Three candidates are in contention to become the new manager of the Galway senior footballers following the resignation of Kevin Walsh.
Discussions continue this week following Alan Flynn's withdrawal, with Pádraic Joyce, Matt Duggan, and Liam Kearns still in the race.
In 2019 Joyce was the manager of the Galway U20 side that won a 19th Connacht title after beating Mayo in the final by six points.
Although they were then beaten by Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final, they won the John Kerin's cup.
Despite being involved in the Irish International Rules set-up as recently as 2017, the U20 job was the Killererin man's first step into management.
Matt Duggan has been manager of the Galway junior footballers for the last two years, leading them to two Connacht JFC titles and back-to-back All-Ireland JFC final appearances.
Duggan was also manager of the Galway Masters in 2014, 2016 and 2017, and guided them to an All-Ireland win over Mayo in 2014.
Third candidate Liam Kearns is an experienced manager on the inter-county scene, having been in charge of Limerick, Laois and Tipperary.
Kearns had previously managed Limerick’s U21s to Munster glory and an All-Ireland final appearance in 2000. He was also a member of the John Evans' backroom team in Roscommon in 2015, working as coach when the Connacht outfit gained promotion to division one of the Allianz League. In 2016 Kearns led Tipperary to the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals for the first time in 81 years, defeating Galway along the way at the quarter-final stage.This was followed up with NFL Division 3 success in 2017.
