Blessing in disguise for Mark Fitzgerald
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 Ó Sé and Mick O’Dwyer all had high profile playing careers with Kerry that 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 respectively. But Fitzgerald’s sporting vocation was a mixture of association and Gaelic football as he earned a soccer scholarship at Mercyhurst University in Pennsylvania. “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 that. “At that stage, I was coming back and 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 between 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 county prospects.
“Back then, they weren’t shy of good forwards. They had Mike Frank, Maurice Fitz, Gooch, Ó Cinneide, Johnny Crowley. There weren’t too many lads getting in those teams.”
He coached at club level and was part of the Kerry minor management before Ray Dempsey added him to his
Limerick ticket in 2022.
Season
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.
“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.
“I still have good time for those players. Played against them there two or three weeks ago and wished them the best.”
With Limerick relegated from Division Three with a game to spare, Clare play Down in Newry this evening knowing that a victory will take them straight back to Division Two.