The Mayo County Board has announced that embattled joint-managers Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes have stepped down after a meeting this evening.
The duo were on the brink after Mayo players announced a vote of no confidence at the weekend and have decided against pursuing the second year of their three-year term.
Connelly and Holmes said in a statement that “by resigning we wish to remove any obstacle that the players might perceive as preventing them from winning the All-Ireland.”
Connelly and Holmes said, “It is with heavy hearts that we wish to announce that we are stepping down from our role as joint managers of the Mayo Senior Football Team with immediate effect.
“We took on the job on a three-year basis and had been looking forward to building on what had been achieved this year. We are passionate about Mayo Football and it is deeply disappointing not to complete our project.”
Noble but inevitable decision take by Mayo management. #GAA
— John Fogarty (@JohnFogartyIrl) October 2, 2015
Connolly & Holmes leave with a bit of class. This whole Mayo drama has been handled with all the discretion of a fire alarm. #mayogaa
— Mike Quirke (@Mike_Quirke) October 2, 2015
They went on to thank all those involved, including the players, for their efforts throughout a year which ended in an All-Ireland semi-final replay loss to Dublin.
“We would like to thank the back-room team for their superb effort and commitment. We wish to thank the Mayo County Board for their support and for all the funding and resources they provided for the team. We would like to thank the players for all their efforts during 2015.
“We would also like to thank the people of Mayo for the huge support and messages of goodwill throughout the year and in the last week. Mhaigh Éo Abú.”
Elverys would like to thank Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes for their hard work & effort for @MayoGAA this past year. pic.twitter.com/uWbxoZAlWF
— Elverys Sports (@Elverys) October 2, 2015
The Mayo GAA website noted that “the statement was greeted with a round of applause and standing ovation from the members of the executive before the joint managers departed the meeting.”