Stack to take year out after ending fantastic run as Tullamore senior football manager
NIALL Stack will be taking a year out away from football after ending his five year reign as Tullamore senior football manager on Saturday evening.
As expected, Stack decided to opt out after leading Tullamore to a third Senior Football Championship title this year. With big family and work commitments, Stack has confirmed that he won't be taking on a role with any football team in 2025 but his services will be very much in demand and his phone could be fairly hot in the coming weeks.
There had been speculation that Stack would opt out after leading Tullamore to the Dowling Cup in 2023 but he had unfinished business and went for one more year. This year, he was in charge as Tullamore removed two major bogeys off their back: they retained the Senior Football Championship for the first time since 1926 and won their first Leinster Club Senior Football Championship game since 1977, when they beat Tinahely in Aughrim.
Their inability to retain the Offaly title and win a Leinster club game were two major blemishes on their record in the modern era. Tullamore didn't get the chance to play in Leinster when ending a 23 year famine in 2000 as that championship was only completed in December – it ran late because of Kevin Martin's presence on the Offaly senior hurling team as they went to the All-Ireland final, losing to Kilkenny.
However, in 2002, 2007, 2013, 2021 and 2023, Tullamore made first round exits in Leinster and some of their defeats left a lot to be desired, raising questions about their appetite for competition outside of Offaly. Tullamore did of course want to compete well in Leinster but couldn't win a game until this year and in its own way, their win over Tinahely was as important as their county final success over Ferbane, when two in a row was secured.
Not only that but Tullamore competed very well against eventual Leinster champions Cuala in the semi-final in Parnell Park a couple of weeks ago. They matched Cuala in most facets and were not far off in a 1-10 to 0-10 defeat. A soft goal separated the sides and while Cuala were marginally the better side on the day, it would not have taken Tullamore a lot more to win it. The big take away from Tullamore from that game, however, was that they had went toe to toe with one of the marquee club sides in the country on their own turf and had been in with a shout of taking them down.
Stack was clearly devastated after that game, expressing his disappointment very eloquently in an emotive television interview. While he didn't make any announcements in the white heat of that disappointment, he would also have known at that stage that his time as Tullamore manager was over.
With major personal and work commitments, the time was absolutely perfect for Stack to walk away. Retaining the Offaly title, winning a Leinster club game and capturing three Dowling Cups in his five years in charge tilted the balance onto a very positive side and ensured that his legacy is a profound one. He has also been part of the Tullamore U20 football management, they have been utterly dominant for the past five years and the link between U-20s and seniors has been important.
When Stack took over in 2020, Tullamore were at a cross roads. They hadn't won the Dowling Cup since 2013 and if they had reached the decade, the word famine would have begun to come onto people's tongues in relation to them again – Tullamore didn't even reach a final from 2014 to 2019. He did inherit some outstanding young emerging talent but they still had to emerge as senior footballers and one of his great strengths was in his management of young players – John Furlong, Cormac Egan and Oisin Keenan-Martin were outstanding as Offaly won the All-Ireland U-20 Football Championship in 2021 and unsurprisingly, they have been pivotal to Tullamore's great run with Furlong and Egan establishing themselves on the Offaly senior football team.
Tullamore have been remarkably consistent during Stack's term in charge. They reached the senior football final in each of the five years, winning in 2021, 2023 and 2024, losing in 2020 and 2022. There wasn't more than a kick of the ball in it in any of those finals. They lost to Rhode by two points in 2020, one point in 2022. They beat their great rivals in a replay in 2021 and beat Ferbane in 2023 and 2024. They let chances slip away in their defeats but they also rode their luck in other games and the finals have been remarkably tight in the last five years.
Their 1-5 to 0-6 final win over Ferbane in 2023 caused plenty of discussion because of the low score and defensive football but the dreadful conditions were a big factor in that and Tullamore were clearly the better team on the day. Ferbane could have taken them this year and were furious at some decisions that went against them but Tullamore were able to grind out the result.
They have been a serious force of nature during Stack's reign, very difficult to beat and they have certainly been the team of the decade so far. Tullamore have also won the Division 1 Football League in the past four years, another example of terrific consistency. Stack may have sidestepped questions or given generic answers when asked about the importance of retaining the title and winning in Leinster during his term but they were obvious targets for him. However, he made no bones about stressing the importance of Tullamore competing better in and showing more interest in the league and they addressed that fairly spectacularly.
From 2021 to 2024, Tullamore have played 52 league and championship matches in Offaly and suffered only two defeats, one championship and one league. That is some record and he leaves the club in a very strong position.
John Furlong, Cormac Egan etc are still two to four years short of their prime, Cillian Bourke established himself on the team this year and will be a huge player for club and county for over a decade if he isn't tempted away to Australia - everyone in Offaly will be hoping he stays around as he is the type of midfielder the county has been crying out for. Daire McDaid has made huge progress in their defence in the past couple of years and they have other fine emerging talent ready to come on.
