Confirmed: John Cleary to remain as Cork football boss

Castlehaven clubman has been at the helm on a full-time basis since the summer of 2022
Confirmed: John Cleary to remain as Cork football boss

Cork manager John Cleary. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

The Cork County Board have confirmed that John Cleary will remain as Cork senior football manager.

White smoke arrived at the Cork County Board monthly meeting with delegates at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Tuesday night.

It will be a two-year term for the Castlehaven clubman. His backroom team will be announced at the next board meeting in September. 

There had been much speculation regarding the Castlehaven clubman’s future following the Rebels’ championship exit to Dublin at the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final stage at the end of June.

Cork’s Chris Óg Jones scores a goal against Dublin back in June. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie
Cork’s Chris Óg Jones scores a goal against Dublin back in June. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie

The three-point loss brought the curtain down on Cleary’s three-year term as boss and despite the expectation from many that he would move on, in these pages three weeks ago, we reported that Cleary was set to stay on at the helm.

Getting promoted from the Allianz Division 2 league will be a big priority in 2026. Cork finished fifth this year. They have been out of Division 1 since 2016.

In the championship, the Leesiders will avoid a third successive Munster semi-final clash against recently crowned All-Ireland winners Kerry next year following Munster GAA’s decision last Thursday to seed the top two league finishers in 2025 in separate semi-finals.

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