Henry Shefflin breaks his silence on Galway departure
'It has been a long and hard five weeks since we lost to Dublin.'
Henry Shefflin has said he was tempted to stay on with Galway but opted to step aside for the county’s sake.
News emerged earlier this week of the former Kilkenny star’s decision to bring the curtain down on his time in the west having served three years in the role, with little success.
A six-point defeat to Dublin in late May meant that Galway failed to secure a spot in the knockout stages as they only finished fourth in the Leinster group, suggesting that the team was only going backwards under his stewardship.
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Speaking to Galway Bay FM, Shefflin said: “It has been a long and hard five weeks since we lost to Dublin.
“There has been a lot of toing and froing thinking about the decision. I suppose when I went up first in October 2021 I felt myself it was going to be a two- or three-year project. That three-year cycle came to an end. It was something I was going to review very hard. We probably didn’t want the year 2024 to finish as it did.
“The competitor in us all within the management team felt should we go back, should we get back there again. I thought long and hard about it but just felt it was the right thing for Galway going forward to refresh and regenerate and get someone new in there to take on the project.
“It was a very hard decision to make truthfully. I am a bit sad because I really enjoyed the time up there.”
And the 45-year-old backed Galway to come good in the not too distant future.
“There is definitely that talent, (it) will come to the fore. This year we didn’t see that for various different reasons. But I think next year, would I be surprised to see Galway get back very competitive? Absolutely I wouldn’t.”
Having just quit Waterford this week himself, Davy Fitzgerald has immediately been linked with the Galway job. He was in the running for the post three years ago though Shefflin emerged as the preferred choice.
There have also been suggestions that Micheál Donoghue, who guided Galway to their only All-Ireland in the last 36 years back in 2017, could be prised away from his current role as Dublin manager after overseeing his native county’s downfall this year.
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