’s been at every level and seen all there is to see. This Sunday he will be stood along the sideline of Croke Park on the day of the league final for the second successive year, looking to deliver silverware.
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Last year it was division 1 for Derry. This time it’s the more modest prize of a division 3 title for Offaly, his latest posting where he is in a co-manager post with Declan Kelly and they face Kildare in the decider.
Nobody has had a longer stint in charge of teams in the history of intercounty GAA, Gaelic football or hurling.
In that time, he has operated in every division, through the Covid pandemic and now in his fourth different county.
After winning the 2024 league in charge of Derry. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
In regulation league games – and bear in mind 16 of these season were spent in division 1 – he managed 158 games, winning 92, a win record of 58%.
Add in the drawn games, a total of 16, then Harte was unbeaten in 68% of his games.
At times, his attitude to the league and even the pre-season Dr McKenna Cup (13 wins; 12 with Tyrone and one with Derry) had often been mocked, that he had been pre-occupied with the low hanging fruit ahead of the summer.
There were nuances at play. As a county, Tyrone have an abundance of talent and a strong underage record through the coaching in clubs, schools and colleges.
Harte did things his own way, especially during his time with Tyrone when they were only known to have played a single challenge match in 18 years.
Instead, players had to fight to get their place, which would be in a competitive game. It might not have been suitable to all trying to find their feet but it couldn’t be argued that it was in any way unfair either. It would make players play out of their skin in league games knowing that they hadn’t a handy midweek challenge match to fill their boots and pad out scoring numbers.
On one occasion, cast up to him several times since, he made an assertion that it was impossible for a team to win the All Ireland unless they had a season of division 1 football under their belts.
When Tyrone were relegated, he revised that statement, saying that in their own minds, they were merely temporarily rehoused before they returned to their regular digs.
Others had a similar attitude. Dublin’s five leagues in six years from 2013 curiously escaped the same levels of cynicism.
In March 2017, Harte said, “I remember 2003, when we last won the league, a lot of the bigger teams of that era didn’t particularly take the league seriously. The fact that the league is to be played for, of course, but when the championship comes along, we can turn on the championship button.”
“Over the last decade or more, that has not been the case and I suppose it has been the emergence of that mentality that Dublin have won the last four leagues in a row, and have been very successful in the All-Ireland as well.
“People used to think if you do well in the league, you mightn’t necessarily be a big shot in the championship. But it has turned full circle, it has become very important to be doing well in the league to give yourself a chance of doing well in the championship.”
His two division 1 titles came with Tyrone in 2003 and Derry in 2024. He lost the 2013 final to Dublin.
He won division 2 in 2016 and lost a final to Kildare in 2012.
He got Louth out of division four in 2021 and followed it up with a division 3 title in 2022.
Winning the division 3 league final with Louth. Lorraine O’Sullivan / INPHO
Lorraine O’Sullivan / INPHO / INPHO
In 2023, Louth were in contention for their third consecutive promotion right to the final day of the league before Dublin beat them to claim the second promotion spot behind Derry, who were about to successfully defend their Ulster title.
Then came the season with Derry. A league title, an astonishing nosedive in the championship and a discreet exit on 8 July.
A few days later, he said he, “Wasn’t ready for the pipe and slippers.”
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Six weeks from leaving Derry, he was announced as the new co-manager of Offaly. People said it couldn’t possibly work and how Harte was too much of a lone wolf to collaborate.
While there was undoubted promise with Offaly, their U20 All-Ireland success was some way off. Sometimes these achievements mean little anyway.
In 2024, the Faithful were in poor shape, finishing one place above the relegation places to division 4. In the Tailteann Cup they played three games, losing all to Down, Limerick and London.
The progress since the addition of Harte has been immense.
In 2026, providing he will be still involved with managing Offaly as he moves into his 72nd year, he will be back in division 2.
In that campaign, he will face his former counties of Tyrone, Derry and Louth.
Such a scenario you could never have imagined when the Tyrone county board cut him loose at the end of 2020.
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Four league titles, five promotions, 92 wins, Mickey Harte's league record stands alone
THE FIRST ENCOUNTER THAT Mickey Harte had with the National football league was one to make the toes curl.
He hadn’t long been announced as the new Tyrone manager in the winter of 2002 and was finding his feet in the gig.
Back then, there was a thriving body of northern GAA journalists banded together as the Ulster GAA Writer’s Association that hosted an annual lavish awards ceremony; formal dress, black tie, turkey and ham, pavlova, all that stuff.
