Limerick Manager Comes Out Swinging After County Board Vote Against Team's Wishes

Limerick manager Jimmy Lee has come out swinging after his county board decided to vote in favour of a controversial change to the format of the Munster senior football championship.

Proposals were brought before the Munster council this week to seed the semi-final draw for the senior championship based on the previous year's league positions.

With Kerry the Division One champions and Cork in Division Two, it would guarantee the two dominant counties in Munster are kept apart in the draw until the final.

The motion was passed on Thursday evening, with Kerry, Cork, and Limerick voting in favour of the proposal.

Clare, Tipperary, and Waterford voted against it, with Clare county board members pointing the finger at the Limerick delegates for voting against the wishes of their senior football players and management.

Limerick boss Lee has now effectively confirmed that, criticising his own county board and saying the squad and management feel thoroughly "disrespected" by their decision.

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Jimmy Lee, speaking to Live95 FM on Saturday, addressed the Limerick delegate's decision to vote in favour of a highly divisive change to the Munster championship.

Lee did not hold back, saying that the decision read like a "vote of no confidence" in the squad and management, and said that the group felt "disrespected."

It feels like a vote of no confidence in us, that's just the way we feel, the way I feel.

To be fair about it we feel disrespected, I don't want to put words in the rest of the management team's or the player's mouths but that's the feeling I get from it.

Lee also pointed out that real progress had been made by the Limerick football team in 2025, and that it was a blow not to receive support from the county board.

We got to a Tailteann Cup final, we won a league final, you can argue we weren't far off Cork (Munster Championship) when we had fifteen on fifteen and this is what the County Board turn around and do.

I know that there are some within the County Board that have been advocates for us but you'd think that those on the football side of it would have supported us a bit better, in my opinion.

I don't fully understand it myself, yes there were reasons behind their thought processes but what I said at the last drop of it was bar there being something in writing and the I's are dotted and the T's are crossed I wouldn't be voting for anything, I'd be voting no.

This is a big blow for Limerick, whose chances of reaching a Munster final have taken a hit due to a rule change some have seen as orchestrated towards the interests of Kerry and Cork.

"Limerick football is at stake," was the bleak assessment of Lee, who said that the players and management would be urgently seeking a meeting with the county board.

It's safe to say that this controversy is not over yet.