78-year old Mick O’Dwyer set for return to inter-county football management

No keeping a good man down

There are certain things that we associate with Championship football. Overpriced sweets outside county grounds, paying a fiver for a warm bottle of some water imported from China,'hang' sandwiches from the boot of a car and a multiple All-Ireland winner as player and manager with Kerry prowling the sidelines watching his side playing football like its 1975. Mick O'Dwyer's last inter-county role was the Clare footballers for an ill-fated  nine-month spell that ended in a disappointing defeat to Tipperary in July 2013. The Waterville man admitted afterwards that it was unlikely he would ever be involved in the backroom of an inter-county set up again after a career on the sideline that lasted almost forty years. However as ever with any Kerryman he did admit that maybe he could be tempted to be an advisor to a team if he was approached. It looked like we had seen the last of the Kerry legend but news this morning suggest that he is about to throw his lot back in with the Louth footballers. According to the Irish Independent the legendary manger has agreed to assist Colin Kelly for the forthcoming championship campaign. Kelly has confirmed that the former manager of Wicklow Laois and Kildare has been involved with his squad.

'He's been about the place. It's nothing formal. I would have had Micko addressing club teams I was involved with in the past. He has great enthusiasm.'

Louth endured a miserable league campaign where they were demoted to Division Four after winning just two games. It was their second successive demotion and O'Dwyer is believed to have agreed to speak to the players a number of times before their Leinster championship opener with Westmeath on May 17th.