ROSSCARBERY man Peter Creedon is the new manager of the Tipperary senior ladies football team.
The former Carbery Rangers footballer was unveiled as the team’s new boss on Monday night – and he’s looking forward to his latest inter-county challenge.
‘It’s something that, at the start of the year, I wouldn’t have expected to be doing, but when I was asked to consider it and put my thoughts around it, it looked like something that could be a very exciting project,’ the West Cork man told CK Streaming.
‘Look, it was great to have had the honour of managing the Tipp senior men’s (team) for four or five years and if I’ve half as good a time with the girls as I had with the boys, it’ll be great.’
The Ross man boasts a managerial CV that includes stints in charge of both the Tipperary (2012 to 2015) and Laois (2017) senior men’s football teams.
In recent years Creedon, who is principal of Coláiste Dun Iascaigh in Cahir, has been involved with underage ladies’ football teams in Tipp, and he feels this will help him in his new role.
‘Since I left the men’s game I have done a couple of years with Ed Burke with U14 and U16 teams, myself and Tony Smith have done minor teams with the ladies, and all those years have been very enjoyable, winning a couple of All-Irelands along the way at different levels,’ said Creedon, who succeeds Declan Carr in the hot seat.
‘My school is very much a hotbed of ladies’ football as well. Shane Ronayne, a teacher with us, is a past manager of Tipperary and we are trying to develop the school as a base for Tipp ladies’ football so all that came into my decision-making process.
‘When you look at the quality of players Tipp have, the potential is there and the challenge is to harness that.’
Tipperary kept their senior status this year when they beat Tyrone 7-10 to 3-16 in a TG4 All-Ireland SFC relegation play-off at the end of August. They lost heavily to Cork in the group stage of the championship, 6-14 to 1-10.
The Premier County was relegated from Division 1 of the national football league earlier this year – again suffering a heavy loss to Cork in the process, 3-15 to 2-6 – so Creedon’s first job will be to get Tipperary back into the top tier.
If Tipp and Cork meet next year, it will pit Coláiste Dún Iascaigh principal Creedon up against the school’s PE and Maths teacher Shane Ronayne who was recently named Cork ladies senior football manager.
