Confirmed: John Cleary to remain as Cork football boss

The Cork County Board have confirmed that John Cleary will remain as Cork football manager.

White smoke arrived at the Cork County Board monthly meeting with delegates at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Tuesday night.

It will be a two-year term for the Castlehaven clubman. His backroom team will be announced at the next board meeting in September.

There had been much speculation regarding the Castlehaven clubman’s future following the Rebels’ championship exit to Dublin at the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final stage at the end of June.

The three-point loss brought the curtain down on Cleary’s three-year term as boss and despite the expectation from many that he would move on, in these pages three weeks ago, we reported that Cleary was set to stay on at the helm.

Getting promoted from the Allianz Division 2 of the league will be a big priority in 2026. Cork finished fifth this year. They have been out of Division 1 since 2016.

In the championship, the Leesiders will avoid a third successive Munster semi-final clash against recently crowned All-Ireland winners Kerry next year following the Munster GAA Council’s decision last Thursday to seed the top two league finishers in 2025 in separate semi-finals.

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