Mchale insists he never agreed to join westmeath setup
Liam McHale has insisted that he had not agreed to be part of Peter Leahy’s backroom team with the Westmeath senior footballers.
Leahy was put forward for the position of Westmeath manager at last night’s county board meeting - but he didn’t get sufficient support from club delegates, who voted 24-19 against him.
When Leahy was proposed by Westmeath GAA chairman Sean Sheridan at last night’s meeting, it was stated that former Mayo midfield star Liam McHale would be part of the management team. It was said that Tommy Kelly (The Downs) and Mick Reynolds (a former selector with the Westmeath ladies football team) would also be included in Leahy’s backroom team.
However, McHale has made it absolutely clear that he had not agreed to join Leahy’s ticket. The Ballina native said he met Leahy in Athlone yesterday (Wednesday) and told him he would think about the offer for a few days.
“I nearly crashed the car when I heard my name mentioned on the radio when it was reported that Peter was rejected for the Westmeath position,” McHale told the Westmeath Independent.
McHale was coach of the St Brigid’s team who won the All-Ireland club title in 2013, under the management of Kevin McStay. A highly regarded coach, McHale is still part of the Brigid’s set-up, and the club is currently preparing for the Roscommon SFC final on Sunday week.
“I was coming back from training with St Brigid’s when Brian Carthy came on the radio at around 11 o’clock. I couldn’t believe it when I heard my name read out in connection with the Westmeath set-up,” said McHale.
“I met Peter yesterday (Wednesday) and I said I’d think it over for a few days. I had spoken to him a couple of times on the phone before that – just casual talk, trying to organise a meeting. But when I met him, I never said I was coming on board,” he continued.
“I spoke to Sean Sheridan this morning. He told me that he was 100 per cent sure I was coming on board before going into the county board meeting last night, but that wasn’t the case.
“Sean was very apologetic and I was pleased with his response this morning. I’ve never met Sean but he seems like a very nice, genuine man,” added Liam.
A few weeks ago, McHale was in contention to become part of Mayo’s management team along with former team-mate, Kevin McStay. However, the Mayo County Board chose to appoint Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes as joint-managers.
The way the process was handled caused huge controversy and led to stinging criticism of Mayo chairman Paddy McNicholas.