St Loman’s and Kelly part ways after three years

St Loman’s, Mullingar are in the hunt for a new senior football manager after Offaly man Declan Kelly stepped down from the role earlier in the week.

Kelly picked up where his predecessor Luke Dempsey left off, maintaining the winning St Loman’s mentality and steering the Lakepoint Park club to a Westmeath senior football final in each of his three years in charge.

Kelly, who managed his native Offaly to an All-Ireland U20 football title in 2021, came on board with St Loman’s in 2020 and guided the Mullingar side to back-to-back Paddy Flanagan Cup successes (2020 and 2021).

This year, he led the Saints to an eighth county final in a row, but they missed out on a hat-trick of SFC titles after The Downs prevailed in horrendous weather conditions in the final earlier this month.

“Declan has proved himself to be a fantastic manager, but both sides have decided to go their separate [ways] after three fantastic years,” the St Loman’s club said in a Facebook post, wishing Kelly the very best in the future.

Also stepping down with Kelly are his selectors, former St Loman’s players Garret Hickey and Jonathan Plunkett. Former Dublin full back Paddy Christie, who is set to take the reins of Longford’s senior footballers, is also leaving the St Loman’s backroom setup.

“The club would sincerely like to thank all four men for their hard work over their time,” the St Loman’s statement concluded.