They do have some players approaching the end of their careers at this level. Long serving defensive stalwart Paul McConway will certainly be considering calling it a day and he owes no one anything. Michael Brazil, a great leader who has always left everything on the field, is approaching the end game as well. Declan Hogan still has another few years to go but is now moving into the “veteran” ranks - Nigel Bracken has a lot of football under his belt but also has more to give. Outside of them, however, Tullamore's age profile is very good and they will have other outstanding young players coming on to nail down places in the coming years. Tullamore also lost one of their star players during Stack's reign with Johnny Moloney transferring to Moycullen in Galway a couple of years ago and no other side in Offaly could have cushioned the departure of a player of this magnitude.
The type of football played under Niall Stack has often been questioned by supporters, both inside and outside Tullamore. It was defensive at times and some of the lateral and backwards passing could be frustrating to watch but some of the criticism was unfair. There were two aspects to this: firstly there were times when Tullamore threw off the shackles, went at teams, opened them up and played some very exciting football.
Secondly, they played a system to their strengths and owed no one any apology for this. Tullamore don't possess a magical, game winning forward in the vein of a Niall McNamee, a man who won so many games for Rhode. They do, however, have a huge array of options for scores. There have been games where nine, ten players have scored and all of those solitary or couple of points combine into a winning tally. They were brilliant at playing to their system, where they generally retained possession patiently and very efficiently, waited for their openings and shot from the right places. They were better at this than any other team in Offaly and this is why Niall Stack has been their most successful manager ever – and by a long distance. Every player knew what was expected of him, knew his job and usually did it.
Niall Stack was an important player when Tullamore won the 2000, 2002 and 2007 championships, a strong running midfielder and he initially pursued his post playing career on the sports psychology side of things. He got a Masters in it and used it with various soccer teams and individuals, including professional ones while working in Cyprus on a Garda tour-of-duty there.
He worked on the psychology side of things with club and county teams at home before branching out into management. After coming home from Cyprus, he managed Colaiste Choilm senior footballers in Tullamore, leading a very good team that included John Furlong, Niall Bryant, Cormac Egan et-al to a Leinster B title in 2019 – Covid resulted in the cancellation of that All-Ireland series, a title they had players capable of winning.
He then took over Tullamore and his results here speak for themselves. Niall and wife Jenna have young daughters playing soccer and sport, doing well at this and his year out from football will allow him to devote more time to this, as well as dealing with other commitments in a very busy life.
In his late 40s, Stack will have plenty of opportunities to manage or coach club and county teams in the coming years. He will get chances with Offaly teams at various levels if he wants them and clubs inside and outside of Offaly will be hunting him – he may not want to manage a senior football team in Offaly, where they would be coming up against Tullamore.
Stack's departure will now lead to plenty of speculation about his replacement. His announcement on Saturday night won't have come as a surprise to Tullamore GAA Club and while Stack would have been the only consideration if he wanted another year, there are likely to have been informal discussions about where to go if they had to appoint a new man.
Ken Furlong is the standout candidate within the club. His sons John and Niall will be on the team and that is a complication but Niall's presence as a player didn't prevent Ken from managing Offaly U20 footballers for the past couple of years - he only stepped away at the end of this year's campaign.
When Niall Stack got the job five years ago, he beat another former Tullamore player Mark Plunkett in a vote at a committee meeting. Plunkett continued on Stack's fine work with Colaiste Choilm and has taken over as Offaly U-20 football manager for this year, which could rule him out – though it is not unusual for people to combine county and club jobs and with the split season, this can be done.
Benny O'Brien would be another possible candidate. A native of Kiltoom in Roscommon, he played with his home St Brigid's club there before transferring to Tullamore in the 1990s. He later coached or managed them to Roscommon, Connacht and All-Ireland club success while he has done trojan work this year as the manager of Ballinagar who won the Offaly intermediate and Leinster junior club football titles. He has done great work in bringing some players on and his achievements there are comparable with anything he did with his own club of origin, irrespective of the very different levels they are operating at.
O'Brien previously managed Tullamore some years ago but it didn't work out at that stage and he didn't see out the full season. Ballinagar play an All-Ireland semi-final in January and they will be trying to keep O'Brien for their tilt at the Offaly Senior “B” Football Championship next year.
The other big possibility is Tullamore trying to secure a very good outside manager. There is merit in going down this road and Tullamore would be able to attract in a high profile manager – they have an enviable pool of talent, are capable of dominating Offaly football, at least winning regular titles for the foreseeable future and their display against Cuala suggests that they could also make more of a mark outside the county and perhaps challenge for a provincial championship.