By Michael McMullan

CIARAN McKeever’s time as Armagh minor manager was an important part of the joined up thinking in the county’s pursuit of Sam Maguire.

After hanging up his boots, the Cullyhanna man spent two years in charge of the county’s underage players before moving into Kieran McGeeney’s management team with the seniors.

Two players, Peter McGrane and Oisin Conaty, were among the young guns McGeeney drafted into the senior squad.

During his time as minor manager, McKeever also oversaw the county u-16 team to make sure there was a balance between players getting game time.

“I was given a list of things that Geezer wanted,” McKeever said. “He had a player depth chart and he just knew there were missing links in that chart. He wanted myself and the management team at u-17 level to try and find those type of players.”

When McKeever joined the senior squad, McGeeney immediately asked who fitted the bill and “five or six” were added to the mix.

Many counties have their All-Ireland glory built on players who have tasted success at school, minor or u-20 level. Armagh didn’t have the success Tyrone, Derry or Monaghan had enjoyed in recent seasons.

Aidan O’Rourke steered the county to an All-Ireland minor final for the first time since Andrew Murnin and Rory Grugan’s winning team of 2009.

Minor coach this season Stefan Forker stressed that the county always had quality players but the 2024 minor group had more of them. McKeever agrees.

“We had four or five good players every year at that age level,” he points out. “There’s various reasons why we probably couldn’t get it all together and get them to compete.

“Our academy system is in a far better place at the minute. When we weren’t competing, we still had good players. The onus was on us as a group.

“Could we harness them into good players, and get them into the environments that we wanted to get them into, to make them intercounty senior players?

“Especially when you’re not winning, it takes probably that wee bit more time. There is that confidence thing that when you come up against Derry again (who beat McKeever twice at minor level) and then at u-20 level, that you haven’t beat them.

“Then you come up against them at senior level and there is still that (factor) we haven’t beat these boys at minor or u-20 so it’s just trying to harness all that and getting it to a level where the moment is right.

“I think we have done that over the last four or five years. We’ve progressed every year and we’ve closed the gap in certain aspects.”

Ciaran McKeever looks at the Ulster dominance of the national stage this season…Page 10