Galway GAA have announced the appointment of Sam Maguire winning player and manager Eamon Fitzmaurice as the new manager of the Galway Senior Football team. The Kerry native will take over from Padraig Joyce after an eight-year break from intercounty management.
Eamonn Fitzmaurice has been announced as Galway Senior Football manager. Credit: RTÉ
Ever since his playing days ended, Fitzmaurice has stayed intricately linked with Gaelic Football as a pundit, co-commentator, Football Review Committee (FRC) member and most notably has proved a winning manager. From 2012 to 2018, Fitzmaurice was at the helm of the Kerry Senior Footballers, guiding them to All Ireland glory against Donegal in 2012, winning six Munster titles and a National League along the way.
Fitzmaurice was also a part of the management ticket for the Clifford brothers’ Fossa, as they won Junior All Ireland glory in 2023, winning the Kerry and Munster Junior titles in the same campaign.
The Finuge Club man is currently the principal of Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne in Dingle and has been at the helm of their Hogan Cup final wins in 2014 and 2015, along with coaching current Kerry stars like Brian Ó Beaglaoich and ex-Kerry footballer and AFL player Mark O’Connor.
In a statement issued on September 30, Galway GAA chairperson Paul Bellew stated, “We are delighted to appoint a manager of Éamonn’s calibre to lead the Galway senior footballers for the next three years. Éamonn’s record as both a player and a manager speaks for itself, while his recent role as a member of the Football Rules Committee underlined the positive influence he continues to have on Gaelic football…. We now look forward to working closely with Éamonn, the players, and the wider team as we begin the next chapter for Galway football.”
It was only the day before the announcement that Fitzmaurice was labelled the favourite for the job. Before this week, many glamourous names mentioned like five in-a-row winning manager Jim Gavin, Corofin’s three in-a-row Kevin O’Brien and his previous mentor Stephen Rochford.
The biggest question of all however is can Fitzmaurice bring Sam back to Galway for the first time since the late John O’Mahony in 2001.
Galway have widely been in regard with having one of the most talented squads in the sport for the last number of years, and having came so close to glory against Kerry and Armagh in 2022 and 2024.
Taking the age profile and injury records of the squad into terms however it feels like its now or never for some players like Paul Conroy, Damien Comer, and Shane Walsh to get their hands on a Celtic Cross before they hang up the boots.
However, the young bucks of Galway will be eager to take over from the stalwarts, as Ciaran Mulhern, Oisín MacDonnacha, and Fionn McDonagh will prepare to impress Fitzmaurice in Loughgeorge come wintertime.
One returning player that will excite the people of Galway is guaranteed to be Salthill-Knocknacarra’s Matthew Thompson, especially with Fitzmaurice’s style of play. Thompson announced his name to the nation after a stellar 2025 season, being nominated for Young Footballer of the Year in the process.
Thompson is back playing with the sea pirates after his spell in America this summer and has proven to recovered well from the injury he picked up across the pond, after he and his side advanced to the final four of the Galway Senior Football Championship at the weekend.
Thompson is known for his kicking ability, and it will surely be used with the appointment of Fitzmaurice. Another name that can kick is Paul Conroy and he will be another great weapon for the Kerry man if he decides to tog for the maroon and white in 2027.
With Fitzmaurice’s role as a part of the initial FRC team, his knowledge of the game and its new rules will benefit the side ahead of the 2027 campaign.
If Fitzmaurice succeeds in returning the Sam Maguire back to the westerners, he will be the third ever outside manager to claim national glory in football, with Longford’s Eugene McGee guiding Offaly to All Ireland success in 1982, and the late John O’Mahony doing it on two occasions in 1998 and 2001.
Looking at Galway’s crop of players available for the 2027 season, including Damien Comer’s stellar form for his club Annaghdown in the Galway club scene, and the style of play Fitzmaurice teaches, the first round of the league can’t come any quicker for Galway fans, as they hope to see the Nestor cup return and dream of an All-Ireland.
