Louth GAA captain Sam Mulroy says he had an inkling that some bad news could be coming when he received a message from Mickey Harte requesting a meeting.
Louth GAA announced on Monday night that Harte would be stepping down as manager of the county's senior footballers to take over as Derry boss. It was added that coach Gavin Devlin has also left. Derry have not yet confirmed Harte's appointment.
Louth GAA Shocked
"Just yesterday, a couple of hours before it broke to the media. It was a massive shock," Mulroy told Off The Ball when asked how he found out about Harte's Louth GAA departure.
"It was a bit weird [to get the message]. I knew there was something up. It was definitely a shock to the system. I thought that maybe it was a discussion about pre-season. Very disappointing outcome of the meeting.
"We met in one of the management team [member's] houses in Louth. It was a chat over a cup of tea. We've met in better circumstances before.
"He told us it wasn't possible for him to meet all the players that he wanted to. Basically, just met Mickey yesterday and he told me the craic. We then had a meeting last night with the county board and the players and discussed the next steps.
"From Mickey's point of view, it was nice for him to deliver the message himself, to me, and I told the players yesterday evening."
30 April 2023; Louth manager Mickey Harte, left, and selector Gavin Devlin before the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship Semi Final match between Louth and Offaly at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Mulroy said there had already been conversations between the Louth GAA management team and players about next season.
'We're the Louth GAA players, it's our county'
"That's maybe where most of the disappointment is coming from, from a player's point of view - we were on a hell of a journey," Mulroy continued.
"That's life. Things happen. They've seen an opportunity with Derry. Something's come up. Maybe it's closer to home, I don't know, I don't really understand it from his point of view, maybe you'll have to ask him.
"From a player's point of view, we felt we were on a journey with the boys, one we were thoroughly enjoying. Things happen in life and maybe they felt they had an opportunity to do bigger and better things. There's going to be no hard feelings on our part. We had a great relationship.
"As Mickey said to us yesterday, [the players] are the ones that cross the white line. Yes, they guide us in the right direction but we're the ones that put in the performances. There's massive potential there in this team to kick on again. We took one bad beating at the end of the year against Kerry but other than that, we were massively competitive in a lot of matches.
"I don't think the team is a million miles away. The team is so hungry and ambitious. I don't think it changes too much. At the end of the day, we're the Louth players, it's our county - it was never Mickey's or Gavin's.
"In a way we were doing it more for ourselves than them. We're doing it for the Louth people, the Louth jersey. It's up to us to keep driving it."
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