By Cian O'Connell

Martin Murphy has stepped down as manager of the Offaly senior football team.

Murphy took charge of the Faithful county following the death of the highly regarded Liam Kearns, who passed away in March.

"I became a selector and part of Liam Kearns’ management team in October 2022," Murphy said in a statement released on Wednesday afternoon.

"Following Liam’s sudden passing on the 12th of March, 2023 (RIP), I was asked to step into the manager role.

"The aftermath of Liam’s sudden death was a challenging and emotional time, and it profoundly affected the players and the management team for some time afterwards.

"Despite the unexpected and traumatic loss of Liam, the players and management endeavoured to give it our very best for the remainder of the year.

"Several weeks ago, I met with the chairman of the County Board, Michael Duignan, to discuss and review the past year.

"We discussed the targets we had set for ourselves as a team at the beginning of the year."

Murphy was encouraged about how Offaly performed in the Leinster Senior Football Championship.

"2023 proved to be Offaly’s most successful Leinster championship campaign in 16 years," Murphy added. "The team played some outstanding football, beating Longford and Meath and reaching the Leinster semi-final against Louth in Croke Park, only to lose after extra time.

"Disappointingly, our performance in the Tailteann Cup competition differed from what we had hoped for or expected. Despite qualifying for the preliminary quarter-final, we exited the competition losing to Wexford in Tullamore."

Offaly GAA chairperson Michael Duignan acknowledged Murphy's contribution.

"We in Offaly GAA were very thankful for his dedication to the team subsequently, which resulted in some great performances in the Leinster Senior Football Championship,” Duignan commented.