BREAKING: Laois Ladies joint-managers leave their post with Laois man set to take charge

Tom Devereux and Billy Kiernan are no longer Laois Ladies managers after they decided to step down from their position with immediate effect. 

In a statement issued to the clubs, Laois LGFA said, "A Chairde, As of today, Tuesday the 9th of April, the senior management team have decided to step down from their position with immediate effect.

"The county board thank the management for their commitment and efforts since their appointment in November and wish them well for their future endeavours. Stephen Duff, Ballyfin will act as interim manager for the senior ladies team. Yours in sport."

The man that will take the reigns for the remainder of the championship is Ballyfin's Stephen Duff. He recently led DCU to a second successive O'Connor Cup. He also managed the Portlaoise Ladies side from 2020 up until October 2023.

In his four seasons as manager, Duff took Portlaoise to three Senior Championships as well as three consecutive Division 1 league titles as it wasn't played in 2020. The Town also reached the Leinster final in 2020 where they lost out to the formidable Foxrock Cabinteely. 

Duff also started a Junior team at the beginning of his tenure to promote the development of younger players in and in 2023, they won a Division 3 league title and lost out to Crettyard in the Junior County Final. 

Remarkably, the Ballyfin native only lost three competitive fixtures in his time as Portlaoise boss. The Leinster final in 2020, the semi-final against Sarsfields in 2021 and in 2022, they were beaten in Leinster by Eadestown. 

Laois have a had a rocky 2024 campaign to date which has seen them drop to Division 3 in the league where they only managed a single point in a drawn game with finalists Tyrone.

Duff's first game comes against Meath in the Leinster Football Championship on April 21.