Mick O’Dwyer has confirmed his retirement as an inter-county manager at the age of 77 – but he will consider an advisory role if the right offers comes along.
The Kerry legend, an All-Ireland winner as a player and coach, will enjoy some fishing and some golf in his native Waterville as soon as he recovers from recent ankle surgery.
Having guided Kerry to eight All-Irelands, O’Dwyer also served time with Kildare, Laois, Wicklow and Clare but he has finally hung up his “bainisteoir” bib after 60 years of involvement at county level.
“It is the end in management anyway, certainly. I got my ankle done, and I’m getting ready to play the golf links here in Waterville and to do a bit of fishing,” O’Dwyer said.
“I could act as an advisor. That would be a different story completely, that would be completely different to managing. That’s something I could do.
“But my days of rolling up the match program tightly in my hand and heading out to patrol the sidelines are over. I always believed in the ‘never say never’ motto but it’s time to pack in the management side of things.
“After all the great years in Kerry, I got huge satisfaction from winning Leinster with Kildare and Laois. It meant so much to the people in those counties.”
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