Kevin McStay

Kevin McStay

Personal information
Irish name	Caoimhín Ó Maoilsté
Sport	Gaelic football
Position	Left corner-forward
Born	(1962-04-05) 5 April 1962 (age 61) Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Occupation	Army Officer
Club(s)
Years	Club
	Ballina Stephenites Ballymun Kickhams Roscommon Gaels
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County	Apps (scores)
1983–1990	Mayo	17 (1-46)
Inter-county titles
Connacht titles	2
All-Irelands	0
NFL	0
All Stars	1

Kevin McStay (born 9 May 1962) is an Irish Gaelic football manager, commentator, analyst and former player. He has been manager of the senior Mayo county team since 2022.

McStay was educated at St Jarlath's College in Tuam during the 1970s, playing for the school team. ^[1] In retirement from playing McStay became an analyst with The Sunday Game ; however, he remained involved as a manager and coach.

Early and personal life

Born in Castlebar, County Mayo, McStay was introduced to the game by his father, a former player with Tuam Stars. His brother, Paul McStay, and his brother-in-law, Liam McHale, also played with Mayo.

Army career

McStay was an officer in the Irish Army from 1982 to 2013. He reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. He served in Lebanon twice as part of the UN’s peacekeeping forces and had a NATO-led stint in Kosovo. ^[2]

Playing career

College and club

McStay played some Gaelic football at college level with St Muredach's College and St Jarlath's College; however, he experienced little success before coming to prominence at under-age levels with the Ballina Stephenites club.

A two-time championship medal winner with the Ballina Stephenites senior club, he later won a championship medal with Roscommon Gaels.^{[ citation needed ]}

McStay also lined out for Ballymun Kickhams.^{[ citation needed ]}

Inter-county

McStay made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen when he first linked up with the Mayo minor team. A two-time Connacht medal winner in this grade, he later won one All-Ireland medal with the under-21 team. McStay made his senior debut during the 1983 championship. He went on to play a key role for Mayo in attack during a successful era and won two Connacht medals. McStay was an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion.

Throughout his inter-county career, he made 56 appearances and scored a total of 7–122. ^[3] 17 of these appearances were in the championship.^{[ citation needed ]} McStay retired from inter-county football after breaking his leg while playing against Castlebar one week after Mayo's exit from the 1990 championship. ^[4]

McStay won an All Star as an inside forward in 1985. ^[5]

Inter-provincial

As a member of the Connacht inter-provincial team on a number of occasions, McStay never won a Railway Cup medal.

Media career

McStay went on to become an analyst with The Sunday Game .

Coaching and managerial career

Early roles as coach

However, he remained involved as a manager and coach. At inter-county level he led the Roscommon minor team before guiding the Mayo under-21 team to a Connacht title in 2001. As a club manager he steered Roscommon Gaels to championship success in 2004, before guiding St Brigid's to the All-Ireland title in 2013. ^{[6] [7]}

Roscommon senior team

McStay was appointed joint-manager of the Roscommon senior team on 5 October 2015 along with Fergal O'Donnell, and took over as sole manager in October 2016. ^{[8] [9]} He led the Roscommon team that won the 2017 Connacht Senior Football Championship, beating Galway 2–15 to 0-12, in Pearse Stadium, Salthill. ^[10]

McStay got himself into bother while his team were playing Donegal in the 2018 Championship, involving himself in a number of different incidents with match officials, shoving a linesman in a chest and hurling a football at full force in the direction of another. A lengthy ban resulted. ^{[11] [12]} However, he resigned as Roscommon manager before the ban was completed. Announcing his departure on 5 September 2018, he stated that he could bring the team no further. At this time, a vacancy had arisen in his native county following the earlier resignation as Mayo senior manager of Stephen Rochford, and McStay was linked with the job; however, McStay announced, on 5 September 2018, that "today marks my retirement from senior inter-county football management". ^[13]

Mayo senior team

He applied for the Mayo managerial vacancy in 2014 but was surprised when Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly became joint managers ahead of the 2015 season. McStay spoke about the experience in April 2021: "The interview I did, perhaps, I might have been too honest at it. When I say the interview, it wasn't really an interview because I had the job, because I was the only candidate. Yet, 24 hours after that interview, one or two friends of mine in Mayo were able to tell me 'you are not going to get the that job'. That there are other people who are in the race but not saying it. That was very disappointing for me. People I knew, that I had had played with, was on panels with, were saying publicly that they had no interest in the job and were actually talking about the position while I thought in my head that I was actually crossing Ts and dotting Is. I have a sense that perhaps at the meeting I said too much in terms of what my vision for the team was. That there might have to be some changes, and that was leaked to certain players. I would say that that was an issue. It was a very difficult time for me personally. I had put all my hopes and dreams on [that job]". ^{[14] [15]}

