Galvin to get our football fortunes back on course

AMAJOR overhaul of all aspects of Wexford football, including a restructuring of the under-age championships, is needed, in a bid to halt the Model county’s worrying decline. One is alarmed to note the gradual slump of football in the county. Having looked back over the past twelve years, Wexford have gone from a side competing with the elite counties to one down in the lower reaches of Division 4 of the National League.

In 2005, Wexford - under Pat Roe - lost a Division 1 league final to Armagh and, having been cocooned over recent weeks, I had some available time to look back on old videos, recalling Wexford’s magnificent footballing surge under Jason Ryan.

In 2008 Wexford enjoyed a marvellous championship under the Waterford native, starting off with that magnificent comeback victory, from nine points adrift, to defeat Meath in Dr. Cullen Park.

While Dublin prevailed comfortably in the provincial final, Wexford had the management skills and player strength to re-group, going on to defeat Down in the qualifiers and Armagh in the All-Ireland quarter-final, before succumbing to Tyrone in the All-Ireland semi-final, a game when one witnessed the goal of the championship from Ciarán Lyng.

Wexford’s progress did not end there, as in 2011 they once again qualified for a provincial final but lost to Dublin, a game they allowed slip from their grasp.

But the decline of the game over the past four seasons is more than worrying. If something is not done about it, it will get worse.

It now needs a collective focus from the County Board along with the management of all the Senior, Under-20 and Minor teams, county and clubs alike. There needs to be a realisation that things must improve, and improve fast.

There is a lot of work to be done. There is no one major thing, but a whole lot of small matters adding up that need to be addressed.

Starting with the under-age, there are so many divisions, that they just cannot be competitive or bring improvement, as in the end it leads to so many dead rubber games. I’d like to see an overhaul at Under-15 and Under-17 levels, having more competitive games, as that way you can improve.

Perhaps it’s time that an experienced individual was appointed to plan a way forward for football in the county from under-age right through to adult level.

One needs a prepared document, outlining a platform for the game in the county, one that will offer a way forward and prevent the game from sliding further.

Really, at this stage, it must be accepted that Wexford is a non-entity at under-age inter-county level, giving the county’s dismal championship record.

The slide at Senior level has been quite dramatic too, so alarming in fact, that if it was any other county it would have been immediately addressed. Not so in Wexford.

It’s very hard for the Senior football team to progress if the County Board are just doing their business as per usual. When Wexford hurling was in a bad place just over ten years ago, there was uproar, but I don’t see the same level of interest or concern in sorting out football.

From County Board level to all management teams involved at inter-county level, to the clubs, it needs an overhaul.

You look at the top counties, and they have a system which is prevalent right through all their teams. But it’s hard to say what Wexford stand for in football.

They had a system under both Pat Roe and Jason Ryan, one that played to the team’s strengths, elevating them to the top level.

One can see that Paul Galvin is trying to give his side an identity, which saw them push forward into a promotion spot until the league was halted. It would have been a huge boost for this young team to have achieved promotion, but they must wait a little longer.

At present there is some cause for optimism. Galvin is bringing with him a plan, based no doubt on what he learned with Kerry as a player, but this will have to be introduced to under-age level under experienced management, in order to provide a foundation for the future progress of football in the county.

Wexford need to turn it around. I believe Paul Galvin is the right man to oversee the necessary changes.