James McCarthy: Keeping Castlehaven job in-house is ‘an unwritten rule’ 

SEANIE Cahalane’s reign as Castlehaven senior football manager kicked off last weekend, and he’s the latest clubman to hold the top job in Haven. Keeping it in-house is the Cork and Munster champions’ first option, instead of looking outside the parish – it’s why they have never had an outside manager.

‘It’s kind of an unwritten rule … we take pride in it,’ former manager James McCarthy told the Star Sport Podcast.

‘We are very proud of our record in that situation and it brings success for us as well. If it didn’t, I suppose we’d be looking outside. Go back in our history books we are there or thereabouts most of the time. There is a bit of prestige with it as well. I don’t think there is a queue every year to take it over but we have a good underage set-up and we are always looking to progress coaches up along the time.’

Before McCarthy sat in the hot-seat (2020-23), Liam Collins, Jim Nolan, Finbarr Santry, as well as McCarthy in an earlier reign, all took on the job in the noughties. Appointing new boss Seanie Cahalane, only 36 years old, was planned, too, as he was part of McCarthy’s management team for the past few seasons.

‘This had been planned in the background for a spell,’ McCarthy confirmed, who feels continuity is also key. He added: ‘I would be watching what other successful clubs do as well and continuity is one of the big things.’