Opinion: Galligan's departure leaves a big gap to fill

Opinion

Usually, but not always, when a Cavan senior team manager leaves, it is because their time has run its course or there is significant disquiet either among the club delegates or, even more fatally, in the dressing-room.

That was not the case in Cavan. While Raymond Galligan’s final three matches ended in defeat and there will always be grumbles, there was no clamour for him to resign as manager, which is why Monday’s news was so shocking.

Galligan had been planning for 2026. He told the Anglo-Celt on Monday that he had spoken to the players over the fortnight since the loss to Kerry and all were on board again for next year.

Speaking in the tunnel at Fitzgerald Stadium after that defeat, Galligan firmly indicated he was staying on (“We have lots of work to do. The only way we can do that is by staying at the very least in Division 2, playing those top teams early next year, and then hopefully pushing on to get back to where we were this year”) and that was the impression county chairman Mark O’Rourke had, too.

“Raymond rang me at lunchtime and it’s certainly not something I was expecting, or we were expecting as a board,” O’Rourke, whose son Gary is a member of the panel, said.

“I had spoken to Raymond a number of times since the Kerry game, and I know he was talking about putting plans in place for next year. So yes, it was a surprise, and we’re disappointed with it.”

Galligan’s tenure produced some highly impressive wins and some very disappointing losses. He was dealt some difficult hands and played them as best he could.

In his two seasons at the helm, he steered Cavan into the Sam Maguire, finishing in third and fourth places respectively in Division 2 of the National League, actually accumulating more points this year when finishing fourth.

The highlights were a six-point win over Monaghan in the Ulster Championship in Clones last year, which was the widest winning margin in that fixture, by either side, since 1972, and a brilliant away victory over Mayo in Castlebar this year which ranked in the county’s top-five championship wins since 1970.

There were league victories over Roscommon, Louth (twice), Cork, Down, Kildare and Westmeath and a draw against Meath as well as a one-point championship loss to Tyrone after extra time. All of that represents a very good body of work and proved that Galligan, who was a managerial rookie when he took the job, knew how to prepare and prime a team to take on the better sides in the country.

The disappointing aspect for the Lacken man was that against the very best teams, Cavan were found wanting on several occasions. The sides listed above, whom Cavan could match and more, tended to get closer to the big guns when it came to it.

Against the likes of Donegal, Tyrone and Dublin, Cavan wilted badly; the manager is ultimately responsible for these poor days, too.

But in the court of public opinion, sometimes there is little room for nuance. Galligan was held to a very high standard by some supporters who didn’t attach enough weight to the fact that each of Cavan’s 10 championship matches under his watch were against Division 1 opposition, making Cavan the only county in Ireland who have played exclusively top-flight sides in championship football in 2024 and 2025.

Three teams defeated Cavan in the 2025 championship; all three are currently preparing for All-Ireland semi-finals this weekend.

A charge levelled at him in some quarters, including this one, was that he was overly loyal to some of the old guard with whom he had himself soldiered. There is some validity to that but the simple fact is that the cavalry was not coming.

Of the 16 teams who will compete in the top two divisions of the National League in 2026, only two – Cavan and Donegal – have not played in at least one All-Ireland minor or U20 final since 2019.

And in the case of Donegal, they have actual All-Ireland senior medallists in their team and are fancied to defeat Meath this weekend, meaning that by next year, Cavan could well be the only side in the top 16 not to have played in any recent All-Ireland final at any level.

So, Galligan had his work cut out in that regard, especially when one considers that the team he inherited was ageing anyway; of the 22 players who started matches in the 2025 championship, nine were aged 30 or over.

In such a scenario, he needed to lean heavily on the younger players but luck was against him in this regard, too. Paddy Lynch turned in one of the best runs of any Cavan inside forward in recent decades in the league and Ulster Championship of 2024; Cavan were relying hugely on him for scores and he was delivering – until he ruptured his ACL.

Barry Donnelly’s debut against Down this year was the most promising maiden outing in blue we can recall; he, too, unfortunately did the cruciate. Every team gets injuries but Cavan were particularly badly afflicted, with, by our count, five of the 10 most important players missing for the Ulster opener this year, for example.

Galligan turns 38 this year and his service to the county stretches back 23 years to when he first lined out, as a forward, at U16 level. He played minor and U21 and then senior, took some time out and returned as a goalkeeper – he learned that position and then excelled, winning an All-Star and captaining the side to the Anglo-Celt Cup five years ago. Few, if any, have contributed more to the cause this century as the Lacken man has.

He stepped down citing work commitments and time constraints, which is understandable for a man with a young family and a taxing day job based in Dublin. It’s notable that several of the leading inter-county managers do not work full-time away from football; the demands are extraordinary now.

Cavan had spoken about training in venues in the west of the county next year as the new pitches at Kingspan Breffni remain under development; that would mean a five-hour round trip before anything else was done.

Inter-county management is a very public position. It brings to mind Galligan’s clubmate Terry Hyland’s quip back when he was a selector with the Cavan team. On being introduced to a stranger, he was asked how many selectors there were. “About 10,000 for a big game,” Terry laughed.

Some managers take over a team, at club or county, to pad out their CV in the hope of getting a better job; others do it for the expenses or the attention. Galligan wasn’t into any of that; he has little interest in fawning publicity (witness how he dodged any tributes, to which he was entitled, around his own retirement which effectively occurred when he took the job, and also his reluctance to be quoted in any gushing official statement this week) and he certainly wasn’t in it for the money.

Galligan took the job for the right reasons; as a Cavanman who had given so much as a player, he wanted to give more. It’s a shame it has ended so abruptly but he will always be admired for the service he has given football in the county and for his personable manner throughout it all.

When time allows, he will surely return to coaching and management and may even manage Cavan again; these things work in funny ways and he has plenty of time on his side. The Lacken man bleeds blue and white and that DNA can’t be altered.

Football moves on quickly, though. By Monday evening, the word had been disseminated that Galligan was gone and the conversation quickly turned to who might fill the bib. It’s a huge decision for the county board; there is the sense that the team, given its age profile, is at something of a crossroads and a wrong turn would be potentially catastrophic.

It's early days but the short-list of ‘domestic’ contenders would surely include, but is not limited to, Finbar O’Reilly, Jason O’Reilly and Dermot McCabe, who is currently managing Westmeath but may be interested in taking his home county.

The fact that attractive roles in Mayo, Dublin, Roscommon and Louth among others are vacant means interest among proven managers outside the county may not be high; then again, when it is it ever - and maybe the board will magick up something spectacular in the coming weeks.

Regardless, the officers have a job of work on their hands now to find an adequate replacement to build on the good work Galligan did over the last two years. Ray carried himself well and has earned the utmost respect of the fans as player and manager. He can hold his head high.