McStay was appointed manager of the Mayo senior team on 22 August 2022. ^{[16] [17]}

Comments on Mayo

In 2002, McStay commented on Mayo's lack of clinical finishing and tendency to amass high wide tallies in games: "We are not clever up front, we haven't been for 30 years and I would include my own vintage. I wouldn't say we have had a forward line that would frighten you since the '60s." ^[5]

Career statistics

Manager

As of match played 14 September 2022.

Team	From	To	FBD League				League				Connacht				All-Ireland				Total
			G	W	D	L	G	W	D	L	G	W	D	L	G	W	D	L	G	W	D	L	Win %
Roscommon	5 October 2015	5 September 2018	4	3	0	1	8	4	0	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	8	0	5	61.5
Mayo	September 2022	Present	0	0	0	0	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-

Honours

Sean Rice of The Mayo News named McStay on his "Best Mayo Team Since 1960" in 2010. ^[3]

Manager

Roscommon

• Connacht Senior Football Championship: 2017; runner-up: 2016 (with Fergal O'Donnell), 2018
• FBD League: 2018; runner-up: 2016 (with Fergal O'Donnell), 2017

Mayo

• FBD League: 2023

References

1. Moran, Seán (11 April 2020). "Finishers: How the evolution of substitutes has changed Gaelic football". The Irish Times. Kevin McStay, former Roscommon manager and a football analyst with this newspaper, remembers the past when he began playing in the 1970s and things were simpler and more clear cut... 'when I was at school in St Jarlath's I was on a team that never played subs. It wasn't until the end of my time there in the late 1970s that Jarlath's started using subs.
2. "Kevin McStay on inter-county retirement, Tyrone, and the great days with Roscommon". 29 September 2018.
3. "Kevin McStay makes Best Mayo Team Since 1960". The Mayo News. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
4. "Kevin McStay: Qualifiers may be imperfect, but light years ahead of the alternative". The Irish Times. 11 June 2019. The same thing happened in 1990. This time we were trying to improve on an All-Ireland senior final appearance. And Galway did us in the first round. The following week, I played against Castlebar in the championship, got my leg broken and never played for Mayo again.
5. Crowe, Dermot (26 June 2022). "Mayo must alter a losing formula". Sunday Independent . pp. 6–7 (Sport). McStay, an All Star inside forward in 1985, agrees.
6. "Former Mayo star McStay takes St Brigid's reins". The Westmeath Independent. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
7. "McStay wary of psychological pressure". Hogan Stand. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
8. Keys, Colm (29 September 2015). "Kevin McStay delight as he lands joint-boss role with Roscommon". Irish Independent. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
9. "Kevin McStay named as Roscommon's manager for next season". The 42. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
10. Keys, Colm (10 July 2017). "You lose you are useless". Irish Independent.
11. "'That is not appropriate' - Roscommon manager Kevin McStay could be in trouble over linesman confrontation". Irish Independent. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
12. Rooney, Declan (25 July 2018). "Roscommon boss Kevin McStay misses Dublin date after accepting 12-week ban". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
13. "Kevin McStay steps down as Roscommon manager". RTÉ Sport. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
14. "McStay went through 'very difficult time' after losing out on Mayo job". Hogan Stand. 26 April 2021.
15. "What happened with Kevin McStay and the Mayo manager job?". Off the Ball. 25 April 2021.
16. Keys, Colm (22 August 2022). "Kevin McStay confirmed as new Mayo football manager". Irish Independent . Retrieved 22 August 2022.
17. "Mayo choose Kevin McStay to take over as football boss". RTÉ. 22 August 2022.

Sporting positions
Preceded by John Evans	Roscommon Senior Football Manager 2015–2018	Succeeded by Anthony Cunningham
Preceded by James Horan	Mayo Senior Football Manager 2022–	Succeeded by Incumbent
Achievements
Preceded by Tony McEntee (Crossmaglen Rangers)	All-Ireland Club SFC winning manager 2013	Succeeded by Tommy Conroy (St Vincent's)