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Padraic Davis is enjoying coaching adventure

New Longford manager Padraic Davis guided Mohill to two Leitrim SFC titles.

New Longford manager Padraic Davis guided Mohill to two Leitrim SFC titles.

By Cian O'Connell

Padraic Davis knows all about the possibilities existing in sport so the new Longford manager wants to ensure the midlanders remain a respected outfit.

During his own distinguished playing career Davis forged a reputation as an accomplished forward and much of the past decade has been spent coaching.

Two Leitrim Senior Championships gleaned with Mohill hinted at Davis’ potential, while a string of roles with different Longford teams also brought encouragement.

Davis believes that Longford can continue to deliver solid League and Championship displays. “We probably have had nine years of it in the sense that when the minors came in 2010 to win a Leinster Championship our Under 21s then came strong and our seniors then came strong,” says Davis, a well regarded senior selector during Glenn Ryan’s stint in charge.

“That time between 2011 and 2012 we got promoted from Division Four into Three and from there into Division Two. It co-incided with strong underage teams as well. Right up to this point it has been hugely encouraging for Longford supporters.

“We would hope that we can continue that. It is a great honour to be involved with this group of lads. I have been involved in the core group at minor, Under 21, and senior level so to get that opportunity to manage them now, the honour is certainly mine and I'm looking forward to it.”

There is significant potential to make an impact with Longford according to Davis. “Firstly that squad of players and last year's management had a very good year,” Davis states.

“As an outsider or a supporter looking in I thought they had a very good year and they were very unlucky the last day against Fermanagh that they didn't get promoted. They had a good Championship, they beat Meath and were unlucky against Kildare.

“Obviously Dublin are a different outfit altogether, but they had a very good year, and we hope to pick up the pieces, to push them on, and I hope we can do it.

“There are some excellent footballers in Longford, they are a good bunch of lads, I've had them at Under 21 level, I've had them at senior level when I was a selector. They are a group of players any manager would be privileged to have an opportunity to work with.”

Padraic Davis served as a selector when Glenn Ryan was in charge of Longford.

Padraic Davis served as a selector when Glenn Ryan was in charge of Longford.

Valuable lessons were learned during Davis’ spell managing Mohill to success in Leitrim. “It was a challenge,” Davis admits.

“I retired in 2008 and I came straight into the system as an Under 21 selector and I was a coach with the 2010 team. Then I ended up as Under 21 manager and senior selector.

“While I served my time from the bottom right up to the top in those years to go away as a stranger to see if you could prove yourself was huge really. I suppose it was pleasing and rewarding, no doubt. We had a great time in Mohill, the club were very, very good to me.

“To go away outside the county and for it to work out winning three Leagues in a row and we won two Championships. They were a fantastic club, a fantastic bunch of people, a great Executive with a brilliant Chairman, he was the guy who was very good to me. The players and myself wanted for nothing.”

Inevitably Davis’ name cropped up when inter-county vacancies arose. “We had that success and then the natural progression was that I was going to be linked with the Longford and Leitrim jobs,” Davis adds.

“It wasn't that in any way that I was harbouring this burning ambition to manage at senior level. I do it because I enjoy the game and GAA so much. It is the next best thing to playing. Nothing including managing a senior inter-county team will match that because I miss playing, that is being honest.

“Mentoring, coaching, and managing was the next best thing so I'm enjoying it. I have to say I've had a great 10 years at it.”

That sense of enthusiasm and enjoyment ensures Davis continues to derive pleasure from being involved with teams, regardless of the level. “It is certainly not a chore and if it was a chore I wouldn't do it for five minutes or even look at a job like this,” Davis remarks.

“It is something I enjoy hugely, I never found pressure really as a player and I don't find it in management. I'm in it to do my very best, to improve whoever I'm involved with, to make them the best that they can be.

“It is anything, but a chore, it is hugely rewarding. I'm hugely privileged, and really, really lucky to get an opportunity like this. There are so many guys that are so ambitious, mad to get into management, and they can't get in with a club senior team. I'm under no illusions about the opportunity I've been given.

Former Longford star Paul Barden is part of Padraic Davis' backroom team.

Former Longford star Paul Barden is part of Padraic Davis' backroom team.

“I'm very grateful to everyone in Longford, the Longford County Board, and particularly the supporters, who have backed me from day one as a player and backed me in management also. Between players, supporters, and County Board I have to be very, very grateful to everybody.”

An interesting backroom team has been stitched together by Davis, who is delighted to have Paul Barden, Donal Ledwith, and former Galway footballer John Donnellan on board.

“If there is one thing those three guys have is a huge passion and hunger for the game,” Davis acknowledges. “It is embedded in them, it is their lives. You will never change those guys, that is the way they are.

“All three that is what made them hugely appealing to me when I was trying to put a backroom team together.

“Obviously there is a world of football knowledge, nobody can question that, they have been hugely successful on an individual basis and with their clubs, counties, and beyond. So I simply couldn't have a better trio to be involved with and I'm very lucky and grateful for that.”

Already planning and plotting for a competitive Allianz Football League Division Three campaign, Davis is looking forward to some interesting spring tests.

“Consolidation in Division Three is key for us,” Davis comments. “That is number one, and whatever comes after that is a bonus. We will have to work very, very hard to give ourselves a chance, but we will have to try to secure our status.

“We will have to be defensively sound first and foremost to make sure we hold our position. Then after that - in any of these divisions one day you can be in with a shout of promotion and one loss can fire you back down to the other end where you can be looking at relegation, and vice versa.

“We will be taking the National League almost as a primary competition. That is the way it has to be, it is a brilliant competition. It is certainly a great baromoter as to where you are and we are looking forward to the National League.

“When we go back training in October we will be focused on that National League. We will worry about the Championship when the League is over, but for now consoladation, to try to hold on in Division Three before hopefully giving ourselves a chance. We have a squad of players that is good enough to give ourselves a chance to maybe push for promotion.”

An interesting 2019 journey looms.