By Niall Gartland

MALACHY O’Rourke is set to be named as new manager of the Tyrone senior footballers, with his formal unveiling expected early next week.

O’Rourke has been the clear frontrunner for the position since news broke of the resignation of Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher 10 days ago.

Clubs were invited to submit nominations for the vacant position with a deadline of Tuesday morning, and it is understood that O’Rourke has emerged as the sole candidate in contention for the position.

O’Rourke, who was nominated by his club Errigal Ciaran, has resided in Ballygawley since the 1990s and won Tyrone titles with Errigal Ciaran as a player in 1997 and then as manager in 2006.

He managed his native Fermanagh between 2008 and 2010, leading the team to an Ulster final appearance in his first year in charge, losing out to Armagh after a replay.

O’Rourke then took the reins at Monaghan, leading the county to provincial honours in 2013 (their first Ulster title in 25 years) and 2015 before eventually embarking on a new challenge at Derry club Watty Graham’s Glen, where he was appointed as manager in late 2020.

He has mastermind an unprecedented period of success at the Maghera-based club, including their first ever Derry Senior title which was followed up by success at both provincial and national level.

O’Rourke has been a man in high demand and his appointment as Tyrone manager – which is now viewed as a formality – will come as a source of considerable excitement for the Red Hand County. An announcement is likely to be made on Tuesday evening following a scheduled meeting of the Tyrone county committee.

Long-standing Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan revealed yesterday that O’Rourke has the endorsement of the Tyrone panel, stating that: “I am absolutely keen on Malachy O’Rourke managing us, I’ve been a strong admirer of him for a long time.

“As players we’re talking to each other and we’re all hoping that Malachy will come on board. Feargal and Brian have left and we feel he’s the man to bring us forward.”

Elsewhere, Errigal Ciaran’s Darren McCann will be the new manager of the Tyrone senior ladies, subject to ratification next week.

McCann is set to make the step up from managing the Tyrone minors, whom he led to this year’s All-Ireland ‘B’ final, where they lost to Sligo.

If ratified, McCann will step into the hotseat vacated by Sean O’Kane, whose tenure came to an end with Tyrone’s defeat to Leitrim in the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship final.

A statement issued by the Tyrone LGFA on Sunday stated: “We will be working with Darren in the coming weeks to plan a way forward with players and the Tyrone LGFA executive.”