Jim O'Sullivan takes over Newcestown footballers days before league opener 

NEWCESTOWN have appointed Jim O’Sullivan as their new premier senior football manager.

The new boss has taken over from Tim Buckley, who guided the team to the SAFC title last November and pretty much immediately stepped down from the position after two seasons at the helm. Newcestown also achieved promotion from Division 2 of the football league in 2023.

Buckley, father of Cork senior footballer David Buckley, has left on a high. His first season in charge didn’t go according to plan though, after the West Cork side suffered demotion from the top flight after losing to Éire Óg in the relegation play-off. When you do get relegated, you can have very little complaints, but Newcestown were slightly unlucky in that 2022 season, on the end of narrow defeats and even drew with Clonakilty in the group stage.

History has shown it’s difficult to bounce straight back up, but the team in red and gold did that with aplomb, and it was an added cherry on the cake for them that they defeated local rivals Dohenys in the decider by five points. 

When Buckley vacated the position after the success, with the final played on Saturday, November 11, it gave the club time to pick a successor. But, it wasn’t plain sailing. Newcestown did have a dabble at former St Finbarr’s boss Ray Keane, but it came to nothing, and he then went to Aghabullogue a couple of weeks later.

In the end, the job went to O’Sullivan, who is a safe pair of hands, having played for the club and been involved on the sideline in both codes since he retired. O’Sullivan was boss when Newcestown won the PIFC title in 2010, which back then meant promotion to the top tier of Cork football. The new bainisteoir also coached Iveleary from 2014 to 2017, during which time he led the Inchigeelagh outfit to the Muskerry JAFC crown in 2015. O'Sullivan managed the Newcestown's hurlers in recent years.

O’Sullivan was an obvious choice to replace Buckley, but was reluctant at first given he has two sons on the panel, Seamus and Richard O'Sullivan. White smoke didn’t come until last night, just three days before Newcestown start their McCarthy Insurance Group Division 1 football league campaign. O’Sullivan’s first game back in charge will be away to Nemo Rangers on Sunday at 11.30am. The second fixture will also be away for Newcestown, as they face Carrigaline on Thursday, March 14 at 7.45pm.

In the McCarthy Insurance Group Premier SFC group stage, the West Cork side face Éire Óg, Ballincollig and Nemo Rangers.