Stephen Rochford (born 10 October 1978) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

coach and former

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and player. He was manager of the senior Mayo county team from 2015 to 2018. Raised in

Crossmolina Crossmolina is a town in the Barony of Tyrawley in County Mayo, Ireland, as well as the name of the parish in which Crossmolina is situated. The town sits on the River Deel near the northern shore of Lough Conn. Crossmolina is about west of ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

, Rochford was educated at Crossmolina Boys' National School and Gortnor Abbey. He was introduced to football by primary school teacher John Cosgrove and

coach Tom McNulty. He won Connacht School titles for Gortnor Abbey, playing under Gerry Leonard. He simultaneously came to prominence at juvenile and underage levels with the

team, winning a county under-21 championship medal in 1997. By this stage Rochford had joined the Crossmolina senior team and won an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

medal in 2001. He also won three

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

medals and six County Senior Championship medals. Rochford made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen when he first linked up with the Mayo minor team. A

medal winner as captain of the team in 1996, he subsequently joined the Mayo under-21 team. Rochford made his senior debut during the 1999-00 league and spent one season with the team. While still a player, Rochford began his coaching and managerial career when he served as a Mayo minor selector for two seasons. After finishing the year as

runners-up in 2005, he later coached the Mayo under-21 team to an All-Ireland B title in 2007. After a period working with the Mayo-Galway IT Team in the

Sigerson Cup The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. ...

, he managed Corofin to the All-Ireland title in 2015. Rochford was appointed manager of the Mayo senior team in November 2015.

Early life

Rochford grew up in the St Patrick's Avenue area of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, where he was educated at Crossmolina Boys' National School and Gortnor Abbey Secondary School. He represented

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

as a minor, winning a

Connacht championship The Connacht Senior Hurling Championship, known simply as the Connacht Championship, was an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Connacht Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It was the highest inter-county hurl ...

in 1996, as captain. Rochford can be seen as a young boy in the

Crossmolina Deel Rovers Crossmolina Deel Rovers is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Crossmolina, County Mayo, Ireland. The club fields Gaelic football teams in competitions organized by the Mayo GAA county board. History Crossmolina Dr Crokes GAA was aff ...

video by Tom McNulty on YouTube.

Personal life

Rochford is a bank manager for AIB in

Castlerea Castlerea (; ) is the third largest town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located in the west of the county and had a population of 1,992 at the 2016 Census. Roughly translated from Irish, Castlerea is generally thought to mean 'brindled ca ...

Playing career

Rochford came through the

system alongside

Ciarán McDonald Ciarán McDonald (born 11 January 1975) is a Gaelic footballer and coach who formerly played at senior level for the Mayo county team, and still plays his club football for Crossmolina Deel Rovers. Coaching McDonald served as coach–selecto ...

, Peadár Gardiner and

winner Michael Moyles, and was part of the talented

team that won six

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

titles between 1995 and 2006. Rochford won an All-Ireland club Championship medal with

in 2001 and a runners-up medal in 2003.

Management career

Rochford began coaching Junior

and

teams, experiencing success. Rochford managed

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

club Corofin to the All-Ireland club Championship in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, becoming the first man to win All-Ireland club football medals as both a player and a manager with different clubs.

Mayo Bainisteoir

Rochford was named as the new Bainisteoir of the Mayo senior football team in December 2015 for a three-year spell. Within a year, Rochford had led the Mayo team to the

2016 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final The 2016 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, the 129th event of its kind and the culmination of the 2016 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, was a Gaelic football match played at Croke Park in Dublin on 18 September 2016 and ...

against

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, where the first final ended in a draw. Rochford's men lost the reply by a point in a very close encounter. In the 2017 All-Ireland semi-final, Mayo played

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...

. Rochford's men drew the game. In the replay Mayo overwhelmed Kerry by 2-16 to 0-17, earning a second All-Ireland SFC final appearance for Mayo under Rochford within two years of his taking over as Mayo Bainisteoir. In that game, Rochford's Mayo team again lost out by a single point against

. In June 2018, Rochford's Mayo lost to

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

by a scoreline of 0-21 - 0-19 in the All-Ireland SFC Third Round, which was the first time in eight years that Mayo lost a game in the back-door. On 27 August 2018, Rochford resigned as Mayo manager.

Since

Bernard Flynn Bernard Flynn (born 26 June 1965) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for the Meath county team. As a teenager he attended secondary school in St Mary's of Drogheda. He enjoyed success play inter-county football in the 1980s and ...

named Rochford as part of his backroom team as Meath manager as he prepared to succeed

Andy McEntee Andy McEntee is a Gaelic football manager. He has been the manager of the Antrim county team since 2022. He managed his native Meath between 2016 and 2022. Career McEntee managed Meath to the final of the 2012 All-Ireland Minor Football Champ ...

in 2022, then

Colm O'Rourke Colm O'Rourke (born 31 August 1957) is a Gaelic football manager, former player, retired secondary school principal, sports broadcaster and columnist. He has been manager of the Meath county team since 2022. O'Rourke's league and championship ...

was appointed manager instead. Flynn deleted a tweet about Rochford. Shortly after this, Rochford was named as part of

Kevin McStay Kevin McStay (born 9 May 1962) is an Irish Gaelic football manager, commentator, analyst and former player. He has been manager of the senior Mayo county team since 2022. McStay was educated at St Jarlath's College in Tuam during the 1970s, p ...

's bid for the senior Mayo managerial vacancy. McStay's bid was successful, so Rochford returned to Mayo in August 2022. McStay named him as his assistant manager and coach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rochford, Stephen 1978 births Living people Allied Irish Banks people All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship winning managers Gaelic football coaches Gaelic football managers Gaelic football selectors People educated at Gortnor Abbey People from Crossmolina