Kevin McHugh looking ahead as his first season as Finn Harps boss comes to an end

With the 2025 First Division season coming to an end, it doesn’t get any quieter for Finn Harps boss Kevin McHugh as his first season in management comes to an end.

The Killea native, who scored 186 goals in 438 appearances for Harps as a player, would have had time to rest when putting on the boots as a season came to a close, but it’s a completely different story now that he is in the hot seat as the attentions quickly turn to the 2026 season.

Speaking after the 4-3 defeat to UCD in Finn Park on Friday night, which confined the Harps to an eighth place finish, the boss admitted that talks will begin soon to discuss moving forward with the club.

“I’ll be meeting the board over the next two or three days, and if I agree to take the job next year, I will be sitting down with each and every player, even the ones not staying, and we’ll put a plan together then.

“Conditioning is massive, and you can see it from the terraces. People talked about it in the Premier Division, but you can see it has filtered down to the First Division, and two or three clubs are full time basically, so it’s something we need to try and bridge the gap with and we need to start that with the conditioning.

“Hopefully it’s something we can address as a club next year to push up the table because this club is way too big to be sitting where it is sitting.”

It won’t have to be a completely fresh start, with the bulk of the squad already signed up for next season, but comings and goings will be expected over the winter.

“It’s something Ian (Harkin) addressed a few years ago because for as long as I’ve known the club, when the last game of the season ends, everybody is out of contract.

“There’s at least 15 under contract from that squad of 22, and there’s actually probably more with the academy graduates.

“But we need to add to it to really challenge at this level. We keep raising the standards off the pitch, and that will get you so far, but your recruitment is key now in the next couple of months.

“It’s been a busy period, both really enjoyable in watching players coming through and then it can be a hard watch when we’re conceding goals in certain areas.

“I’ve learned on my feet, and it has been an eye opener in terms of agents, managing players, and three-game weeks, there are a lot of spinning plates.

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“There are loads I’ve got wrong this year and loads we’ve got right, so it’s about sitting down now and being as brutally honest as we can to improve every aspect.

On Friday’s defeat to the Students, McHugh made four changes from Monday’s draw with Kerry and they had a bright start as Gradi Lomboto netted after 12 minutes, but they were 4-1 down within five minutes of the second half.

A red card for UCD goalkeeper Dara Kavanagh, followed by goals from Conor Tourish and a Joel Bradley Walsh penalty gave them hope of getting a draw, but they fell short.

“It was a highly entertaining game, but to give away three goals in the first half was poor. Those kinds of goals are unacceptable, three set plays and a long ball, it’s not the kind of goals you expect to concede from a team like UCD, so we’re disappointed.

“We threw the kitchen sink at it, and the boys put in a real effort but it was too little, too late.

“We need to be able to defend key moments and we didn't, which has been the story of the last seven or eight weeks."