Coleman and Fitzgerald withdraw from Galway panel

The Galway footballers have been hit by the withdrawal of experienced campaigners Niall Coleman and Kieran Fitzgerald from the panel.

The decision of the pair to step down comes a week after Galway’s first outing in the Allianz National Football league against Monaghan, a game they lost by five points in Clones.

Fitzgerald is said to be retiring on a permanent basis due to constant injury problems, while Coleman has left the panel because of work commitments but the departure of two key players will only add fuel to suggestions that all is not well within the Galway camp.

Fitzgerald has been a key member of the Galway defence for over a decade and was a member of Galway’s All-Ireland winning side in 2001, a year in which Fitzgerald was rewarded for an All-Star for his performances. Along with Finian Hanley and Michael Meehan, he was one of three captains named by new Galway boss Tomás Ó Flatharta ahead of the league campaign and his retirement has come as a surprise to football followers in the county.

Coleman, meanwhile, has been a member of the Galway panel since 2004 and has delivered some fine performances in midfield, an area often deemed as a weakness in the county since the retirement of Kevin Walsh and Sean Ó Domhnaill at the beginning of the last decade.