Part 2 of our investigation into the fortunes and future of North Kerry football

CHAIRMAN of the North Kerry Football Board, Johnny Stack, is in broad agreement with the views of County Secretary Peter Twiss on the state of the game in the region, but is hugely confident that the green shoots are starting to bud into what should be a much brighter future.

“I suppose Peter is probably right. We don’t seem to be coming up with enough top class footballers at the moment. We have Jason Foley and Shane Enright on the Kerry senior panel but, when you look at the likes of East Kerry, they have the population, and where you have the population, you probably have more footballers,” he said.

“If you then look through the county leagues, North Kerry clubs are creeping upwards – Ballydonoghue and Desmonds in Division Two, newly-promoted Duagh had a great start in Division Three with St Senans and Brosna. Knocknagoshel are also making great strides after being promoted to Division Four.

“You also have to consider that North Kerry is the hub of hurling in Kerry, and our board have three very, strong hurling clubs to contend with. Great credit is due to these clubs for the way they juggle fixtures to keep both codes going.

“Maybe a bit of extra assistance from the County CCC might, at times, help with the fixtures conundrum that we often find ourselves in,” Stack ( pictured) says.

A lack of employment in the whole North Kerry district is undoubtedly a key factor in the progression of football, as the Moyvane man readily admitted.

“It is difficult for sure. I’ve seen with my own club here, we have only one player over the age of 30. From there, the rest of the players are all aged from 18 to 24. So there’s an eight-year gap or so there where players left, they went to Australia, Dubai, Canada, America. They are the players we are missing at the moment, and that’s just in Moyvane.

“All of North Kerry has been hit with emigration because of the lack of good jobs. Hopefully, that might change and it would be fantastic if it did. Right now, there isn’t a whole pile of light at the end of the tunnel. The Shannon LNG project hasn’t come our way yet. But things like that are needed in North Kerry to create jobs, and to keep our footballers around the place.

“We could also do with a bit of a relaxation of the planning laws down here. To bring new homes, especially to rural areas in North Kerry, is extremely important to try and rebuild economic growth in the region,” he added.

With the St Senans duo of Sean T Dillon and Barry Mahony now part of Peter Keane’s extended senior training squad, and Brosna’s Paul Walsh, Desmonds’ Luka Brosnan and Listowel Emmets’ Sean Keane impressing for John Sugrue’s Under-20 panel, the Board Chairman remains hugely optimistic that things can certainly get better.

“No question about it. I’ve been chairman for three years, this is my fourth year, and in the three years up to now, we’ve had three Kerry minors every year. For two of those years, the three of them won All-Ireland medals. And, even last year, we had another three involved, they didn’t win an All-Ireland but they weren’t too far away.

“Those players will be coming through, and I’ve no doubt that North Kerry will be strong again down the road. Last year, for instance, our under-14s in Feale Rangers won the county championship. The year before, they went to the final. The Feale Rangers under-21s also went to the county final, albeit mainly by default.

“There are green shoots, no doubt about it. There are some fantastic young players, I’ve seen it in the North Kerry Championship in 2019 too, the amount of young players coming through clubs is absolutely fantastic. It’s great to see it.”

Stack pinpoints Kerry GAA’s Games Promotion Officer (GPO) for North Kerry football, Duagh’s John Dillon, as being absolutely fundamental to the continued development of young footballers in North Kerry.

“John is vital to the district. He is one in a million really, we are awful lucky to have him. He’s doing fantastic work in the schools, where they need that bit of tuition. John is really very, very good at that. He has been into St Michael’s in Listowel and into Tarbert Comprehensive as well. Everything like that helps.

“If John can stay with us, and work the oracle, you never know. We might have more Kerry minors and more Kerry seniors from North Kerry in the next few years.”

Of course, one of the real fly in the ointments has been the disappointing performances from Shannon Rangers and Feale Rangers in the county senior championship. Both divisional outfits have only recorded two victories each in the last five seasons. Stack is fully aware that things need to improve.

“The last number of years have been very disappointing for Feale Rangers and Shannon Rangers. I just don’t know why.

“But I do know that it takes a huge amount of effort and determination on managers and players alike to get to the level of competing in the county championship.

“It is a pity because from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s, North Kerry dominated the county championship between Shannon Rangers and Feale Rangers. And even Castleisland Desmonds in the mid-1980s had a very, very strong team.

“Nowadays, I just can’t put my finger on it. Whether one team would solve that, I am not so sure. But something has to be done to try and get us back on the road to even competing at that level. I’m not even talking about winning a county senior championship,” he stressed.

Stack believes the likes of St Senans and Listowel Emmets are just two examples of clubs that are building for a brighter future with an influx of young players.

“St Senans are a very, very good young team. They have a lot of young players coming through into their senior ranks. Last year, they won the Under-21 championship here in the district, a fantastic championship. They beat Listowel in the final in an absolute cracking game.

“I’d also expect Listowel to come fighting back. They have some fantastic young players and I think they will be a team to be reckoned with as well down the line.”