Few things there lately would give you some hope for the future. Andys trip abroad, CEO is a massive step forward. Little steps but progress no doubt. Love the line. "We won't have a COE without a CEO”.

Would that Saturday evening Armagh game likely be a 5pm or 7pm throw in?
Reason I ask is that I am across the water and there are flights to organise and more importantly where the night out will be afterwards!

Great Pod.

Wonder who would come on board as CEO? I wonder would T.P. come on board for the cause, an absolute warrior who wore his heart on his sleeve for the county, he done a mountain of work and he lives for Mayo Football.

We need somebody anyways and to ensure we keep everything in order to avoid debacles of the past.

A lot of rain for tonight and tomorrow in Castlebar is the Intermediate Connacht final in danger of getting called off?

Great to see that a CEO will, at long last, be appointed to oversee GAA matters in Mayo. Hopefully, this will lead to a much more professional approach, with someone in charge and that can be held responsible. For a start, I would hope that we can now look forward to a dramatic increase in revenue, which is badly needed, as we seem to lag way behind many other counties in in this respect. Anyway, it's a good start.

James Horan comes to mind.
Lives in the county, huge football side and an extensive business background in senior roles.
He'd also in my view tread that line skillfully of aligning wth the county board without overstepping but at the same time not being a pushover.
He's well known in terms of opening doors commercially. He's also really well versed in systems planning and execution.

I think Horan would be well capable, but not sure it's a good idea having a former manager in CEO role. It would work, but there would need to discipline not to interfere or even comment on team matters etc

J P Keane would be ideal

Will they be paying the €120k plus salary to get someone for such a role? Or will it be like finance role before with poor salary and job spec longer than lord the rings

I would be looking for a leader for this role,being an ex footballer has no relevance.

Corick Bridget I don’t think the role is suited to a person in their 70s, we need a young person with suitable qualifications. I also don’t see the need for the person to be living in Mayo.

Strokestown leading by 7 points at half time it could be a lot worse given the other goal chances not taken. Kilmeena has the wind and have a man advantage for the first 8 minutes with a black

Kilmeena are 2-9 to 0-8 down at half-time. Strokestown were playing with a very strong wind but they were far livelier in that opening half where it looked as if all those games might be catching up with Kilmeena (this is their third in just fourteen days). It's not gone from them yet but they've it all to do now and will be hoping that the knock Jack Carney suffered shortly before the break won't impair him as they'll need a big half from him now.

Not for the first time with a comment from you in recent weeks, Corick Bridget, you're clearly having a laugh with what you posted there.

Like Ballina last week, Kilmeena well off Roscommon oppostion

Strokestown 4-11 Kilmeena 0-14 FT.

To be fair to kilmeena strokestown are a very strong intermediate team, they won the senior championship in 2022 and took moycullen to extra time in the connacht semi final so kilmeena needed to be at there best today to win but unfortunately they weren't, there attack which has been brilliant all year just never really got going, they can be proud of the year they put in.

They seem to want the CEO to have influence on the player pathway? Hence why I think they need the football side.

Yes a CEO is a fantastic addition to our County provided it's the correct person for the job. Otherwise it's a waste of time and money. Regarding MCHP winning an award for best pitch I don't think I've ever seen less games there. Almost all under age finals were played in Bekan. That certainly would allow for the pitch to be perfect but at the same time defeats the purpose of having a county ground not fit for purpose. Every young players dream is to climb the steps in MCHP to collect silverware. Also a comment was made comparing MCHP all seater capacity to Croke Park...now I for one see very little comparison. One has three sides surrounded by concrete benches the other is an actual stadium, one hosts several money making events during off season the other is practically in lock down, amongst other serious differentiations. Perhaps this CEO can delve into some of these issues to Make Mayo Great Again.

Hi all I'm new to this only having posted three times previously. My last comment seems to have disappeared. Any help appreciated??

If this is a fulltime position.....whoever goes for it likely has to give up tenure in an existing job and pension contributions etc....
Its not something someone's can do for the love of Mayo Football alone.

Sean - that’s what automatically happens when new contributors post comments here. The one you’ve referenced is up now.

Sean O Maille - just so you know, every underage championship final (U-14 to Minor; grades A to F) were played in McHale Park.

