His wider management and back teams will be confirmed in due course though the St Vincent’s man could retain some elements of his set up from Lout
Dublin GAA have appointed Ger Brennan as their new senior football manager. Brennan, an All-Ireland winner as a player in 2011 and ‘13, has cut his inter-county managerial teeth with Louth in the last two years, leading them to a historic Leinster title success in May, their first since 1957.
However, he stepped down from that position early last month, just days after Dessie Farrell quit the Dublin job, paving the way for him to take charge of his native county.
The 40-year-old appeared to be a shoo in on the back of that development, but his name featured less prominently in Dublin GAA circles in recent weeks, with Declan Darcy, Jim Gavin’s former right-hand man, believed to be a leading contender.
However, for whatever reason, that hasn’t proved to be a runner and so Brennan becomes the first of Dublin’s most recent generation of All-Ireland winning players to take charge of the side. He likely won’t be the last.
He has been appointed on a three-year term and county board chairman Ken O’Sullivan commented: “Ger has achieved the highest honours as a player with Dublin and he has our full support in leading the Dublin senior football panel in pursuit of further honours in the coming years. We wish Ger, his team and the panel the very best and look forward to the 2026 season.”
His wider management and back teams will be confirmed in due course though the St Vincent’s man could retain some elements of his set up from Louth, while he may well look to some of those that he soldiered with during his Dublin playing days as coaches/selectors.
Dublin are in the midst of a period of transition at the moment and have fallen at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage in each of the last two seasons. This year, they lost their grip on the Leinster title for the first time in 15 years as Meath shocked them in the provincial semi-final, before Brennan’s Louth side saw off the Royals in the final.
Re-establishing their supremacy in Leinster will be a baseline requirement for Brennan in 2026, when he will bid to emulate the likes of Tommy Lyons and Mick O’Dwyer by winning the Delaney Cup with different counties.
Building a team capable of winning an All-Ireland may be a longer road as Dublin have shipped a number of retirements in recent years, with the possibility of more to follow during the close season.
Indeed, Dublin’s most experienced player, goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton, at 43, is more than three years older than Brennan.
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