Another Kingdom native relishing challenge with Banner
MARK FITZGERALD isn’t the first Kerryman to manage Clare, but his pathway to the job is somewhat different to those who have gone before.
John O’keeffe, John Kennedy, Paidi O Se and Mick O’dwyer all had high profile playing careers with Kerry that, in total, yielded 22 All-irelands, while the latter pair won a further 10 between them as managers.
There is some crossover with O’keeffe and Fitzgerald in that they both managed Limerick before Clare, though they are from opposite sides of the Tralee footballing divide in Austin Stacks and Kerins O’rahillys.
But Fitzgerald’s sporting vocation was a mixture of association and Gaelic football as he earned a soccer scholarship at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania where he studied marketing.
“I was there for four years,” he says. “I came back and I got a couple of offers from League of Ireland (clubs), Cork City and all.
“I just said, do you know what, I could go play for Cork City there and get 700 or 800 a week, but I went back into financial services and I just said I’ll stick with the football (Gaelic), and dabble in junior soccer and football.”
He came home to play for the O’rahillys for a couple of summers but four years in America wouldn’t have helped his prospects of a county call-up.
“Back then, they weren’t exactly shy of good forwards. They had Mike Frank, Maurice Fitz, Gooch, Ó Cinneide, Johnny Crowley. There weren’t too many lads getting into those teams.”
He had coached at club level and was part of the Kerry minor management team before Ray Dempsey added him to his Limerick ticket in late 2022.
But Dempsey didn’t last the League and Fitzgerald saw out the season as interim manager. He couldn’t save them from relegation but they pushed Clare in a Munster semi-final and topped their Tailteann Cup group before losing to Laois in the quarter-final.
He wanted to stay but was overlooked in favour of Jimmy Lee and Clare made contact shortly afterwards. With hindsight, it’s worked out for the best.
“A blessing in disguise, yeah. I just think that the Limerick thing got a bit silly towards the end.
“It’s no secret that the players wanted me to stay but obviously the county board wanted to go in a different direction and, listen, we shook hands at the end of it and that was it.”
With Limerick relegated from Division Three with a game to spare, Clare play Down in Newry today knowing that a victory will take them straight back to Division Two.
“It’s not nice to see it, like,” he says of Limerick’s predicament, “but my allegiance lies with Clare now. Getting back into Division Two would be a really good achievement when you consider what we were missing.”
From the 20 Clare players that featured in last year’s
Munster final,
12 weren’t available t o
Fitzgerald this year for various reasons, so getting them to this position, regardless of how they fare this evening, is arguably the managerial feat of the League.
Colm Collins (below) was a hard act to follow as manager but, such is his devotion to Clare football, he’s been a useful sounding board for his successor.
“Very helpful. Absolutely. I still speak to Colm on and off. Colm is first and foremost a brilliant supporter of Clare football.
“Every so often, I pick up the phone and maybe have a little chat about one or two things.”
When he was appointed last September, only Eoin Cleary had declared his intention not to play in 2023. Would he have taken on the role if he knew another 11 would follow suit?
“No, I would have still taken it. I was still aware of a lot of the qualities that were left and, look, you’re probably going, ‘Yeah, you’re telling a lie now’.
“We’ve been happy enough with how things have gone. Probably should be top of the table if truth be told but, look, it is what it is. Tough test going up to Newry now.”