Kilcoo's All-Ireland winning manager steps down

Wednesday 9th March 2022

Mickey Moran has stepped down as Kilcoo manager just three weeks after guiding the Magpies to All-Ireland club SFC success.

The historic triumph, which was secured courtesy of Jerome Johnston's last-gasp winning goal against Kilmacud Crokes, crowned a hugely successful tenure for the veteran manager who also delivered three Down SFC titles and two Ulster club titles during his three years in charge. Kilcoo also reached the 2020 All-Ireland final, only to come up short against Corofin.

"We will always be indebted to Mickey," Kilcoo secretary Seamus O'Hanlon told the BBC.

"The first thing is that we'll wish him a very long and happy retirement.

"Our players had the best relationship you could possibly imagine with Mickey. He was like a father figure to the players in Kilcoo and we're sorry to see him go."

Moran's assistant managers Conleith Gilligan and Richard Thornton will take over as joint-managers for the coming season. A former Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal and Mayo manager, Moran had lost All-Ireland finals with Mayo (2006), Slaughtneil (2015 and '17) and Kilcoo (2020) before finally reaching the Promised Land last month.