AFTER ENJOYING HUGE success as a senior club boss in different counties, Johnny Kelly is set for his first top-level county job as manager of the Offaly hurlers.
The Faithful county have tonight announced that their management committee are to recommend the appointment of Kelly as their new senior hurling boss, filling the vacancy created by the departure of Michael Fennelly.
The Management Committee of Offaly GAA is pleased to recommend the appointment of Johnny Kelly as the new manager of our Senior Hurling team. pic.twitter.com/WfLG2AAMcu
— Official Offaly GAA (@Offaly_GAA) September 5, 2022
Kelly recently worked as coach of the Offaly hurlers alongside Fennelly, while he also has inter-county experience at the helm of the Galway U21 hurlers.
It is at club level where Kelly has been highly successful. He managed his native Portumna in Galway to All-Ireland club honours in 2009 when they saw off Waterford’s De La Salle in Croke Park. He guided Coolderry to the Offaly senior hurling title in 2015 and then enjoyed success in Tipperary with Borris-Ileigh in 2019 as they landed a first county senior crown in 33 years, building on that to win the Munster championship and contested the All-Ireland decider in January 2020 against Kilkenny’s Ballyhale Shamrocks.
Kelly is currently in charge of Nenagh Éire Óg, who are through to the knockout stages of this season’s Tipperary senior hurling championship.
Tipperary duo Liam Sheedy and Eamonn O’Shea had been linked with the post but instead Offaly have opted for Kelly. They will feature in the Joe McDonagh Cup in 2023 and Division 2A of the league.
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