Brogan leads tributes as Gilroy quits

After four years in charge Gilroy won an astonishing three Leinster titles, reached the last three All Ireland semi-finals and last year won a famous Sam Maguire in an epic All Ireland final.

Star forward Brogan today thanked Gilroy for bringing the boys in blue back "to the promised land".

"The effort that man put in for us and all his staff was unreal, memories will last forever."

Tributes continued to pour in for the St Vincent's man, arguably the greatest coach in a generation, after he said finding the balance between work, family and football was proving too difficult.

"It was a huge honour for me to manage the Dublin team and I was delighted that I was able to make a contribution to our All-Ireland success in 2011," said a modest Gilroy.

Although his departure may not come as a major shock, the speed with which he made his decision after last Sunday's semi-final defeat caught some by surprise.

Dublin County board chairman Andy Kettle told the Herald that Gilroy confirmed the news to him in a phone call.

"There was some development in his job where it was firmed up that he would be doing quite a bit of travelling next year and I think that tipped the scales," he explained.

Current under-21 manager Jim Gavin is now tipped to take on the job after leading his team to All-Ireland success for the second time in three seasons.

Writing in today's Herald, former All-Star Coman Goggins said: "To his credit, four years on Gilroy has proved his doubters wrong as, on the way to collecting three Leinster titles and that elusive All-Ireland title.

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