Galway's senior hurling manager, Henry Shefflin, is said to want to continue with leading the county's hurlers next year, as stated by Galway's GAA chairman.
The Kilkenny legend joined the Galway team in October 2021 on a three-year contract, which was expected to conclude next year. Speculations about the 44-year-old's future had been circulating, but now those speculations have been put to rest.
Galway GAA chairman Paul Bellew officially confirmed the news and even revealed that the county is working towards extending Shefflin's contract into the 2025 season.
"Henry is on board for next year, and we are looking at extending it beyond that," said Bellew on Monday. "Henry has indicated a willingness for that, and so have we, so now it's a matter of finding a mutually acceptable agreement. But it’s great he is on board and will continue the work carried out so far."
Shefflin’s confirmation for a third year does not require ratification, but if an extension of his term is to be considered, it will need to be discussed in a meeting of the county committee in August
“We would hope to have it all wrapped up for the August meeting of the county committee. The four manager positions at U-17 and U-20 in football and hurling are all open as well, as each of the managers has come to the end of their term," added Bellew.
Henry Shefflin looks set to commit his future to Galway for the next few seasons https://t.co/BYNTQoGRFr
— Independent Sport (@IndoSport) August 1, 2023
Under Shefflin's guidance, Galway experienced consecutive losses in Leinster finals against Kilkenny before making it to the All-Ireland semi-finals in both 2022 and 2023. Unfortunately, they were defeated in both semi-finals.
Speaking this year after the defeat to Limerick, the Galway boss stated that he felt Galway's year 'wasn't good'.
“It is funny, at this moment in time, it feels very disappointing because obviously last year we stood here and we were very proud of our performance and pushed them really, really hard,” he said post-match.
“That is what we felt we had a right chance today. Disappointed, right disappointed. It just feels like this year wasn’t good. But when you reflect on it, I think we’d more patches of good play and especially that first 20 minutes was very good play. It is just, I hate using the word, the inconsistency of that, was hurting us.
“I definitely see this year there was better play during the year, but it is all about results. That is what I came to Galway to do, to get results and we haven’t got any for the second year, so it is very disappointing.”
