'Karl Lacey's return has to be a long-haul one' - Declan Bonner

Declan Bonner says the past is the past now and that Karl Lacey has shown just how much he cares about Donegal by stepping back into the Academy picture. 

The 2012 All-Ireland winner was unveiled as the new Donegal U-16 Academy football boss late Monday evening and Bonner - who previously had Lacey as part of his senior football backroom team - hopes it means the four-time All-Star is back as part of the long-term fabric at the GAA Centre in Convoy. 

The former Footballer of the Year’s departure as Academy Head in early 2023 was an acrimonious one but the landscape, administrative, and on the field of play, has changed so much in that short period of time. 

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So Bonner hopes the news eventually leads to a rerailing of much of Lacey’s previous plans and ambitions in relation to the Academy set-up. 

“I’m delighted that Karl is back involved with Donegal GAA,” Bonner said.  

“I took him into the senior management team when I took over back in 2017 and he was absolutely brilliant during his time with us.  

“He’d just finished playing at that stage. But I knew from watching Karl down through the years, as a player, that he was eventually going to be a great coach. 

“He had that intelligence and passion that you could learn from. 

"He was a coach on the field when he played and you could see, even then, that he had the potential to take on that coaching role when he finished playing.

“He just understood the game, from both a leadership and tactical point of view, and he never did things half-heartedly.” 

After that high-profile departure as Academy Head, where Lacey resigned having cited “a lack of support”, he took over Kilcoo and led them to Down SFC titles in each of his two seasons in charge. 

And Bonner says that experience with the Mourne kingpins will only stand to Lacey as he reintegrates himself into the Donegal underage set-up. 

“Definitely, Karl’s time at Kilcoo will have undoubtedly enhanced his coaching ability. He managed at a good level with one of the top clubs in the country, and that experience will only stand to him," the 1992 All-Ireland winner and former Donegal boss said.

“I was delighted when he first went into the Donegal Academy a few years back because he had knowledge and leadership that young people could learn from - it was the absolute perfect fit.  

“Whatever happened that resulted in him leaving in 2023, that shouldn’t have happened at the time. But the most important thing is that he’s back now, and that can only be a positive move for Donegal”.

With Donegal’s stock high once more under the guidance of Jim McGuinness, Bonner says it’s vital that attention isn’t lost on developing pathways for an eventual successor.

“Just in a general sense, to have a man like Karl Lacey involved, hopefully, it’s for the long haul. 

“I’m sure loads of counties would’ve loved to have acquired Karl’s services, but we now have him back at a time when the county is in a real positive place and are doing well.  

“And it’s not just Karl, we have Neil McGee, Colm McFadden, and Michael Murphy, who was there before he went back playing; these are Donegal legends who you want to have involved and you want them to lead Donegal into the future. 

“We’re in a good place right now but that can change very quickly. So there needs to be long-term plans put in place now so that we can keep these lads involved moving forward and not lose our way. 

“So having structures in place and seeing a future is still so, so important.”