IN THE 16 seasons since the National football league was settled in time for the 2008 campaign, no county has been through the wringer quite like Westmeath.
The first season under Tomás Ó Flatharta, they jumped up to the top flight from Division 2. Then they suffered two successive relegations without a single league point in two full seasons.
Mid-table mediocrity or comfort has for the most part eluded them across five promotion and six relegation seasons.
Perhaps the most dizzying spell of all arrived from 2013 on. Pat Flanagan had been interim manager for a spell after Brendan Hackett resigned in 2010.
He achieved promotion in 2011 from Division 3 and after a season of stability in 2012, went up again to the top flight in 2013.
And just like that, Flanagan’s arrangement was not renewed, with Paul Bealin being handed the job. They reaped a bitter harvest with three successive relegations.
Through that period, Dessie Dolan was arguably Westmeath’s finest ever footballer. Now he heads into this weekend’s game as manager against Down, two teams with flawless records after five games, one more step to take for promotion from Division 3.
And so you ask Jack Cooney, who was in the role from late 2018 to August 2022 , the first native Westmeath manager since the early ‘90s, where is their level in the game?
“I think what’s important for Westmeath and teams of that ilk is that they can improve their standards; the standards of their play, which will improve the standard at which they are playing at,” says Cooney.
“And you need that consistently, over time. That it is not a one or two-year thing when the team is performing really well and they have a good season.”
To use an example, he points to Clare. Colm Collins brought them up to Division 2 in 2016 and they remained there until last season.
Under Cooney, Westmeath looked like they were building a similar outfit. After winning the first-ever Tailteann Cup with victory over Cavan in the final, he then finished up after taking a role with Croke Park as the National Player Development Lead.
Dessie Dolan had been his selector and stepped into management for last season. While they were beaten by Louth in Leinster, it was in the group stages of the All-Ireland championship that they showed something.
They lost to Armagh by a single point and, while their next game was an eight-point loss to Galway, they pushed Tyrone to their very limit with John Heslin missing a late chance to knock out the 2021 All Ireland champions.
For a county that have gone around the houses, there’s something about being managed by one of your own.
“It’s the nature of the GAA, the ethos of what it is built on as a representative sport. You grow up representing your parish and your club and you go on to represent your county with great pride,’ says Cooney.
“And I think when you have an indigenous manager or coach, it feeds into that.”
Cooney says all of this carefully, of course. Having played a long time for Westmeath, he was selector for Luke Dempsey in 2001 for the first year of the qualifiers, going on a run that took them through Mayo to the All-Ireland quarter-final.
And he was still a selector when Páidí Ó Sé parachuted in and brought them to their solitary Leinster title in 2004.
“I definitely think that it is beneficial. Now there is no doubt that Westmeath benefitted from managers who were not from Westmeath, over the years,” he says.
“We have benefitted from that immensely. And maybe that was the springboard that allowed players like Dessie and that ilk over the years to come through and see the game, to play the game at a higher level. To see what those standards of preparation are like and that prepares them for their coaching and managerial roles.”
For Dolan, coaching is in the blood. His father, Des senior was a huge influence on the Garrycastle club and won seven county titles himself. While the Westmeath county manager job never went his way, he had spells in charge of Longford and Leitrim.
“You’ve often heard the saying, when it’s in the blood. It’s an off-the-cuff saying, but there is a lot of truth in it,” says Cooney.
“It’s the environment that young players are developed in. It’s in the house all the time, it’s part of what they do growing up and they just take to it naturally.
“In that case with Des senior, he obviously had a huge impact on Dessie, Gary and all the Dolans.”
When Dessie was 40, he was playing out his final year with the club.
They hadn’t won a county title in five years but somehow made the final against St Loman’s.
At half-time, it wasn’t happening for Dessie and Loman’s were streaking into an eight-point lead. One chat later with the manager, his brother Gary, and Dessie was off.
Garrycastle launched the comeback and won the game. Dessie won his eighth county, yet didn’t let his substitution sour it.
“You might take for granted getting the county title, but this was special. We’re five years without getting one. There were incredible scenes at the end. I don’t think anyone could believe the win,” he said afterwards.
And here he is now. Back in Mullingar, another big prize in the offing as Westmeath aim to bounce through the clouds again.
