Stephen Duff had been relieved of his duties as manager of Laois ladies county team

THE hunt for a new manager for the Laois ladies team is up an running after current manager Stephen Duff was ‘relieved of his duties’ on Tuesday afternoon. The news was broken by Laois LGFA in a press statement released on Tuesday.

Laois LGFA posted a statement on social media thanking Duff for his two years in charge of the team but saying his time in charge of the team was at a end.

“Following a meeting between Laois LGFA Executive and the Intermediate Management team, Stephen Duff has been relieved of his duties as Intermediate manager with immediate effect.

“Laois LGFA would like to express its appreciation to Stephen for his dedication and contribution to the county team since May 2024, particularly in guiding the team to the 2025 All-Ireland Final. Laois LGFA extends its gratitude and wishes Stephen every success in his future endeavours,” ended the statement.

“Attention now turns to preparations for the upcoming All-Ireland Intermediate series at the end of the month, with full focus on supporting the players for the campaign.”.

The termination od Duff’s time in charge would not have come as a huge surprise. His final game came on Saturday last 2 May when . Laois were hammered by 23 points in Saturday’s Leinster Intermediate Championship semi-final by Westmeath in TEG Cusack Park.

That defeat, the latest set back for the ladies’ game in Laois came after the O’Moore County’s relegation to Division 4 of the National Football Leagues.

Laois finished seventh of the eight teams and were relegated with just seven points from their seven games. They won two games, one against the other relegated side, Limerick, in Round 3 before ending the campaign with a win away to Division 3 champions Louth, but it wasn’t enough to save their Division 3 status as they were relegated on head-to-head with Clare. That Clare game saw Laois lose 4-7 to 2-11 in Clarecastle.

Only nine months ago, in August 2025, Duff had led Laois to an All-Ireland Intermediate final at Croke Park. His side came up short on that date by six points, and many would have been expecting Laois to push on in 2026 and push for promotion from Division 3.

It was the opposite, however, and it now leaves Laois managerless with just four weeks until the TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Championship gets underway.

One has to wonder what the future holds for Laois ladies football.

But then again it might not be all bleak. On Saturday, the same day the intermediate team was being humiliated by Westmeath, the Laois U/16 team were getting the better of Dublin to be crowned Leinster ‘B’ Champions.

A week previous the Laois minor team were also crowned Leinster ‘B’ champions.

So if the local organisation can look after these you girls, the future can be rosy.