Anthony Molloy says Academy debacle is 'very, very backwards step for Donegal'

Former Donegal captain Anthony Molloy has called for a great level of transparency to resolve the Academy fallout that saw Karl Lacey and his coaches resign - calling it a “huge, huge loss.”

Molloy, who captained Donegal to the All-Ireland title in 1992, believes the county board statement on the matter last week did little to clear matters up. It leaves the situation in the county in limbo, with the senior footballers currently bottom of Allianz League Division 1 following their 0-13 to 0-10 loss in Armagh on Saturday.

“This is a bigger concern to me than where we’re at in Division 1,” Molloy said at the launch of his Laochra Gael, which will be aired by TG4 on Thursday night at 8:30pm. “Karl Lacey came in there in the last couple of years, had done a fantastic job, I mean a fantastic job. 

“We were in the top five academies in the country from what I hear and now we’re sitting without any academy and it should never have happened. Nobody seems to know the answers as to why it did happen. Definitely a breakdown of communication between our county board and Karl Lacey and the academy. There’s no doubt about that there. Karl Lacey is going to be a huge, huge loss to Donegal.”

The Donegal GAA Academy had been running for two years under Lacey, who resigned from the position last month, citing “a lack of support.”In a show of solidarity for Lacey, his departure was followed by a mass resignation eighth days later from all coaches in the county - believed to be numbered at approximately 40 - with only Leo McLoone’s management team with the U-20s and the U-17 panel, who are managed by Luke Barrett, remaining in place for now.

“The way I look at it, the coaches were giving their free time as well and they were totally, totally behind Karl Lacey and he was there as the total manager,” Molloy added. “A four times All Star and a man of huge experience, a fantastic footballer as well and another lad, no more than Michael Murphy, all the young lads looked up to. 

“All of a sudden he’s gone and it’s going to create a huge vacuum here and I think we are having huge problems here and I don’t know where we’re going to start now. I believe the county board met last week and I believe they’re looking for somebody like Karl Lacey and these people are hard to get. It was a very, very backwards step for Donegal. It’s a huge worry for Donegal right now.

“It’s all about transparency and the county board issued a statement last week but it was a statement set out in such a way that the questions that us, as supporters [had], weren't answered, which is a worry as well. 

“Things have to be more transparent, there’s no doubt about that there and, again, with county boards and that there, I just hope that we can get things sorted out and that the supporters knows what’s going on here, whether it was financial or whether it was personality clashes here, I don’t know. 

“There’s a lot of rumours going but look, I do hope that they get things sorted out and that we will move on and somebody does take up the mantle that Karl Lacey had set out because everybody I speak to, they couldn’t praise Karl Lacey highly enough as a great coach and as a footballer himself so hopefully we will get it sorted out."

Lacey’s departure followed the retirement of Michael Murphy, the former Donegal captain who led the county to Sam Maguire in 2012, last November. Molloy believes that Donegal are not in a position to lose such talent.

“They’re two huge figureheads in Donegal as we all know and I don’t have to explain about Michael Murphy, what Michael Murphy has done for us as a capitan and as a leader on the field, off the field,” Molloy added. “Karl Lacey would be following that very, very closely as well as an example as well and we can’t afford to lose players or people like this. 

“Definitely we can’t afford to lose them in Donegal and it is a major worry and it’s a major worry going forward and hopefully we will get it sorted out and I believe that Karl Lacey won’t be coming back which is a shame. He stated publicly last week that he will not be coming back. I suppose we have to move on as well, we have to find another head of our academy equal to Karl Lacey."