The team behind the Mayo team

The team behind the Mayo team


An extensive backroom team is behind Mayo’s run this season.


Mike Finnerty
Profiles

MANAGER
James Horan
THE 40 years-old is at the helm of the Mayo senior football operation and heads up a backroom team that is as impressive as it is well-qualified.
Horan began his coaching career with underage teams in Castlebar and Ballintubber and led his home club, Ballintubber, to their first Mayo SFC title in 2010.
Just a few days later he was appointed to the Mayo job.
The New Zealand-born forward won three Connacht senior championship medals and two All Star awards during a distinguished playing career with Mayo.
He lives in Breaffy and works as a Process Quality Assurance Manager with Coca Cola in Ballina.
James and his wife, SiobhΡn, have four daughters.

SELECTORS
Tom Prendergast
ALTHOUGH he started off as the team statistician almost two years ago, the former Ballintubber footballer is now well-established as a team selector.
He is one of the most popular and well-respected members of the Mayo backroom team and his analysis work on opposition and intelligent insight have become invaluable.
Prendergast, who is a Civil Engineer by profession, has been a friend of James Horan since their school days and they played club football together with Ballintubber, winning County Intermediate medals in 1990.
From a family steeped in football history, Tom Prendergast is a son of Murt Prendergast (RIP), and a a nephew of Paddy and Ray (RIP).

James Nallen
THE two-time All Star retired from senior inter-county football at the end of the 2009 season after playing 132 games for Mayo.
During a glittering career, he won six Connacht senior championship medals and played in five All-Ireland senior finals (including the 1996 replay). He also won six county senior championship medals and an All-Ireland club championship title with Crossmolina in 2001.
The 39 years-old lives in Claregalway and works in the physics department of NUI, Galway.
He is Mayo team’s ‘runner’ on match day, carrying information and messages from the sideline to the players.

TEAM COACH
Cian O’Neill
THIS will be a fourth successive All-Ireland Senior Final for the Kildare-born coach after his hat-trick of September appearances with the Tipperary hurlers in recent years. 
O’Neill was brought on board by James Horan last October and looks after the vast majority of the football coaching that is done on the training ground.
In conjunction with Ed Coughlan (see below), O’Neill designs each Mayo training session with a big emphasis on skill work and game-related scenarios, and his coaching has won him many admirers.
Mayo’s improved defensive performances this year are believed to be largely down to O’Neill’s input.
A typical training session lasts between approximately ninety minutes and two hours.

STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING
Ed Coughlan
THE Cork-born sports scientist recently took up a lecturing position in the Sports Science Department at the University of Limerick.
He began working with Mayo almost two years ago after developing an impressive reputation for his work with high-performance athletes in the UK.
The 38 years-old is a Skill Acquisition Specialist and oversees both the Mayo squad’s strength and conditioning programme and their skill acquisition work (e.g foot-passing, handpassing etc) which is assessed regularly.
Coughlan works in conjunction with Horan and O’Neill to ensure that Mayo’s training sessions are in line with High Performance standards.

TEAM PSYCHOLOGIST
Kieran Shannon
AN award-winning journalist and author, Shannon was brought on board by the Mayo manager last year but his role has really only come to light this season.
A native of Cork, the qualified sports psychologist lives in Ennis, and has become very popular among the players and backroom staff.
He divides his time with Mayo between one-to-one meetings and group workshops, and also acts as a conduit between the players, backroom team and manager.

GOALKEEPING COACH
Peter Burke
THE former Mayo goalkeeper, who played in both the 1997 and 2004 All-Ireland senior finals, works with David Clarke, Kenneth O’Malley and Paul Mannion, the senior squad’s three ‘keepers.

MEDICAL TEAM
Dr Sean Moffatt
THE Ballina based GP is a qualified sports medicine physician and heads up Mayo’s impressive medical team.
The 37 years-old is a former Mayo U-21 and senior footballer, and played in the All-Ireland U-21 Finals in both 1994 and ’95.
Dr Moffatt, who lined out with Ballina Stephenites, also played in a Sigerson Cup Final with NUI, Galway in 1995.

Caroline Brennan
THE former Carnacon and Mayo ladies footballer is the team physiotherapist with responsibility for treating players ‘on the field’ in both training and match-day situations.
She also worked alongside James Horan during his time in charge of Ballintubber.

Liam Moffatt
THE former Mayo U-21 and senior footballer is also a team physiotherapist.
Moffatt, a native of Crossmolina, recently opened the Mayo Sports Clinic in Ballina having graduated as a physio from Trinity College, Dublin. He also has a degree in athletic training from DCU.
The 37 years-old works ‘behind-the-scenes’ with Mayo on the training field and match day, and also has responsibility for overseeing the rehabilitation of injured players.
Moffatt also trains Mayo’s Dublin-based players between January and June.

Joe Dawson
A NATIVE of Westport, Joe is a sports massage therapist.
He is an accomplished long-distance athlete and represented Ireland at schools cross-country-level. He has also played soccer for Westport Utd and Mayo.
Players describe him as both a ‘positive’ and ‘popular’ influence around the Mayo dressing-room.
Paul O’Grady
THE consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar has a wealth of sporting experience having worked with both the New Zealand rugby and Republic of Ireland soccer teams in the past.

LOGISTICS OFFICER
Noel Howley
THE well-known Dublin-based businessman had been involved with the Mayo GAA Supporters Club in Dublin for more than twenty years until it was scrapped by the County Board earlier this year.
Howley, a native of Attymass, was one of the main driving forces behind fund-raising in the capital, plus he also drove the Dublin-based players down to Mayo for training and matches.
At the beginning of this season his role with the senior football squad was formalised when James Horan appointed Howley as the team’s Logistics Officer.
This means that he is now responsible for everything from organising accommodation for the All-Ireland Final to co-ordinating meals for the squad to making sure everything runs smoothly when the team get to Croke Park.

KITMAN
Liam Ludden
THE Castlebar resident has been part of the Mayo set-up since the start of the 2006 season when he was recruited by then-manager Mickey Moran.
Ludden looks after everything from cones, bollards, footballs and water-bottles on the training pitch in Castlebar to hanging jerseys, handing out training-tops and gloves, and preparing the dressing-room for the players on match days.

STATS AND DVD ANALYSIS
Ruaidhr’ Hallinan and Martin Lally
THE Ballintubber duo were recruited by James Horan last year and their statistical analysis during matches, as well as tagging and analysis work on DVDs, is now invaluable.