Whelahan steps down as Offaly manager

Brian Whelahan has stepped down as Offaly senior hurling manager, having completed two seasons in the role.

Whelahan is regarded as the greatest player in Offaly's history, but during his two year spell in charge he was unable to arrest Offaly's steep decline in inter-county hurling.

It's now more than 10 years since Offaly reached a Leinster final, and under Whelahan, there were few signs of tangible progress.

In 2014, Offaly suffered a huge 26-point loss to Kilkenny in Leinster before exiting the championship with another heavy defeat to Tipperary, having narrowly beaten Antrim in the round before that.

This season, Offaly suffered a demoralising loss to Laois in Leinster - their first championship defeat to their neighbours since 1972 - and that was followed by a heavy defeat to Clare in the All-Ireland Qualifiers.

Offaly were almost relegated from Division IB in 2014 and were saved only by the fact that the team promoted from Division IIA had to face the relegated team from IB in a promotion/relegation match. That scenario suited Offaly, who comfortably defeated an inexperienced Kerry side.

This season, Offaly's league form was considerably better, with Whelahan guiding them to victories over Laois, Limerick and Antrim to secure a quarter-final spot. In the last eight, Offaly were beaten 1-16 to 0-13 by Tipperary.

After the defeat to Clare on July 4, Whelahan seemed intent on staying with Offaly. "Of course," he said, when asked if he wanted to stay. "I'm an Offaly man. But at the end of the day that's not for me to decide.

"It's going to take a number of years. You don't just flick a switch and it happens in one year. And you definitely don't flick a switch when things haven't been coming through from underage.

"It is very, very disappointing. Regardless of the two games that we've played in the Championship, the guys trained very, very hard all year. We put in a very big year and it is very disappointing to go out."

However, Whelahan has opted not to seek an extension of his term in charge and Offaly will now begin the process of finding his replacement.

Birr native Whelahan won All-Irelands as a player with Offaly in 1994 and 1998, and was selected on the Team of the Millennium in 2000 - the only player from the modern era who was selected.

Whelahan was part of the last great era of Offaly GAA. Offaly have won All-Ireland senior hurling titles in 1981, 1985, 1994 and 1998, but they have been in freefall for the last decade, and are now arguably the sixth ranked team in the Leinster Championship.

One source of hope is the development of a new Centre of Excellence in the county, with plans unveiled earlier this summer for a EUR1.9 million facility at Kilcormac.

---