The nights would start with whatever silverware had been won by the various counties being paraded to the top table. Tyrone had won the National league in 2002.
Small problem. There was nobody else there from Tyrone to bring the canister to the front of the ballroom in the Great Northern Hotel in Bundoran.
Harte was asked to do it as a favour. He did so, but was acutely embarrassed about how it might all look, him in the job a wet week and parading around with the trophy won by the previous management of Art McRory and Eugene McKenna.
A few months later, he held the same trophy – the Irish National Insurance Cup to give its’ full title – and this time he fully deserved it as Tyrone manager having beaten Laois in the final. The only slip ups were defeat to Roscommon away in the very first game, and a loss to Dublin in Parnell Park.
23 years later and Harte is still managing in the league. He’s been at every level and seen all there is to see. This Sunday he will be stood along the sideline of Croke Park on the day of the league final for the second successive year, looking to deliver silverware.
Last year it was division 1 for Derry. This time it’s the more modest prize of a division 3 title for Offaly, his latest posting where he is in a co-manager post with Declan Kelly and they face Kildare in the decider.
Nobody has had a longer stint in charge of teams in the history of intercounty GAA, Gaelic football or hurling.
In that time, he has operated in every division, through the Covid pandemic and now in his fourth different county.
In regulation league games – and bear in mind 16 of these season were spent in division 1 – he managed 158 games, winning 92, a win record of 58%.
Add in the drawn games, a total of 16, then Harte was unbeaten in 68% of his games.
At times, his attitude to the league and even the pre-season Dr McKenna Cup (13 wins; 12 with Tyrone and one with Derry) had often been mocked, that he had been pre-occupied with the low hanging fruit ahead of the summer.
There were nuances at play. As a county, Tyrone have an abundance of talent and a strong underage record through the coaching in clubs, schools and colleges.
Instead, players had to fight to get their place, which would be in a competitive game. It might not have been suitable to all trying to find their feet but it couldn’t be argued that it was in any way unfair either. It would make players play out of their skin in league games knowing that they hadn’t a handy midweek challenge match to fill their boots and pad out scoring numbers.
On one occasion, cast up to him several times since, he made an assertion that it was impossible for a team to win the All Ireland unless they had a season of division 1 football under their belts.
When Tyrone were relegated, he revised that statement, saying that in their own minds, they were merely temporarily rehoused before they returned to their regular digs.
Others had a similar attitude. Dublin’s five leagues in six years from 2013 curiously escaped the same levels of cynicism.
In March 2017, Harte said, “I remember 2003, when we last won the league, a lot of the bigger teams of that era didn’t particularly take the league seriously. The fact that the league is to be played for, of course, but when the championship comes along, we can turn on the championship button.”
“Over the last decade or more, that has not been the case and I suppose it has been the emergence of that mentality that Dublin have won the last four leagues in a row, and have been very successful in the All-Ireland as well.
“People used to think if you do well in the league, you mightn’t necessarily be a big shot in the championship. But it has turned full circle, it has become very important to be doing well in the league to give yourself a chance of doing well in the championship.”
His two division 1 titles came with Tyrone in 2003 and Derry in 2024. He lost the 2013 final to Dublin.
He won division 2 in 2016 and lost a final to Kildare in 2012.
He got Louth out of division four in 2021 and followed it up with a division 3 title in 2022.
In 2023, Louth were in contention for their third consecutive promotion right to the final day of the league before Dublin beat them to claim the second promotion spot behind Derry, who were about to successfully defend their Ulster title.
Then came the season with Derry. A league title, an astonishing nosedive in the championship and a discreet exit on 8 July.
A few days later, he said he, “Wasn’t ready for the pipe and slippers.”
Six weeks from leaving Derry, he was announced as the new co-manager of Offaly. People said it couldn’t possibly work and how Harte was too much of a lone wolf to collaborate.
While there was undoubted promise with Offaly, their U20 All-Ireland success was some way off. Sometimes these achievements mean little anyway.
In 2024, the Faithful were in poor shape, finishing one place above the relegation places to division 4. In the Tailteann Cup they played three games, losing all to Down, Limerick and London.
The progress since the addition of Harte has been immense.
In 2026, providing he will be still involved with managing Offaly as he moves into his 72nd year, he will be back in division 2.
In that campaign, he will face his former counties of Tyrone, Derry and Louth.
Such a scenario you could never have imagined when the Tyrone county board cut him loose at the end of 2020.
He surprised us all.
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23 seasons not out Derry GAA Gaelic Football Louth Mickey Harte Offaly Tyrone