Éamonn Fitzmaurice is to succeed Pádraic Joyce as manager of the Galway senior football team after the Kerryman’s appointment was recommended by the county’s management committee on Wednesday.

“Galway GAA Management Committee is recommending Éamonn Fitzmaurice as the new senior football manager for a three-year term,” a statement from the county confirmed.

Fitzmaurice managed Kerry from 2013 to 2018, leading the Kingdom to All-Ireland glory in 2014.

Galway GAA chairman Paul Bellew added: “We are delighted to appoint a manager of Éamonn’s calibre to lead the Galway senior footballers for the next three years.

“Éamonn’s record as both a player and a manager speaks for itself, while his recent role as a member of the Football Rules Committee underlined the positive influence he continues to have on Gaelic football.

“I want to acknowledge and thank everyone who took part in the process over the past number of weeks. We now look forward to working closely with Éamonn, the players and the wider team as we begin the next chapter for Galway football. Éamonn’s management and backroom team will be finalised over the coming weeks.”

Fitzmaurice is a school principal at Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne in Dingle, but in recent years he has also worked as a GAA columnist with The Irish Examiner and as a GAA analyst with RTÉ, including on The Sunday Game.

The Finuge man won three All-Ireland senior medals as a player, in 2000, 2004 and 2006. Fitzmaurice played at half-back in both the drawn final and the subsequent replay in 2000, when Kerry beat the Galway to claim the Sam Maguire. Fitzmaurice scored a point in the replay, with Joyce captaining Galway.

Before taking on the role of Kerry manager, Fitzmaurice was a selector under Jack O’Connor when the Kingdom won the All-Ireland in 2009. Fitzmaurice also managed Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne to Hogan Cup success, and in 2022 he coached Fossa to an All-Ireland junior club title.

He was a key member of the Football Review Committee (FRC) and helped introduce sweeping changes to the game.

Former Meath player Seamus Kenny, who was secretary of the FRC, believes Galway have pulled off a “major coup” in securing Fitzmaurice as manager.

“Eamonn’s attention to detail and his knowledge of the game is as good as anything I have seen,” said Kenny.

“Just to be in the presence of him with the FRC and listening to how he thinks about the game.

“It’s no great secret, he was the architect of the three-up enhancement. That would have taken a lot of persuading in the group, but ultimately that was based on Eamonn, he had the whole thing plotted out.

“I think it’s a major coup for Galway. In terms of what he will bring, I think the Galway players – not that they haven’t been already – but given Eamonn’s views on the game, I think the players will be exposed to somebody who will be aligned to maybe the traditional way of Galway football.”

Joyce managed the Tribesmen from 2020 to 2026 but came up just short of his stated ambition of winning an All-Ireland title.

He guided his native county to two All-Ireland final appearances during his time in charge, losing to Kerry in 2022 and Armagh in 2024. Joyce succeeded his former team-mate Kevin Walsh, and Fitzmaurice will now be the first outside manager drafted in from outside the county since Tomás Ó Flatharta in 2011.

Galway’s 2026 season ended at the All-Ireland quarter-final stages when they lost to Dublin in Croke Park having lost the Connacht final to Roscommon in May.

Fitzmaurice had previously indicated he would find it difficult to manage a side against his native Kerry, but he will be coming up against the Kingdom in the opening weeks of the 2027 season as both teams compete in Division 1 of the National Football League.