Mickey Harte Takes the Joint Reins at Offaly

Author: Jack Guing, Last Updated: 18.09.2024

Much to the surprise of many it was announced on the 19th August that Mickey Harte would become joint manager of Offaly Senior Footballers. Joint manager is not a common concept in GAA but it was seen to be a success in 2021 when Tyrone won the All Ireland with joint managers Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher. The pair has recently stepped down as joint managers of Tyrone. Mickey Harte joins U20 All ireland winning manager Declan Kelly as joint manager of Offaly. Kelly took the reins last year but Offaly had a poor year, failing to get promoted from Division 3 and losing all 3 Tailteann Cup games, to London, Limerick and Down. Mickey Harte spent his 2024 as Derry manager, which was not a popular choice amongst Derry fans, due to Harte being a Tyrone man. Derry struggled in the championship last year but did reach the All Ireland Quarter Final. Let's take a look at both Offaly’s 2024 and Harte’s 2024 and judge if this will be a success.

Offaly’s 2024

Offaly struggled greatly in 2024. They were battling relegation in Division 3 winning their final game versus Limerick, staving off relegation in the process. They looked like they had turned a corner with an impressive victory in the Leinster Quarter Final away to local rivals Laois. They had the impossible task of facing Dublin in the Leinster Semi Final, with them needing to get to the final to make it to the All Ireland phase. They were beaten by 20 points by Dublin, not to the surprise of anybody, but they played some good football on the day and it looked like they would make a mark in the Tailteann Cup. This did not transpire and their Tailteann Cup campaign was to put it nicely, underwhelming. They suffered one of the most embarrassing defeats in the 3 time All Ireland Senior Football champions history, losing at home to London in O'Connor Park. They were beaten by 14 points on a scoreline of 2-20 to 0-12, in a scoreline that sent shockwaves around the GAA world. They followed that up with defeats to Limerick and Down, to end a dismal first season for manager Declan Kelly. Will the addition of Mickey Harte change their fortunes?

Mickey Harte’s 2024

Mickey Harte began his tenure at Derry very successfully in 2024 as they won the Allianz National league, defeating Dublin on penalties. They were tipped as one of the favourites to win not only the Ulster Championship but the All Ireland championship. They would go on to win neither of these competitions, losing the Ulster Quarter Final to Donegal and the All Ireland Quarter Final to Kerry. In the 2024 Championship they won just 2 games versus Westmeath and Mayo, losing 2 of their 3 group games to Armagh and Galway, the two sides who reached the All Ireland Final. Harte got the Derry job after a successful tenure at Louth that saw Louth develop from a Division 4 team to a Division 2 team, reaching the Leinster Final along the way. Harte left Louth in a strong way, with them reaching the Leinster Final again this year, keeping Dublin to just 4 points. Offaly supporters will hope that Offaly can make the same gains that Louth have made. Louth have passed Offaly out both in the Divisions and in their Leinster Championship campaigns.

It remains to be seen if the idea of joint managers will work for this Offaly set up. Declan Kelly is an All Ireland winning manager, winning the Under 20 All Ireland Championship with Offaly in 2021, with many of those players on the Senior panel. Harte has been a very successful manager winning 3 All Ireland titles in his time at Tyrone. There will now be two voices for the players to listen to which could cause confusion. Hopefully cohesion is found between the two and can bring the success back to Offaly football.

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