TÍR Conaill Harps chairman Anton Gallagher has revealed the Covid-19 crisis helped the club in their search for a new boss. Dave Kellett was appointed as new adult team manager last week, however Harps supremo Gallagher admits the deal may not have been possible without a delay in the season kicking off.

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He said: “I’d been chasing Dave since last November when our last manager told us he was going to move back to Ireland. He was the first choice, but he was going to Australia for three months at the start of our season."

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“Then he came back and the lockdown started. Now that we are getting closer to starting again we approached him. The timing has worked out now. Dave is well thought of in Gaelic football in Scotland; it’s a bit of a coup for us to get him involved."

 

“This should set us up now to have a bit of stability. It has given everyone at the club a boost.”

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The Cambuslang-based side now hope to return to training in the coming days under the incoming gaffer. Youth training is set to restart at Cambuslang Rugby Club next month as well.

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Gallagher is delighted to finally have a date to work towards.

He added: “We are now in the process of preparing for going back to training and making sure we have the necessary equipment to be Covid ready."

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“We are hopefully going to get the adult team back within the next week with non-contact training and social distancing.We will aim to get the kids’ teams back by the middle of August."

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“We could have got the youth teams back a bit earlier with no contact, but we decided that when the schools go back we will go back to training."

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“We’re extremely positive about everything. We just want to get back out there and be able to train and play."

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“We want some form of normality. Training has started back in Ireland so we know it is possible with new measures in place.”