Joe Kelly departs as Mayo Oscar Traynor Cup team manager

Joe Kelly has stepped down as manager of Mayo’s Oscar Traynor Cup side following a glittering two years at the helm.

The man in the dugout had been due to lead the line in 2026 as the county aimed to end their drought in the competition. However, in an interview with The Mayo News, Kelly outlined his decision to vacate the role.

“In my first year in charge, I was given a late appointment as manager of the Connacht Interprovincial Junior team as well. At the time, I juggled the two of them purely because I’d already committed to the Oscar Traynor job.

“I learned from the first year that I wasn’t being fair to anyone, doing both roles. If I’m managing Mayo, I don’t get the chance to watch the other Connacht players playing in the competition because the games are on at the same time.

“I didn’t want to be accused either of having a favouritism to Mayo if I was in charge of the Mayo team when I’m picking the Interprovincial team. It can easily be said, and I don’t blame anyone for it.

“If I have seven or eight guys from Mayo, they could be the seven or eight guys that are best for the positions I’m selecting them for, but there’ll always be a feeling within other counties, ‘oh, he’s manager of Mayo.’ I just felt that there was a conflict of interest there that I myself wasn’t comfortable with.”

There were plenty of high points during Kelly’s stint at the helm of his county. The 2024 season brought a frontier only seen once before in the county when they reached the Oscar Traynor Cup Final. Despite a loss to Waterford, there was a sense that optimism had returned to the football fraternity.

“I set out our targets and I know some of them went away thinking, ‘that’s pie in the sky. How is Mayo ever going to get to, win an All-Ireland final?’

“To me, the best feeling was to have the best players in the county commit for the last 24 months. And some of them are 19 and 20 years of age that were travelling up from Limerick and Galway, and even Dublin on a Thursday night to come to Castlebar to train, and go back on the road again at half ten at night after a hard training session.

“The commitment those lads showed, and for everyone to make themselves available in the county, was incredible.

“Everyone will tell you, at the end of year one, the lads were coming into training sessions and they were as excited about coming to training with us as they were with their club. And there was a real club feeling to it.

“The outstanding memory for me is making the county team feel like a club team again. And obviously, what goes with that then is friendships made for life. You end up going on the beer with them, and we had some wild nights out as well after games.”

When one door closes, another opens. Joe Kelly’s time at the helm of Mayo soccer will be fondly remembered. Now, attention will swiftly turn to who will next be handed the keys to become the custodian of the side.