SPIN IT TO WIN IT!

Counties continue to crank the managerial merry-go-round in hope of landing the right man at the right time to lead them to their Promised Land in '26

- KARL O'KANE

both five interFOLLOWING the appointments of Andy Moran and Dermot McCabe as Mayo and Cavan managers respectively returning home county football vacancies remain.

The jobs up for grabs are Roscommon, Westmeath, Waterford, Clare and Antrim.

11 inter-county football managers have left their posts since the end of the 2025 season - although Ger Brennan and McCabe moved jobs indicating the fluid, demanding and precarious nature of the job.

The phrase managerial merry-goround slightly demeans the quality at this level, but there are certainly more and more career coaches moving around the counties.

There are also plenty of incumbents that still have to be confirmed in their roles for next year, but a clear picture of what 2026 will look like has begun to emerge.

By the time the (re)appointment processes are complete there will be a maximum of 12 football managers who have served two years or more.

That means that 21 managers will either be going into their first year, or have served one year to date.

Former Footballer of the Year Moran was a coach with Monaghan this season, while he also served three years as Leitrim manager.

McCabe spent one year with Westmeath.

Their appointments bring the number of natives in charge of their own counties currently to 19 out of 28.