Following the news on Friday night that Rory Gallagher has "stepped back" from his role as Derry senior football manager, Ciaran Meenagh will take charge of the team for Sunday’s SFC Final against Armagh in Clones.
In a statement issued via the Derry county board, Gallagher said: “I have advised Derry GAA that I am stepping back as Derry senior football manager with immediate effect.
“This decision is borne out of a desire to protect my children from the ongoing turmoil.”
The decision comes amid allegations of domestic abuse made against him by his estranged wife Nicola Gallagher earlier in the week.
Read more: Rory Gallagher 'steps back' as Derry GAA boss
In a previous statement issued through his solicitors, Gallagher said the "allegations against me have been investigated and dealt with by the relevant authorities" while it is not clear if Gallagher will be back along the sideline later in the campaign.
Regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s game, Derry have at least three more games to play in the All-Ireland series.
The winners of the Ulster Final will go into Group Four with Clare, Monaghan and Donegal while the losers enter Group Two along with Galway, Tyrone and Westmeath.
For now, Ciaran Meenagh will be in charge having been part of the Derry senior management team since 2019 when he was brought in by the-then senior manager Damian McErlain.
Before forging a career as a highly-rated coach, Meenagh was a decorated underage star with his native county.
Mickey Harte’s underage success with the Tyrone minors in the late 90s and with the U21s in the early noughties paved the way for a golden era of success at senior level.
Meenagh won an All-Ireland minor title in 1999 and back-to-back U21 titles in 2000 and 2001 with the Red Hands.
In the 2001 win over Mayo, the Loughmacrory clubman played in a half-back line alongside future Tyrone senior stars Gavin Devlin and Philip Jordan.
The following year he was called up to the senior squad by Eugene McKenna and Art McRory, but suffered a cruciate knee injury in a club game after Tyrone had defeated Mayo in the League semi-final.
They went out to defeat Cavan in Clones to secure a first ever national title for the county at senior level.
His clubmate and colleague from the underage squads, Michael McGee, would win a senior All-Ireland title the following season, but Meenagh wasn’t part of Harte's breakthrough team of 2003.
He was briefly brought back to the senior squad in 2005, but was dropped when Harte trimmed his squad ahead of the Championship campaign. The Red Hands won their second All-Ireland title that summer and added a third in 2008.
A school teacher at St Colm’s in Draperstown, he was part of the Ballinascreen management team along with current Derry U21 boss Marty Boyle when they reached the 2013 Derry SFC final, losing 3-10 to 2-7 to Ballinderry.
He also spent three years in charge of Tyrone side Dromore as well as taking various underage coaching roles with his native Loughmacrory before joining the Derry senior management.
The Oak Leafers had been relegated to Division Four at the end of the 2018 season before Meenagh got involved, but were swiftly promoted as Division Four champions in 2019 during McErlain’s second season.
McErlain stepped down ahead of the 2020 campaign despite having another year left at the helm.
In September of 2019, former Fermanagh and Donegal manager Gallagher was ratified as the new Derry boss.
Meenagh was kept on as part of the new management team with former Derry star Enda Muldoon also joining the set-up.
Derry were narrowly pipped by Cork and Down for promotion to Division Two in 2020 and lost out to Armagh in the first round of the Ulster SFC.
In 2021, they gained promotion from Division Three, but were edged out by Donegal in Ballybofey in the Ulster Championship.
Last season, Galway and Roscommon claimed promotion to the top tier at Derry’s expense before the Oak Leafers ended a 24-year wait as they defeated Donegal win the Ulster SFC title.
An All-Ireland SFC semi-final defeat by the Tribesmen in Croke Park saw Derry end the summer on a disappointing note.
However, they have lost only one competitive game in 2023 and have won the pre-season Dr McKenna Cup and secured promotion to the top tier for next season.
After wins over Fermanagh and Monaghan, they will bid to win back-to-back Ulster titles for only the second time in their history when they face Armagh in Sunday’s provincial decider at St Tiernach’s Park.
Derry are marginal favourites and now much of the spotlight will be on a member of their backroom team who finds himself unexpectedly patrolling the sideline of St Tiernach’s Park on Ulster Final day.
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