Sligo GAA Announces New Management Team for 2027

Sligo have redrawn the lines on the sideline for 2027, but the faces remain familiar.

The joint-ticket of Dessie Sloyan and Eamonn O'Hara has been split, with Sloyan now installed as sole manager and Yeats County great O’Hara moving into the assistant manager role. The partnership lasted just a single season in its shared form before the county board opted for a clearer hierarchy.

The change was confirmed in a statement from the Sligo County Board after a Monday night committee meeting on 24 August 2026, which rubber-stamped the management teams for the senior football, senior hurling and U20 football sides for next year.

“Dessie Sloyan will lead a reconfigured coaching team working with our senior footballers alongside Eamonn O'Hara as Assistant Manager,” the statement read.

The reshaped ticket brings in significant outside expertise. Joe McMahon of St Enda’s Omagh, Tyrone, joins as Head Coach, adding another All-Ireland–hardened voice to the setup. Paul Higgins and former Donegal defender Eamon McGee continue in their roles from 2026, preserving some continuity around the training ground.

There is change between the posts too. Des McGuinness, also from St Enda’s Omagh, comes in as goalkeeping coach, tasked with sharpening a key area for Sligo as they try to climb the Allianz Football League ladder.

Behind the scenes, the performance structure is being reinforced rather than rebuilt. Sean Boyle, who leads Performance Games Development for Sligo GAA, stays on as Strength and Conditioning coach, while Michael Quinn of Killoe Young Emmets, Longford, arrives as Performance coach, broadening the backroom’s athletic and analytical reach.

The overhaul comes after a middling 2026 campaign. Sligo finished fifth in Division 3 of the Allianz Football League and will remain at that level next season. Their championship run ended almost before it began, edged out by a single point by Leitrim in the first round of the Connacht SFC in mid-April.

Now the structure is set, the question is simple: can this retooled ticket turn narrow defeats and mid-table finishes into real momentum in 2027?