PAT GILROY’S RETURN to the Dublin football backroom team has been confirmed in what amounts to another major boost ahead of the 2023 season.
The 2011 All-Ireland winning manager, and Dublin hurling boss in 2018, was linked in recent weeks with a role in Dessie Farrell’s setup, and defender Lee Gannon has now confirmed the news.
Speaking at the launch of Dublin GAA’s new AIG sponsored jersey, Gannon said that Farrell told the players earlier this month of Gilroy’s return, hot on the heels of the recalls of ex-All-Stars Paul Mannion and Jack McCaffrey.
It remains to be seen in what capacity St Vincent’s man Gilroy will serve with one possibility being that he could fulfil a similar role to the ‘support role’ that Farrell himself had in 2019 with Mattie Kenny’s Dublin hurlers.
“Yeah, Dessie informed us two weeks ago that Pat would be joining up with us so it’s really exciting to have another Dublin stalwart back in with us and hopefully he can just push us on that little extra level to hopefully get that bit better and keep going forward so yeah, Pat’s back in,” said All-Star nominee Gannon.
Gilroy is renowned as a skilled strategist and man-manager. He played a part in drawing up a five-year strategic plan for the GAA which was launched last April while he was also linked at one stage with the Director General’s job.
“Dessie’s great at keeping in contact with us on that level, and even on a personal level he’s great too, he told us a few weeks ago that Pat would be joining up with the squad but there was no mention of a coaching capacity or a mindset capacity, whatever it would be, we don’t really know yet,” said Gannon. “It is still very exciting now and I’d say in a week or two’s time we’ll find out.”
With Mannion and McCaffrey also returning, Dublin appear to be throwing everything at their pursuit of the 2023 All-Ireland following semi-final defeats to Kerry and Mayo in 2022 and 2021.
Asked if there will be any other changes to the management, Gannon said he isn’t aware of any.
The Whitehall Colmcille man, a dual All-Ireland U-20 finalist with Dublin teams in the 2020 season, said he can’t wait to deal with Gilroy.
“I would have played with his son, Andrew, growing up,” said Gannon. “We’d have been the same age with Whitehall and Vincent’s but that’s probably as close as I would have got with Pat.”
