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Liam McHale (born 1 June 1965) is a Gaelic football coach and former player (and basketball player) who played in midfield with the Mayo county football team between 1985 and 1999.

He played from the start in four finals of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (including one replay), but was never successful in winning the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

Football career

McHale started the 1989 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, which was won narrowly by Cork.

He started the 1996 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final. It ended in a draw and a replay followed. Meath defeated Mayo, avenging their defeat to the same opposition in the 1951 decider. McHale was sent off, along with Meath's Colm Coyle. He had been man of the match in the drawn game. However, he did win an All Star award later that year.

McHale started the 1997 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, in which Mayo was defeated by Kerry.

Basketball career

McHale won two national basketball Cups with his club Ballina (in 1991 and 1996), as well as a Super League title.

Coaching career

McHale was a Gaelic football selector on the Mayo team that reached the 2004 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, which Mayo lost to Kerry.

In 2013, McHale was involved in coaching the successful St Brigid's GAA team which won the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship, under manager Kevin McStay.

In October 2014, it was announced McHale would join the Cavan backroom team.

McHale also served as a selector of the Roscommon GAA squad which won the 2017 Connacht Senior Football Championship. However, his charges were heavily defeated in an All-Ireland quarter-final replay against his native Mayo.

In December 2019, Westmeath GAA club Athlone confirmed that McHale would be its new senior manager.

After Kevin McStay was appointed as manager of the Mayo senior team in 2022, McStay named him as a coach and selector. He departed the setup after a year.

On the 7th of November 2023 he was hired as the new manager of the Mayo ladies football team on a three-year contract.

Personal life

As of 2018, McHale was living in Carrentrilla in Ballina, County Mayo.

References

1. "Player profiles". The Connacht Tribune. 15 September 1989. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
2. "McHale takes over Athlone". Hogan Stand. 3 December 2019.
3. "McHale slams Mayo backroom". Hogan Stand. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
4. "Liam McHale fears Mayo might have missed best chance". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
5. Keys, Colm (8 August 2009). "Thirteen years after infamous Mayo-Meath melee the shockwaves have not yet settled". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 August 2009. He never protested his innocence... At the time McHale, then 32, was Mayo's most influential player. He had been man-of-the-match in the drawn game and very much behind the county's resurgence under John Maughan.... 'all hell broke loose', according to McHale... 'I was right in the middle right from the start'... A year later, Maughan was manager again when Mayo lost to Kerry, while McHale was a selector when they lost the 2004 All-Ireland heavily to the Kingdom.
6. "1996 GAA All Star football team". Gaelic Athletic Association. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012.
7. "Liam McHale joins basketball's 'Hall of Fame'".
8. ^ "Liam McHale appointed as new Athlone GAA manager". Westmeath Independent. 3 December 2019.
9. Keane, Paul (7 August 2017). "Mayo pulverise Roscommon to set up Kerry clash". RTÉ.ie.
10. "Kevin McStay: Everybody should strap in and come for the spin". RTÉ. 14 September 2022. Rochford is assistant manager along with coaching contributions, Buckley will be head coach and selector, while Mulligan and McHale are also coaches and selectors with additional responsibilities for club liaison and Mayo Under-20s liaison respectively.
11. Moran, Seán. "Liam McHale departs Mayo coaching set-up after one year's involvement". www.irishtimes.com. The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
12. Mc Govern, Oisin (7 November 2023). "Mayo ladies appointment saga ends after Liam McHale ratified as senior manager". www.mayonews.ie. Mayo News. Retrieved 22 November 2023.

External links

• Hogan Stand article
• Joe.ie interview

• All Stars Awards winners (football)
• 1965 births
• Living people
• Ballina Stephenites Gaelic footballers
• Connacht inter-provincial Gaelic footballers
• Gaelic football coaches
• Gaelic football managers
• Gaelic football selectors
• Irish men's basketball players
• Ladies' Gaelic football managers
• Mayo inter-county Gaelic footballers
• Sportspeople from Ballina, County Mayo
• 20th-century Irish sportsmen