Former Limerick boss confirmed as new Austin Stacks manager

The Newcastle West native will look to spearhead the 2021 county champions back to the top tier following their relegation in October.

Billy Lee has been confirmed as the new manager of Tralee outfit Austin Stacks. The Newcastle West native was unveiled on Monday morning as the 2021 county champions seek to bounce back after relegation this season.

Lee brings a wealth of experience after ending his tenure with the Limerick seniors in August. Lee inherited the squad in 2016 and brought them from the bottom tier to Division 2 football for 2023 as well as sealing a first Munster final berth in twelve years earlier this June.

He comes into the set up after masterminding the dethroning of Stacks as he was a part of the Feale Rangers set up that defeated the Tralee club in the Kerry quarter-finals this year.

In the 2021 Munster Club Championship, Austin Stacks proved too strong for Lee’s native Newcastle West but they were bested by St Finbarr’s in the provincial final.

Lee was unveiled on Monday morning with the Tralee side announcing the news with a press release.

Austin Stacks GAA Club is pleased to confirm that Billy Lee has been appointed as the new manager of our Senior football team.  Billy brings a wealth of experience to the senior manager role, having previously managed the Limerick senior football team for six years, during which he led the Shannonsiders to promotion from Division 4 to Division 2 in just three seasons, to a McGrath Cup win in 2020 and to the 2022 Munster Final. 

“Billy will be well known to Rockie followers from his time as a coach with our senior management team in 2016, and, of course, from his role in coaching the Feale Rangers team that defeated the Rock in this year’s county championship quarter final.  The Newcastle West native’s extensive experience includes a previous six-year stint as selector with the Limerick senior footballers under Liam Kearns, manager & coach of the county’s U21 team and spells with his own club Newcastle West, Listowel Emmets and Feohanagh-Castlemahon.”

His coaching and backroom team is to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

On the announcement, Austin Stacks Chairperson Shane Lynch said:

”We are delighted to appoint Billy as our new senior team manager.  Billy’s deep experience and proven ability to manage at a club and intercounty level are the key qualities we were looking for in our selection process.  His enthusiasm, passion for the game and strong connection to Stacks have been very evident in our discussions with Billy over recent weeks and he is the right man to take the senior team forward.  While 2022 didn’t turn out as we would have hoped, Billy takes over a fundamentally strong senior team setup following the tremendous work put in both by the players and Wayne & his management team over the past five years. 

“Hopefully this announcement will shorten the winter for Rockies everywhere and we are all very much looking forward to seeing the team playing under Billy’s management in 2023.”