No lights in McHale park and it's one the top 4 stadia? Interesting.

The plan to appoint a CEO is good news. It's the way all counties will have to go. Straightening out our finances will be priority. Maybe TSU can come up with a job spec for a CEO. How many counties are now operating with a CEO.

The pitch award is solely for the quality of the playing surface, Gizmobobs, it has nothing to do with any other aspect of the stadium. If it did then I reckon there are a number of issues that would keep it off the shortlist.

Ontheditch.
Four I believe. Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Tipperary.
It's a positive step foward.

Thanks Editor for the heads up. It's like the three pitches in Bohola....one must be patient.
Thanks Caputo...Thanks for the possible correction. What were all the presentations that were done in Bekan to under age lads? Was that uneven ages?

2 left footers in Conall Dawson and Cian McHale really putting the hand up to Andy for 2 starting positions against Galway in the opening round of the League.

Thanks WJ, makes bot more sense.

Probably Sean, we one the few county's that do and and even. Wonder do all counties do this plate nonsense.

@Willie Joe Just coming back to the floodlights debacle, how has it taken 10-11 months to start resolving the issue? I can’t understand that and maybe I missed it on the podcast but I didn’t hear a reason for it. For me not having Saturday night games is lost revenue. Would love to know if stats back that up

Thanks Ger Mc. Four counties strong in. Football and hurling. Do we know any of them or their profiles that make them best suited to do the job. I think GAA headquarters should be involved in putting CEOs in place in every county and footing the bill. leadership from the top, it's the least they could do.

Go big or go home. Only person for the ceo role is Willie Ruane. Doing a great job leading connought rugby, is a mayo person living in the county. Perfect for the role.

Moyside, agree he would certainly fit the bill. But the salary required to poach someone decent from private sector would need be well over 100k you would imagine. Hopefully I am wrong, but with no reference to the terms/salary we could be more likely to take on TY placements :)

I didn’t hear a reason on the pod for the delay either, Roco88. I’m sure there is some justification for why it’s taking so long but it’s getting on for a year since the storm hit so you’d think the repair could have been completed a good while before now.

Good to see coverage in the local media of the U21 games , sounds like a classic in Aghamore yesterday and set up for a cracker of a final next week between Westport and Claremorris, who drew in the round robin when they met earlier in the competition. Plenty of talented young up and coming footballers on show, hope it get a good attendance.....

https://www.westernpeople.ie/sport/gaa/extra-time-epic-sees-boys-in-blue-reach-final_arid-78599.html

https://www.mayonews.ie/news/gaa/1950363/dawson-impresses-as-westport-book-u-21-county-final-spot.html

Floodlights being restored is not simple.
The reason for their collapse has to be rectified.
Down in Navan for a number of years

Gizmobobs, yes I'm sure the salary for someone of the calibre of Ruane would certainly not be cheap. He certainly has all the credentials and more for the job. I heard him speaking at an event about 8/9 years ago. He was immensely impressive and very passionate about mayo and indeed the gaa. In the release statement announcing the creation of the ceo, it has been clearly stated the salary would have to be cost neutral, meaning that the commercial money raised would firstly have to cover salary. Surely a person of his quality could easily cover his salary with commercial deals and other fundraising initiatives. The professionalism and sporting leadership He would bring would be worth a lot more than his salary

On a different note Willie Joe is there any announcement yet about the venue and time for the challenge match with Offaly on the 21st Dec. I'm just doing out my holiday schedule for that week.

No announcement as yet, Knockingabout, but from what I understand it'll be played in MacHale Park and, seeing as this will be the shortest day of the year and the floodlights won't be on, that leaves a narrow enough timeframe for when it'll throw in!

Any word on the Dome, is it being replaced.

Thanks Willie Joe. Enjoying the blog and the podcasts so much .

It is, Culmore, but not until some time in the spring as far as I know.

CEO position can only be a good thing but needs to be a role clearly defined from the start with from what I picked up that the CEO will report to a 5 man subcommittee who in turn report to County Board. I think most CEOs view themselves as top dogs. Anyway best of luck, lots of God's good work ahead of them to harness finance for Mayo GAA.
Plus need to get that Athletic Development Officer role up and running county wide asap.

@ Sean O Maille - yes spot on. The uneven age grading league finals were in Bekan.