East Kerry Manager Sums Up Burden Put On Players In County After Paudie Clifford News

While last weekend would see both senior and intermediate finals played in Kerry, there will not be much rest for the players involved as they will now begin to prepare for the upcoming Senior Football Championship in the county.

As has been well discussed, the championship system in Kerry is a bit more complicated than in most other counties. They have the traditional tiers of senior, intermediate, and junior that we normally see around the country, but they also have another competition.

The Kerry Senior Football Championship will see the nine senior clubs in the county take on a number of divisional sides, which are made up of the teams that compete below the senior grade in the other championships.

For example, players from An Galetacht and Fossa (who competed in the intermediate final on Sunday) are set to line out for West Kerry and East Kerry respectively this weekend.

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There are clearly massive demands placed on the top players in Kerry each season, with this latest competition tacked onto the other championships that they have already featured in at club and inter-county level in 2025.

One player who is unlikely to feature over the coming weeks is Paudie Clifford. The Fossa man was withdrawn from Sunday's final due to injury and has been ruled out of East Kerry's preliminary round clash with St Kieran's this weekend.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, East Kerry manager Adrian Sheehan suggested that Paudie Clifford was unlikely to feature again in 2025, going on to sum up the incredible demands placed on inter-county players in Kerry each season.

How long he is going to be out? I’d be surprised if I see him any more this year...

I wouldn’t be putting any pressure on them.

You can’t sustain that level of playing. It’s not even that, they’re expected to perform every time they go out. That’s taxing. Their bodies might be fine but it’s that mental challenge that can be draining.

Paudie Clifford has struggled without injury in 2025, missing decent chunks of Kerry's league and championship campaigns.

While he would no doubt have hoped to play a big role in East Kerry's campaign over the coming weeks, a period of sustained rest over the next few months will hopefully lead to healthier campaign in 2026.