Eleven years ago, Liam Sheedy and Davy Fitzgerald shared the sideline in what was their first season as inter-county managers.
Sheedy had been appointed as successor to Michael ‘Babs’ Keating in Tipperary the previous winter while Fitzgerald was drafted in as Waterford boss just a couple of months earlier following a player heave against Justin McCarthy in the aftermath of a comprehensive Munster Championship defeat to Clare.
Waterford scored a two-point victory that day to reach a first final since 1963 but while Sheedy’s record in semi-finals improved from there, Fitzgerald’s dipped.
It was a notable achievement to steer Waterford to the last four in each of the Championship campaigns that he was in charge for, though they couldn’t crack Kilkenny in 2009 or ‘11, while Sheedy steered Tipp to a second successive final in 2010, avenging the loss of two years earlier.
Having stepped down after the All-Ireland success that year only to return this season, tomorrow’s Tipperary-Wexford tie is Sheedy’s first All-Ireland semi-final since while Fitzgerald brings a side to the last four for the first time since 2013, when his Clare side beat Limerick.
In all, Sheedy has won two of his three All-Ireland semi-finals as a manager and Fitzgerald has been victorious in two of his five.
Tomorrow the Sixmilebridge man emulates McCarthy (Cork, Waterford, Limerick) by taking charge of three different counties in an All-Ireland semi-final.
Managers who have achieved it with two different counties include Keating (Galway and Tipperary), Anthony Daly (Clare and Dublin) and Gerald McCarthy (Waterford and Cork).
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