Monaghan are looking for a new senior football manager following the announcement by Seamus McEnaney that he will not be allowing his name to go forward through the new nomination process that was decided on at a recent meeting of the county committee.

Prior to that meeting on Monday August 16th it was understood that McEnaney's reappointment would be proposed to the meeting but the upshot of a debate on the procedural matters that should apply to the appointment of team managers was that the county committee would seek nominations for the position of senior football, senior hurling and minor hurling team managers.

The nominations are due to be returned by the clubs before 6 p.m. on Friday September 3rd following which a special subcommittee will be set up to interview the nominees.

Seamus McEnaney was known to be unhappy to have to, as he put it, compete for a position that he had held for six years, and a position that he was willing to continue in, with the backing of the players and the perceived backing of the management committee.

The players issued a strongly worded statement in support of Seamus McEnaney continuing on as team manager but having given careful consideration to the position McEnaney came to the conclusion that he was not willing to compete for the position that he had held for six years.

Despite not winning an Ulster championship during his six years in charge McEnaney has an excellent record as Monaghan manager. When he took charge initially Monaghan were rated in the last five or six counties in the country whereas now they are among the top ranked teams in the country.

In his time he has steered Monaghan to promotion to Division 2 of the national football league and promotion twice to Division 1, once as Division 2 champions. He has reached the final of the Ulster senior football championship twice, 2007 and 2009, and has reached the final of the U21 championship and the Dr. McKenna Cup, as well as enjoying extended runs in the All Ireland qualifiers. This year Monaghan retained their Division 1 status in the national football league.

Seamus McEnaney released the following statement on Wednesday morning:

"Last week I released a statement that said I would take some time to think about the Monaghan county boards decision to open up the managers position for 2011 to nominations.

"Today I am confirming that I will not have my name submitted as a nominee for the managers position for 2011. I believe that this is in the best interest of Monaghan football and indeed every decision I have ever made as Monaghan team manager has been guided by that principle.

"I would like to thank the Monaghan county board and in particular John Connolly, the chairman who gave me the opportunity to manage my native county team, a post I was honoured and privileged to hold. Thank you to my club Corduff Gaels for their devoted support. I must also pay tribute to the Monaghan clubs, supporters and team sponsors all of whom contributed to the progress of Monaghan football. To every member of my backroom team and every person that helped in any way over the 6 years, only you know who you are, I am sincerely thankful. A special thanks to Niall McNally, who was my co-ordinator and a great help from day one.

"I would like to offer my sincere thanks to this group of players as their commitment, endeavour, attitude and loyalty to the progess of Monaghan football over the last 6 years has been enormous. The players are the jewel in the crown. We, as a management team strived to give them the best so that they could get the best out of themselves. We built and shared a special bond.

"I am leaving with a life-time of memories from the good days and bad. To give just a small example of the progess this group of players has given Monaghan football. I was one of only 20 Monaghan supporters in Carlow for a NFL game in February 2004 and to witness 20,000 Monaghan supporters in Clones in July 2010 highlights the incredible work these players have done. This progress has been driven from the front by our two outstanding captains, Vinny Corey and Damien Freeman.

"My family are steeped in the GAA, we love and support its activities at every level. My family have supported me totally on this wonderful journey. None more so than my wife Rosemarie and my four children, and for this I am very grateful to them. My time as manager brought many demands with it but also brought enormous enjoyment to our family life too.

"For a team to progess you need everybody going the one direction; management, players, county board, clubs, supporters and sponsors. This has been the solid foundation that has served us well over the last six years and it is with this that I would encourage everybody concerned to move on and continue to make further progress as the progression of Monaghan football is of the upmost importance at this time. I leave this post wishing the team every success in the year ahead." Tweet

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